The armed opposition group led a lightning attack in Syria

The offensive campaign over the past two weeks, culminating in the declaration of control over the capital Damascus in Syria on December 8, is the clearest military operation of the Syrian opposition in many years, with forces leading the way. is the HTS armed movement.

Separated from al-Qaeda

The lightning attack campaign that left the army of Syrian President Bashar al-Assad unable to react in time partly showed the capabilities of HTS in particular, as well as the opposition alliance called the HTS Military Operation Force. being the leading unit overall, in addition to exploiting the Syrian army’s weaknesses.

HTS started from a group called Jabhat al-Nusra, founded in 2011 as a direct branch of the al-Qaeda terrorist network in Syria, commanded by Abu Mohammed al-Jawlani. The leader of the self-proclaimed Islamic State (IS) organization Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi also participated in the founding of al-Nursa.

Jabhat al-Nusra is considered the most effective and dangerous force for President al-Assad’s government. However, the group’s ideology was jihadist, and in the early years after its founding this was sometimes seen as being at odds with other opposition movements, which were committed to a war. revolution under the flag of “Syrian Freedom”, according to the BBC.

In 2016, Mr. al-Jawlani publicly separated from al-Qaeda, dissolved Jabhat al-Nusra and established a new organization, named Hayat Tahrir al-Sham, and combined with a number of other groups and HTS active up to now.

Over the years, HTS has established an area of ​​operation in Idlib province, northwest Syria, where the group also de facto runs the local government, despite facing criticism of human rights violations. HTS was also involved in some bitter infighting with other opposition groups.

Since separating from al-Qaeda, HTS’s goal has been limited to establishing an Islamic regime in Syria, instead of establishing an Islamic state with a multinational scale as in the case of IS.

The relationship between HTS and another large armed movement called the Syrian National Army – a group sponsored by Türkiye – is also relatively complicated, sometimes it is an opponent, sometimes it is an ally, due to some factors. different goals. Türkiye also denied information that it was involved in the opposition’s latest military campaign.

HTS seized the opportunity

HTS – an organization listed as terrorist by countries such as the US, Russia, and Türkiye – has not shown many signs in recent years that it will reignite the fire of large-scale fighting with the Syrian government, which controls and governs most of the country’s territory.

Since Russia and Türkiye brokered a ceasefire agreement in 2020, there have been no notable clashes between al-Assad’s government and the opposition. However, experts say that in recent years, the Damascus government has received support from Russia, Iran or the Lebanese armed group Hezbollah, especially militarily. Meanwhile, Syria’s armed forces are largely made up of conscripts, and the difficult economic situation has also put pressure on military salaries.

Observers share the same opinion that Israel’s launch of attacks on Hezbollah and Iran had more or less influence, and the prolonged war in Ukraine forced Russia to focus on direct conflict, creating a clear opportunity for the opposition in Syria reopens military operations. The city of Aleppo, the bloodiest battleground in years between the opposition and the Syrian government, before the government took control in 2016, fell within a day after HTS launched its attack on November 27. Without support from Moscow, Tehran or the Hezbollah group, the Syrian army is almost isolated and cannot resist the opposition’s attack.

The opposition military alliance carrying out the attack in Syria, in addition to leading HTS, also includes the Ahrar al-Sham movement (founded in 2011 and operating in Aleppo and Idlib), the National Front for Liberation (NFL, founded in Idlib in 2018), the Jaish al-Izza movement (focused on northern Hama province) and the Nour al-Din al-Zenki group (founded in 2014 in Aleppo).