Syria’s rebel coalition is made up of Islamists and moderates who, despite their differences, are united in their fight against Assad’s regime, ISIS and Iranian-backed militias.
Some of the groups forming the coalition are listed below.
Hayat Tahrir al-Sham (HTS): The most prominent and formidable of the groups is HTS, also known as the Levantine Liberation Organization. HTS was founded by Abu Mohammad al-Jolani, a veteran military commander who cut his teeth as a young al-Qaeda fighter fighting against the United States in Iraq.
He founded Al Qaeda’s Syrian branch, Jabhat al-Nusra, and ran it until it publicly split in 2016 over ideological differences and opposition to ISIS. Jolani formed HTS in 2017.
Despite Jolani’s efforts to distance HTS from al-Qaeda and ISIS, the United States and other Western countries designated it a terrorist organization in 2018 and placed a $10 million bounty on him.
Syrian National Army (SNA): The Syrian National Army incorporates dozens of factions with different ideologies that receive funding and weapons from Turkey.
The coalition includes the National Liberation Front, which is made up of factions such as Ahrar al-Sham, which aims to “overthrow the[Assad]regime” and “establish an Islamic state governed by Sharia law.” .
Complicating matters, some members of the rebel coalition are also fighting Kurdish forces.
The Turkish-backed Free Syrian Army announced last week that it had captured the city of Tal Rifaat and other towns and villages in northern Aleppo province.
These territories were previously held not by the Assad regime but by another faction involved in the multi-front civil war, the Syrian Democratic Forces.
The SDF is largely made up of Kurdish fighters from a group known as the People’s Protection Units (YPG), which is considered a terrorist organization by Turkey.
In southern Syria, fighters from the country’s Druze religious minority are also taking part in the fighting, local activist groups told CNN.
Druze forces are fighting in the southern city of As Suweida, which borders Daraa province, and the rebels claim they have taken control of Daraa city.
