Foreign fighters given senior posts in Syria

According to the Saudi Gazette, the new Syrian authorities are reported to have given some foreign Islamist fighters senior official posts in the country's armed forces. The army is being reorganized by Hayat Tahrir al-Sham (HTS), the militant group that is now effectively in charge of the country following the overthrow of former President Bashar al-Assad earlier this month.

There's been no confirmation by the new leadership of the move, but it seems likely to raise concern inside and outside Syria over the role such foreign militants may play in the country's future.

It comes amid reports that Syria's new de-facto leader, Ahmed al-Sharaa, has held separate meetings with representatives of the Kurds and Christians in the country – two communities that are most concerned about the potential agenda of the new authorities.

Several Syrian sources have deduced that out of almost 50 new military roles that have been announced, at least six have gone to foreigners.

Based on the names that have been published, they are said to include Chinese Uyghurs, a Jordanian and a Turkish national. All are said to have been given high-ranking positions as colonels or brigadier generals.

The role of foreign fighters in various armed groups during the civil war is one that stirs strong feelings in Syria.

Thousands of fighters from many different countries joined the uprising against Assad as it became an all-out armed conflict when mass protests were met with violence by the security forces.

Militants from abroad were seen as trying to impose their extremist ideology on Syria — something that Syrians from all communities are now saying they will not accept in the country's future after Assad.

Some formed their own groups and others provided the core of the Islamic State (IS) group, which took control of large regions in the east of Syria.

Opponents of HTS had long accused it of being largely made up of foreign militants — a charge Assad supporters used to try to delegitimize the group as it mounted its final, decisive offensive against the regime.

But in the years that he ran the rebel enclave in Idlib, Ahmed al-Sharaa – the leader of HTS and now Syria – had been getting rid of some of those foreign fighters in a bid to bolster his group's credentials as a nationalist rather than overtly jihadist force.

Since taking power al-Sharaa has repeatedly stressed the vision of a unified Syrian state, in which all communities must be respected and have a stake.

On Tuesday, a Syrian official said the first talks between members of the Kurdish-led Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF) and al-Sharaa since he became the most powerful man in Syria three weeks ago have now taken place and were positive.

The SDF is backed by the US and controls much of the north-east of Syria. But Turkey, which has backed al-Sharaa's group HTS, sees them as terrorists, which has raised fears of a looming confrontation.

Al-Sharaa has also met high-level members of the Christian clergy. He has stressed that he wants all communities to have a stake in Syria's future and is preparing a National Dialogue Conference to try to ensure that this process can begin.

For those who are concerned that his actions might not match his words, this apparent move to formalize the positions of some prominent foreign fighters may give them further pause for thought.

The appointments appear to have been made in order to reward those fighters – whether from Syria or elsewhere – who played a significant role in the final triumph over the regime.

For the same reason, some of the remaining foreign fighters – along with their families – now seem likely to be given Syrian citizenship.

The issue is just one of many that could complicate any successful transition to a new political and social framework in Syria.

The new authorities are putting a lot of weight on a National Dialogue Conference that is being prepared to bring together representatives from all sections of society – although no date has been set.

The hope is that the conference will set in motion the process to rebuild the institutions of the broken and divided country. 

HTS seeking close ties with Israel

Syria’s new rulers are seeking cordial relations with Israel despite domestic anger over the regime’s occupation of more lands of the Arab country. 

“We have no fear toward Israel, and our problem is not with Israel. There exists a people who want coexistence. They want peace. They don’t want disputes,” the governor of Damascus said Thursday. 

Maher Marwan made the comments in an interview with the US public broadcaster NPR, apparently on behalf of Syrian de facto leader Ahmed al-Sharaa, also known by his nom de guerre, Abu Mohammed al-Jolani.

Marwan added, “And we don’t want to meddle in anything that will threaten Israel’s security or any other country’s security. We want peace, and we cannot be an opponent to Israel or an opponent to anyone.”

This is how he tried to justify Israeli strikes on Syria after the Hayat Tahrir al-Sham (HTS) rebel group and its allies toppled the government of President Bashar Assad on December 08, 2024. 

Marwan said Israel’s initial trepidation after the fall of Assad was “natural.”

“Israel may have felt fear. So it advanced a little, bombed a little, etc,” he noted. 

The Israeli army has carried out hundreds of airstrikes in Syria destroying much of the country’s military capabilities since HTS removed Assad from power. The regime claims it wants to prevent military equipment from falling into hostile hands.

Israel also sent its ground forces into a UN-patrolled buffer zone in the occupied Golan Heights and beyond after Assad’s fall. 

Israel has extended its occupation to further regions of the Syrian territory, encompassing various towns, villages, and the strategically significant Mount Hermon. 

Israel claims the occupation of additional parts of the Syrian territory is aimed at ensuring the security of the regime’s borders.  

Israel’s land incursion into Syria violates the 1974 agreement between the two sides. The United Nations and a number of countries have demanded Israel withdraw from the region. 

Syrians have also condemned Israel’s presence on the country’s territory.                                           

On Wednesday, residents of a village in the southwestern province of Quneitra protested against Israel’s military presence there. 

Israeli forces opened fire on the demonstrators in the village of Susa, injuring several of them. 

Earlier this month, Israeli forces also attacked protesters who had gathered in the village of Maariyah on the western edge of Syria’s southern Daraa province to demand an end to the regime’s military presence in the area. They shot and wounded a protester. 

 

Syrian counteroffensive against infiltrators

The Syrian Arab Army has launched a major counteroffensive against terrorist groups who waged a surprise assault from the northwestern city of Idlib. Government forces have successfully halted the advance of terrorists led by Hayat Tahrir al-Sham (HTS), aligned with al-Qaeda.

Fighting between the Syrian army and HTS-led terrorists has reportedly expanded from western Aleppo city to southwest of Aleppo, east of Idlib in the vicinity of Saraqib city, and southeast of Idlib.

Terrorists have been launching major attacks on these fronts since Friday morning, intending to breach Aleppo.

A large majority of the terrorists who have been killed are foreigners, according to Syrian army sources.

After reinforcements, Special Forces were dispatched to the region, the army took back control of one village from the terrorists in southeastern Idlib after heavy clashes.

In two other villages, terrorists have been forced to retreat to Idlib city.

The counteroffensive has seen heavy rocket barrages and Russian-Syrian warplanes targeting the positions of the HTS-led Joint Operations Room.

Terror groups are reportedly attempting to open a new front after failing to advance toward a main highway called M5.

Intense battles are also taking place south of Idlib, which is under Syrian army control.

Russian and Syrian airstrikes have stretched from villages that had been taken over by terrorist groups in Western Aleppo and newly established HTS supply lines in Jabal al-Zawiya (Zawiya Mountains), south of Idlib.

Meanwhile, heavy fighting continues on two fronts in Aleppo’s countryside between the Syrian army and terrorist groups who are fiercely trying to make advances.

Syrian warplanes also targeted terrorists near the city of Marea, north of Aleppo.

According to reports, clashes persist in Saraqib, west of the Aleppo-Damascus highway, as militants fail to make any breakthrough.

The Syrian army also repelled militant attacks on a front southwest of Aleppo city, thwarting four attacks from Thursday evening until Friday morning.

Additionally, the army repelled five successive assaults on Andan, northwest of Aleppo, inflicting heavy casualties among the terror groups.

Violent clashes are also ongoing in the town of Mansoura, west of Aleppo, as militants tried unsuccessfully to enter. The town is less than two kilometers from Aleppo.

Reports indicate that large convoys of militants, heavy weapons, and other ammunition entered through a Syrian crossing with Turkey, heading toward combat fronts in western Aleppo and southern Idlib.

Syrian warplanes monitored the convoys entering the town of Marea and conducted airstrikes targeting terrorist positions and some of the newly arrived military vehicles.

In recent days, HTS, alongside factions of the Turkish-backed groups, launched a surprise broad offensive on Syrian army positions in Idlib province and the city of Aleppo. Reports suggest that HTS used new weapons, including Ukrainian drones.

On Wednesday, at least 400 militants linked to HTS were killed while attacking Syrian army positions in Aleppo and Idlib, according to Oleg Yegnasiyuk, deputy chief of the Russian Reconciliation Center in Syria.

Analysts have been quick to point out that the timing of the terror offensive on Aleppo, which has led to the martyrdom of a senior Iranian military advisor in Syria, coincided with the Israeli ceasefire with Lebanon.

On Wednesday, the 60-day truce ended the daily exchange of fire between Hezbollah and the Israeli military since October 08, 2023.

The last battle in Aleppo saw similar terrorist groups defeated in 2017 when the Syrian army, backed by Iranian military advisors and Russia, liberated the ancient city.

It was widely believed to be the turning point in the more than a decade-long Syrian war on terrorism that saw militants, who had once controlled large swathes of Syria, holed up in Idlib.

Northwest of Syria, where there are oil reserves, is also occupied by the United States military and mostly US-backed Kurdish rebels.

Turkey has maintained an illegal occupation in the northern Syrian border near Idlib over the past years as well.

This is while the Israeli regime has, for decades now, occupied the Syrian Golan Heights in another threat to the stability of the Arab country.