Syrian anti-government fighters in Hama, west-central Syria, Dec. 6, 2024. (Credit: Muhammad Haj Kadour/AFP)
This was a priority for Syria’s new rulers. On Dec. 24, the Syrian transitional government took a decisive step by concluding an agreement to unify the country’s armed factions into a single national army. At the heart of this effort, Hay’at Tahrir al-Sham (HTS), the Islamist rebel group that led the offensive to topple the Assad regime, had announced earlier its willingness to dissolve itself first, in order to encourage other factions to do the same.The government said in a statement that all the armed groups agreed to integrate their forces into the Defense Ministry after their leaders met with HTS head Sharaa, better known as Abu Mohamed al-Jolani. It’s about 80 groups, the al-Hurra channel quoted Hassan Abou Haniyeh, an expert on jihadist groups, as saying. The Syrian government stressed the importance of this agreement for Syria’s...
This was a priority for Syria’s new rulers. On Dec. 24, the Syrian transitional government took a decisive step by concluding an agreement to unify the country’s armed factions into a single national army. At the heart of this effort, Hay’at Tahrir al-Sham (HTS), the Islamist rebel group that led the offensive to topple the Assad regime, had announced earlier its willingness to dissolve itself first, in order to encourage other factions to do the same.The government said in a statement that all the armed groups agreed to integrate their forces into the Defense Ministry after their leaders met with HTS head Sharaa, better known as Abu Mohamed al-Jolani. It’s about 80 groups, the al-Hurra channel quoted Hassan Abou Haniyeh, an expert on jihadist groups, as saying. The Syrian government stressed the importance of this agreement for...