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Syria’s rebel group has agreed to disband and become part of the interim government’s defense ministry as the new government rushes to consolidate power within the revamped organization.
The new government’s supreme commander, Ahmed al-Sharah (former leader of the Islamic rebel group Hayat Tahrir al-Sham, formerly known as de Guerre Abu Mohamed al-Jolani), said: The agreement was announced on Tuesday after meeting with the heads of the organizations. Turkish-backed Syrian National Army and factions in northeastern and southern Syria.
The government announced that as a result of this meeting, “all factions were dissolved and an agreement was reached to integrate them under the Ministry of Defense.”
The Kurdish-led, US-backed Syrian Democratic Forces were absent as they clashed with Turkish-backed rebels in the northeast after an initial ceasefire brokered by Washington collapsed.
The agreement for a transitional government comes just over two weeks after a blitzkrieg by HTS-led rebels ousted autocratic President Bashar al-Assad after a brutal 13-year civil war. did. It comes as Al Shara seeks to consolidate its power over the divided country.
He faces a difficult task. His group, HTS, differs from more splintered allied rebel groups in professionalizing its military through military schools and training.
Security is a key issue for the new government, which faces concerns such as clashes between Turkish-backed rebels and the Self-Defense Forces. the threat of a resurgence by ISIS, a longtime enemy of HTS that was not part of Tuesday’s agreement; And after Assad disbanded his army before fleeing the country, supporters of the deposed regime could reunite.
The Shara’a government has integrated institutions such as the police, military, and security forces. Over the past two weeks, police recruitment and a “settlement center” for former regime soldiers have been opened.
Security and police personnel are being dispatched from the Idlib enclave in northwestern Syria, which has been under HTS control for many years, to maintain public order throughout the country.
Concerns over security heightened this week as unconfirmed reports of revenge killings and highway robberies, particularly in small villages, spread across the country.
Unidentified gunmen torched a large Christmas tree at a roundabout in the northwestern Christian town of Al-Skyrabiya on Monday, sparking fears among Syria’s Christian minority that it could become a target for Islamic hardliners. It got even higher.
Footage shared on social media showed HTS members standing with two priests reassuring the crowd in Al-Skyrabiya that the tree would be repaired by morning.
Hundreds of people protested against the vandalism across Syria on Tuesday. In Damascus’s Bab Touma district, protesters were seen marching through the streets carrying crosses. Elsewhere in Damascus, people were shopping at a large outdoor Christmas market.
Incidents such as the Christmas tree burning have so far been isolated by the new leadership, which seeks to present itself as a moderate regime for all Syrians despite its roots in Islamist beliefs and jihadism. It has been considered an example.
But minorities fear being sidelined or attacked, having enjoyed some protection under Assad, despite the widespread repression that characterized his regime.
