Who are Hayat Tahrir al-Sham and the Syrian groups that took Aleppo?

Syrian absorption fighters person launched a lightning offensive, capturing astir of Aleppo and arriving arsenic acold southbound arsenic Hama successful a substance of days arsenic authorities forces retreated.

The rebels’ accelerated gains – the astir important since 2016 – person thrust Syria’s assorted absorption factions backmost into the spotlight.

Since President Bashar al-Assad’s brutal effect to peaceful demonstrators successful 2011 led to radical picking up arms to support themselves, equipped absorption groups person formed, allied with others and divided up respective times, making it hard to pinpoint their nonstop sizes and compositions.

Here’s everything we cognize astir the absorption groups progressive successful Operation Deterrence of Aggression with a enactment astatine the extremity astir different operation, Dawn of Freedom:

Operation Deterrence of Aggression – the power room

This umbrella radical was formed to coordinate the subject operation.

It developed retired of the Fateh al-Mubin operations centre, which oversaw the activities of the equipped absorption successful northwestern Syria nether the power of the Syrian Salvation Government (SSG).

The SSG is the Idlib-based technocratic medication of the opposition-held areas successful the northbound and was acceptable up successful 2017.

Hayat Tahrir al-Sham (HTS)

HTS is the biggest warring radical successful Operation Deterrence of Aggression.

Formerly Jabhat al-Nusra, past Jabhat Fateh al-Sham, it is simply a radical of allied factions, including Jabhat Fateh al-Sham, Liwa al-Haqq, Jabhat Ansar al-Din and Jaysh al-Sunna.

At the commencement of the Syrian war, Jabhat al-Nusra was formed successful 2012 by ISIL (ISIS), from which it divided a twelvemonth aboriginal and declared allegiance to al-Qaeda.

It severed ties with al-Qaeda and joined with different factions to rebrand arsenic HTS successful 2017.

HTS successful effect controls Idlib and is estimated to person up to 30,000 fighters.

It besides has economical power implicit swaths of territory and the resources there, including petroleum, which is simply a important root of income for it arsenic is the Bab al-Hawa borderline crossing with Turkiye.

HTS is mostly self-funded and is understood to power the SSG, adjacent announcing to the radical of Aleppo that the assorted SSG ministers based successful Idlib would present beryllium serving Aleppo arsenic well.

A damaged poster of President Bashar al-Assad successful Aleppo aft the Syrian service said dozens of its soldiers were killed successful an onslaught by absorption fighters connected November 30, 2024 [Mahmoud Hassano/Reuters]

National Front for Liberation (NFL)

A fig of the smaller warring groups that marque up the NFL participated successful Operation Deterrence of Aggression, including the Jaish al-Nasr, Sham Corps and Free Idlib Army.

Established successful Idlib successful 2018, the NFL includes respective bluish Syrian factions, immoderate of which besides autumn nether the umbrella of the Free Syrian Army.

Like connected galore fronts, the NFL came unneurotic to antagonistic threats by the authorities to beforehand connected Idlib.

Ahrar al-Sham Movement

Mostly progressive successful Aleppo and Idlib, Ahrar al-Sham was established successful 2011 arsenic authorities forces violently repressed the Syrian revolution.

Its warring unit was estimated astatine much than 15,000 according to 2015 estimates.

It defines itself arsenic a “comprehensive reformist Islamic movement, included and integrated wrong the Islamic Front”.

Jaish al-Izza

Focused successful the bluish reaches of the Hama governorate and immoderate parts of Lattakia, Jaish al-Izza (the Army of Pride) is portion of the Free Syrian Army.

As of 2019, it was estimated to person anyplace from 2,000 to 5,000 fighters and has received Western backing, including high-powered weapons.

Its fighters person joined the latest propulsion into Syrian authorities territory, with 1 of its commanders, Mustafa Abdul Jaber, saying its speedy occurrence was partially owed to the deficiency of Iranian manpower countering them.

Nur Eddin Zinki Movement

A almighty radical that emerged successful 2014 successful Aleppo, “Zinki” tried to articulation forces with HTS successful 2017, a determination that did not enactment retired arsenic Zinki divided off.

The 2 fought successful 2018, and Zinki was routed from its positions of powerfulness successful Aleppo successful aboriginal 2019.

A twelvemonth later, Zinki negotiated with HTS, and its fighters returned to the beforehand lines, and it has had a beingness among the absorption fighters since then.

(Al Jazeera)

Operation Dawn of Freedom

As the fighters progressive successful Deterrence of Aggression moved southbound towards Hama – and perchance adjacent Damascus, immoderate analysts expect – immoderate of those equipped absorption groups headed towards the northeast.

Abdurrahman Mustafa – the caput of the Syrian Interim Government, an absorption authorities successful bluish Syrian areas not held by HTS and the SSG – announced that a caller operation, Dawn of Freedom, had begun to “liberate” the northeast.

بينما يواصل شعبنا السوري كفاحه العادل لاستعادة حريته وتحرير وطنه من قيود الاستبداد والاحتلال والإرهاب، ومع تحقيق انتصارات ميدانية جديدة على يد أبطال الجيش الوطني والقوى الوطنية والثورية، تعلن الحكومة السورية المؤقتة بفخر انطلاق عملية فجر الحرية لتحرير المناطق التي يسيطر عليها… pic.twitter.com/jabvVrVZbQ

— Abdurrahman Mustafa (@STMAbdurrahman) November 30, 2024

Translation: As our Syrian radical proceed their conscionable conflict for state … and with caller victories achieved by the heroes of the National Army and the nationalist and revolutionary forces, the Syrian Interim Government proudly announces the motorboat of Operation Dawn of Freedom to liberate areas controlled by the al-Assad authorities and the separatist PKK and PYD militias. The liberation of these areas is an important measurement towards restoring Syrian territory … and paves the mode for the instrumentality of refugees and displaced persons to their homes. All respect and appreciation to the heroes of the National Army and everyone who took up arms successful defence of their radical and their onshore against this oppressive regime. …

These equipped groups – which mostly autumn nether the Syrian National Army, which successful crook is nether the Syrian Interim Government – were moving towards Kurdish-controlled areas, saying they were held by the PKK and PYD militias.

Turkiye’s PKK, oregon Kurdish Workers’ Party, is considered a “terrorist organisation” by Turkiye, Canada, the European Union and the United States. The PYD, oregon Democratic Union Party, is simply a left-wing Kurdish enactment successful Syria.