Hayat Tahrir al-Sham was engaged in a campaign of arrests of opponents and extremist fighters in areas of Idlib province under its control.[1] HTS arrested several leaders of the new operations room, including Abu Salah Al-Uzbeki, leader of the Ansar al-Din Front, and dissenter Abu Malik al-Tali, leader of the Muqatileen al-Ansar Brigade which defected from HTS.[9][3]