On December 8, 2024, insurgent forces deposed the regime of Syria’s longtime dictator, Bashar al Assad, after the insurgents stormed via a lot of the nation, retaking varied regional capitals and culminating within the seize of Damascus itself.
The majority of this offensive was led by Hayat Tahrir al Sham (HTS), one in all Syria’s largest insurgent teams that has successfully ruled a lot of the nation’s Idlib Province for a number of years. Though HTS claims it’s now not affiliated with Al Qaeda, it stays a jihadist group that started life as Al Qaeda’s native department.
As of the time of publishing, HTS stays listed by the US authorities as a Foreign Terrorist Organization, and its chief, Abu Muhammad al Jolani, is a Specially Designated Global Terrorist as a result of their historical past as a part of Al Qaeda.
Despite these designations, a debate allegedly exists throughout the Biden administration round eradicating HTS from the checklist of Foreign Terrorist Organizations after the group led the offensive that toppled Assad. Officially, nonetheless, this purported consideration has been denied.
The alleged rationale of these favoring delisting Hayat Tahrir al Sham is that the group has turn out to be “reasonable” and has disassociated itself from Al Qaeda and overseas terror teams. In addition, since HTS stays the strongest group in Syria, many inside its management, together with Jolani, will probably discover themselves throughout the new Syrian authorities.
The competition that HTS broke with Al Qaeda stems from Jolani’s assertion in July 2016, when he mentioned that HTS’s then-newly shaped predecessor, Jabhat Fatah Al Sham, would have “no affiliation to any exterior entity.” This determination got here after Jolani consulted with Al Qaeda Central Leadership’s official representatives in Syria on the time.
It is necessary to notice that Jolani didn’t explicitly denounce his oath of allegiance to Al Qaeda on this assertion—although it was clearly meant to distance himself and his group from the terrorist group. In doing so, Jolani nonetheless thanked Al Qaeda for “understanding the necessity to break ties.”
“There is little question that issues emerged between Al Qaeda senior leaders and Abu Mohammed al Jolani after the latter’s ‘disassociation’ from Al Qaeda in 2016,” Thomas Joscelyn, a terrorism knowledgeable and co-founder of FDD’s Long War Journal, advised LWJ. “But we shouldn’t neglect that Jolani’s preliminary ‘disassociation’ was endorsed by the quantity two of al-Qaeda on the time.”
“And in his announcement, Jolani heaped reward on Osama bin Laden and Ayman al Zawahiri whereas utilizing ambiguous language regarding what his transfer truly meant,” Joscelyn continued. “As Al Qaeda sorts identified on social media, it seems Jolani even dressed like bin Laden for the event. These are simply among the the explanation why actual evaluation requires skepticism and never cheerleading.”
It can also be value noting that Al Qaeda by no means publicly launched Jolani from his oath to then-Al Qaeda Emir Ayman al Zawahiri. In truth, Zawahiri praised Jolani shortly after the Syrian chief reportedly broke his allegiance to him. However, since Zawahiri’s demise in July 2022, it’s unknown what kind of relationship Jolani has with senior Al Qaeda leaders—if any in any respect.
Though Jolani’s group has periodically arrested Al Qaeda-linked people in Syria and generally clashed with Hurras al Din, Al Qaeda’s present department in Syria, the concept that HTS has “no affiliation to any exterior entity” is definitely debunked by wanting on the overseas jihadist teams that both function beneath HTS’s banner or routinely struggle alongside it as a corporation ‘authorized’ by HTS.
These teams and people should be accounted for in any doable consideration of eradicating HTS’s terrorist designation and in assessing the way forward for US engagement with it in Syria. Even whether it is true that HTS has no official affiliation with Al Qaeda as a corporation, many inside HTS’s ranks or allied to it do, in actual fact, stay affiliated with Al Qaeda.
A sampling of overseas jihadist teams that collaborate with Jolani’s cadre follows:
The Turkistan Islamic Party (TIP) is an Al Qaeda-affiliated Uighur jihadist group that operates in each Afghanistan and Syria. Inside Afghanistan, it has fought alongside Al Qaeda since earlier than the US invasion in 2001. TIP’s present general emir, who presides over each branches, is Abdul Haq al Turkistani, who additionally sits on Al Qaeda’s fundamental shura council. Inside Syria, the group stays a staunch ally of HTS, typically taking part in offensives alongside HTS’s males. TIP (generally referred to as the East Turkistan Islamic Movement) was shockingly delisted as a terrorist group by the US in 2020 regardless of its core relationship with Al Qaeda.
During the current advance that toppled the Assad regime, TIP was on the forefront of most battles, which it closely showcased on its propaganda and social media channels. Abdul Haq has additionally since launched a press release praising the rebels’ victory in Syria. Video of TIP fighters parading their forces in Latakia, Syria, emerged on December 10, 2024.
The Mujahidin Ghuroba Division, previously generally known as the Katibat al Ghuraba al Turkistan, is one other Uighur jihadist group that operates beneath HTS’s banner. It was shaped round 2017, when it was an unbiased jihadist group however nonetheless brazenly pro-Al Qaeda on its social media platforms. Since becoming a member of HTS and consolidating inside its ranks, Katibat al Ghuraba al Turkistan is now not as brazenly supportive of Al Qaeda. Importantly, the group beforehand operated a sub-unit composed of Palestinian fighters from the Abdullah Azzam Brigades in Lebanon. The Abdullah Azzam Brigades, which disbanded in 2019, was an Al Qaeda-affiliated group.
Like the TIP, the Mujahidin Ghuroba Division was additionally closely concerned in HTS’s advances throughout northern Syria. For occasion, the group launched a number of images of its forces working in Aleppo and Saraqib on November 29, 2024.
Katibat Imam al Bukhari, also referred to as the Imam Bukhari Jamaat, is an Uzbek jihadist group that operates in Syria and Afghanistan and is allied with HTS, Al Qaeda, and the Taliban. The group swears allegiance to the emir of the Afghan Taliban, Hibatullah Akhundzada, and took part within the Taliban’s takeover of Afghanistan in 2021. It was designated as a terrorist group by the US State Department in 2018.
In Syria, Katibat Imam al Bukhari has lengthy been an ally of HTS and its varied predecessor teams. In addition to serving to HTS topple Assad in current days, it was additionally current throughout HTS’s takeover of Idlib in 2015 (when HTS was nonetheless generally known as the Al Nusrah Front). Katibat Imam al Bukhari launched a video of its chief in Latakia, Syria, on December 9, 2024.
Katibat al Tawhid wal Jihad (KTJ) is one other Uzbek (and Kyrgyz) jihadist group that operates in Syria and Afghanistan and is allied with HTS, Al Qaeda, and the Taliban. KTJ was behind a suicide bombing on the Chinese embassy in Kyrgyzstan in 2016. For this assault and its relationship to Al Qaeda and different Uzbek teams, together with Katibat Imam al-Bukhari, the US State Department designated it as a terrorist group in 2022.
Inside Syria, KJT is closely built-in throughout the ranks of HTS and straight participates in fight beneath HTS’s command construction. It was closely concerned within the HTS-led offensive that toppled the Assad regime. The group launched a video of its fighters working in Aleppo on November 29, 2024.
The Islamic Jihad Union (IJU) is yet one more Uzbek jihadist group that operates in each Syria and Afghanistan and is allied to HTS, Al Qaeda, and the Taliban. The IJU relies in Afghanistan however maintains a department inside Syria and fights beneath the banner of HTS, in line with the United Nations. The US State Department’s designation of Katibat al Tawhid wal Jihad additionally alluded to IJU’s presence in Syria with HTS. In Afghanistan, IJU has lengthy been affiliated with Al Qaeda and assisted the Taliban in taking on the nation in 2021. It was designated as a terrorist group by the US in 2005.
In Syria, the Islamic Jihad Union beforehand operated beneath the moniker of Ansar Jihad, led by a Uighur Al Qaeda veteran, Abu Omar al Turkistani. However, after Turkistani’s demise in 2017 alongside different Al Qaeda leaders, the group folded into the bigger HTS equipment. The IJU’s present standing is unknown, because it doesn’t keep unbiased media platforms like the opposite Uzbek factions.
Liwa al Muhajireen wal Ansar (LMA, previously generally known as Jaish al Muhajireen wal Ansar) is a jihadist group made up of fighters from the North Caucasus who’ve pledged allegiance to the previous Al Nusrah Front, which has since turn out to be the core of HTS. LMA was designated as a terrorist group beneath its earlier moniker of Jaish al-Mujahideen wal Ansar in 2014. LMA launched images of its forces working in Aleppo and Saraqib on November 29, 2024.
It is necessary to notice that LMA additionally incorporates the remnants of assorted different North Caucasian teams in Syria, such because the Caucasus Emirate. The Caucasus Emirate, or Imarat Kavkaz, was Al Qaeda’s now-defunct department in Chechnya and the broader North Caucasus. It had an official department inside Syria, in addition to wings from its North Caucasian contingents, such because the Caucasus Emirate’s Vilayat Kabarda, Balkaria, and Karachay (KBK), and its Nogai Jamaat. Other, smaller Russian-speaking items that joined HTS, such because the Crimean Jamaat, additionally merged into LMA.
Ajnad al Kavkaz is a jihadist group comprised of Chechens and different North Caucasians who struggle alongside HTS in Syria. Though its historic management has had longstanding ties to the Caucasus Emirate and, by advantage of them, Al Qaeda, Ajnad al Kavkaz has remained an unbiased group inside Syria and doesn’t brazenly reward any group. Its founder, Abdul Hakim al Shishani, now fights in Ukraine towards Russian forces. The group launched a video of its fighters within the Umayyad Mosque in Damascus on December 9, 2024.
Xhemati Alban, or the Albanian Jamaat, is a jihadist group primarily composed of ethnic Albanians and different Balkan fighters in Syria. It is formally a part of HTS’s construction, with its emir, Abu Qatada al Albani, performing as a deputy and advisor to Jolani. Albani, whose actual identify is Abdul Jashari, was designated as a terrorist by the US in 2016. Xhemati Alban has brazenly touted its participation within the current battles that toppled Assad.
Ansar al Islam is an Al Qaeda-linked jihadist group that was initially based in northern Iraq in 2001 and now primarily operates in Syria (although it tried a revival in Iraq in 2019). Ansar al Islam has lengthy been affiliated with Al Qaeda and was a key a part of the latter group’s operations inside Iraq in the course of the US conflict there. The US designated it as a terrorist group in 2004.
In Syria, Ansar al Islam fights alongside Hayat Tahrir al Sham as an ally however isn’t formally a part of HTS’s equipment. On December 5, 2024, Ansar al Islam introduced that it was concerned within the combating to depose the Assad regime.
Ansar al Tawhid, which shaped out of the remnants of the previous Jund al Aqsa, is a jihadist group made up of native Syrians and overseas fighters that broke away from Hurras al Din, Al Qaeda’s present department in Syria. As Jund al Aqsa, the group was designated as a terrorist group by the US in 2016, although its present formation is unlisted.
Ansar al Tawhid hosts many overseas contingents inside its ranks, similar to Firqat al Ghuraba, a French jihadist group led by Omar Diaby (a US-designated terrorist), which is brazenly pro-Al Qaeda. Firqat al Ghuraba has had conflicts with HTS previously however nonetheless operates along with it as a part of Ansar al Tawhid. Firqat al Ghuraba beforehand fought beneath the auspices of the Turkistan Islamic Party.
Ansar al Tawhid operates alongside Hayat Tahrir al Sham as an ally however isn’t formally a part of HTS’s construction. On December 5, 2024, the group launched a video of its fighters working in Syria to depose the Assad regime. Firqat al Ghuraba, as a part of Ansar al Tawhid, was additionally proven to have participated within the current offensive that toppled Assad.
