Residents of a city in south-west rural Idlib staged a demonstration on Sunday (December 10th) to protest the lawlessness that runs rampant in their area, which is controlled by Tahrir al-Sham, an extremist alliance dominated by the former al-Nusra Front (ANF).

Jisr al-Shughour has seen the spread of looting, kidnappings and killings without Tahrir al-Sham elements "so much as lifting a finger to put an end to these transgressions", said rural Idlib-based media activist Haysam al-Idlibi.

"The group's security units hardly show their faces in the city," al-Idlibi, who asked to use a pseudonym for safety reasons, told Diyaruna.

"It seems that Tahrir al-Sham is allowing this lawlessness to fester as a form of indirect punishment imposed on the region for the prevailing rejection of the group," he said.

Tahrir al-Sham’s security checkpoints are set up in remote areas, he said, adding that the lax security measures have led to widespread brazen acts of theft and robbery in broad daylight.

An armed gang on Saturday stormed a currency exchange shop in Sawmaa (Silo) square in the centre of the city and stole all the cash in the store after assaulting its owner Mustafa Milish, also known as Abu Ridha Milish.

"A spontaneous demonstration erupted to protest the state of lawlessness after the incident, and the demonstrators agreed to hold a major demonstration the following day [Sunday]," said al-Idlibi.

The gangs are targeting the owners of goldsmith shops, currency exchange and money transfer shops and wealthy residents, he said.

"They engage in kidnapping for ransom, which often involves large sums of money that the victim’s family is unable to pay," he said, noting that a number of abductees have actually been killed when their ransom was not paid.

Al-Idlibi said that the security tasks carried out by Tahrir al-Sham units are limited to pursuing and arresting the group’s opponents, both civilians and members of armed groups that oppose Tahrir al-Sham’s rule over the Idlib area.

In other news, "Islamic State of Iraq and Syria" (ISIS) elements have been driven out of Syria's Idlib province, two days after making an incursion into the region, AFP reported Monday.

ISIS fighters captured the Idlib village of Bashkun at the weekend after clashes with Tahrir al-Sham.

After fierce fighting, Tahrir al-Sham has chased ISIS out of Idlib, said the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights.