ERBIL, Kurdistan Region of Iraq – A French jihadist was killed on Wednesday during clashes with Syrian security forces near a camp housing French jihadists in the northwestern Idlib province, state media reported, adding that a civilian was also injured. 

“An internal security patrol observed an armed group leaving the French camp and heading toward the Harem area in Idlib,” the province’s internal security command told the state broadcaster al-Ikhbariya, saying the move violated an “established agreement” that does not permit members to leave the camp while armed. 

While pursuing the group, armed jihadists opened fire on the security forces, triggering clashes that “resulted in the death of one member of the armed group and the injury of a civilian,” security forces said. 

The Syrian Observatory for Human Rights, a Britain-based war monitor, reported that a French commander dubbed “Abu Ayman” was killed in the clashes, claiming that the jihadists believe the government forces to be behind the attack in an attempt to restrict their movement and prevent them “from securing their basic needs, as they said they were on their way to buy fruits and food.”

“They also accused the government of exerting pressure on them following what they described as an agreement with the international coalition,” the war monitor added.

Another armed confrontation between a group of jihadists from the camp and the Syrian security forces took place in October 2025, when the Syrian army surrounded the area to capture two French nationals sought by the French government.

The arrest operation triggered clashes that killed and wounded fighters on both sides.

The group is known as the Firqat al-Ghuraba, or Strangers Division. The group is led by Omar Omsen, also known as Omar Diaby, a French jihadist of Senegalese origin, wanted by Paris and designated an “international terrorist” by the US.

The Syrian government, under interim President Ahmed al-Sharaa, has been under pressure from the international community to remove foreign jihadists from the country, particularly as a prerequisite to the lifting of sanctions.