Idlib province, the main fierce battlefield of the Syrian civil war, is under the control of an extreme Islamic movement opposing the self-proclaimed Islamic State (IS).
In the air, Russian and Syrian fighter jets are constantly present, conducting shelling to help the government of President Bashar al-Assad reclaim Idlib, the last stronghold controlled by rebels.
Not stopping there, observation stations controlled by Turkish soldiers are also scattered in the province.
According to the Washington Post, it is not yet clear how long al-Baghdadi has lived in Idlib and what he is doing there.
Most of Idlib is controlled by Hayat Tahrir al-Sham (HTS), an extremist group that started as a Syrian affiliate of the al-Qaeda terrorist group but has reformed many times during the civil war. Since 2018, HTS announced that it is no longer affiliated with al-Qaeda. As a result, many extremist elements have left HTS and formed a smaller, more extreme group called Hurras al- Din Din, calling itself a new branch of al-Qaeda.
dareen Khalifa, Syria analyst at the International crises Agency, said that IS has a small influence in Idlib, with a few of the group's gunmen in hiding.
Experts who just arrived at Idlib a few months ago said that it is unclear why al-Baghdadi could feel safe in Idlib.
IS has been a target in HTS's raids and is seen as a rival by other rebel groups, including Hurras al- Dinh.
It is not yet clear how the top leader of Isis will get to Idlib. The province is surrounded by areas of the Syrian and Turkish governments.
A Turkish official said that it appears that al-Baghdadi has been in the area for at least 48 hours. An American official said the name had been there for some time.
The location where the elite US task force killed al-Baghdadi has been contested between HTS, al-Qaeda satellite groups and Turkey-backed opposition groups, a senior US State Department official said.
Many expressed concern that the killing of al-Baghdadi could lead to further difficulties for people in Idlib as attention focused on Barisha - a village near the Turkish border where the Supreme Leader of IS was killed.
In fact, since the end of April, the Syrian government has launched an offensive campaign to reclaim rebel-controlled territory in Idlib. More than 500,000 people have been displaced by the war to the south of Idlib and neighboring Hama province. Thousands of civilians were killed, according to United Nations data.
