BBC NEWS | Published December 1, 2024
Rebel forces launched the largest offensive against the Syrian government in years on Wednesday.
By Sunday, they had taken control of “large parts” of the country’s second-biggest city, Aleppo and were advancing towards Hama in the south.
The surprise offensive prompted the first Russian strikes on Aleppo since 2016, and saw Syria’s military withdraw its troops from the city.
The attack was led by the Islamist militant group Hayat Tahrir al-Sham (HTS) – which has a long and involved history in the Syrian conflict.
Who are Hayat Tahrir al-Sham?
HTS have led the charge into Aleppo
HTS was set up under a different name, Jabhat al-Nusra, in 2011 as a direct affiliate of Al Qaeda.
The leader of the self-styled Islamic State (IS) group, Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi, was also involved in its formation.
It was regarded as one of the most effective and deadly of the groups ranged against President Assad.
But its jihadist ideology appeared to be its driving force rather than revolutionary zeal – and it was seen at the time as at odds with the main rebel coalition under the banner of Free Syria.
And in 2016, the group’s leader, Abu Mohammed al-Jawlani, publicly broke ranks with Al Qaeda, dissolved Jabhat al-Nusra and set up a new organisation, which took the name Hayat Tahrir al-Sham when it merged with several other similar groups a year later.
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SOURCE: www.bbc.com
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The current push against Syrian government forces in Aleppo has been conducted by a disparate opposition groups whose only connection seems to be a hatred of the Assad regime and its Russian backers.
Anti-government fighters hold the Syrian opposition flag at the entrance to Aleppo’s citadel on Saturday. Photo: Muhammad Haj Kadour / AFP.
KYIV POST | Published December 2, 2024
The offensive thrust into Syria’s Aleppo governate that began on Nov. 27, is being carried out by a coalition of Islamist militant groups led by the Turkish backed former Al Qaeda affiliated group, Hayat Tahrir al-Sham.
According to reports on some Islamist social media sites, the rebel groups based in the Idlib region – which is said to include members of the Turkestan Islamic Party (TIP) – had received operational training from special forces troops from the Khimik group of Ukraine’s Main Intelligence Directorate (HUR). The training team focused on tactics developed during the war in Ukraine, including on the use of drones.
HUR’s Khimik group was credited with the attack on a Russian military base on the southeastern outskirts of Aleppo on Sept. 15, in which Russian attack drones and “camouflaged improvised explosive devices,” were destroyed according to a Kyiv Post military intelligence source.
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