Tahrir al-Sham's attempts to impose an "olive zakat" on olive growers and olive press operators in Syria's northwestern province of Idlib have triggered protests and violence in several cities in recent days, a local activist said.

Tensions began to rise when residents of areas controlled by the extremist alliance refused to pay the olive zakat and staged protests in several areas.

They denounced Tahrir al-Sham's financial policy, claiming its so-called "salvation government" has imposed taxes and various types of zakat at the expense of the Syrian people, who are facing difficult circumstances.

They claimed the extremist alliance had attempted to collect olive zakat even from those who do not meet the "nisab", the required wealth threshold.

Maarat al-Numan resident Hani al-Numan told Diyaruna that every so often Tahrir al-Sham imposes a new type of zakat to increase its revenue -- most recently the olive zakat that it imposed on olive growers in the region.

This sparked anger that led to armed clashes in some areas, including the town of Kafr Takharim, he said, where residents and the Failaq al-Sham militia clashed with Tahrir al-Sham.

Two people were killed and several others wounded in the incident, he added.

Tahrir al-Sham then entered the town, and an agreement was reached to calm the situation, he said. The olive zakat was temporarily suspended until such time as an agreement can be reached to resolve the crisis.

Anger at Tahrir al-Sham

Tahrir al-Sham had stationed zakat collectors at all olive mills, al-Numan said.

This angered the local population, he said, noting that many olive growers in the area do not sell their harvests but use them for their own consumption.

Further outrage erupted when Tahrir al-Sham imposed zakat twice, he added -- once on the orchards and another on the owners of olive mills.

This in addition to the taxes imposed on the owners of trucks and other means of transportation used in the harvesting of olives and the production of olive oil.

Demonstrations against against Tahrir al-Sham and its "salvation government" have broken out in a number of Idlib province's cities and towns, he said, including Maarat al-Numan, Idlib and Taftanaz.

In Taftanaz, Tahrir al-Sham broke up the gathering by force, and live bullets were used to disperse the demonstrators, he said, adding that a number of civilians were wounded in the altercation.