UPDATE: Hayat Tahrir al-Sham Succeed in Their Attack On The Assad Regime and Take Control Over Syria, Assad Falls and Leaves the Country

The recent incident that we have also reported on our page, the attack on Aleppo city by the rebel group Hayat Tahrir al-Sham, has now escalated to the entirety of Syria. The group gained significant control over Syria, capturing multiple crucial cities like Hama and Homs, then Damascus, in a very short time period — as short as 11 days— after the initial capture of Aleppo and the failure of the Syrian government in pushing the groups out of the city.

With the rise in power of Hayat Tahrir al-Sham, several other rebel groups — now in Damascus — supported the group, leaving almost all of Syria in the control of rebels. President Bashar al-Assad fled the country in a short manner and according to several sources, is currently in Russia, which has been the biggest ally of the Assad regime in Syria for years. With the president's departure, the Syrian government’s collapse has been finalized, and rebel groups are now in total control of Syria.

Before understanding the situation of Syria currently, we must know the history of the Assad regime and the civil war against them. The Assad family first came into office in 1971 with Hafez al-Assad and has been in power since then. The civil war came after rebel groups — most notably al-Qaeda — formed to take the regime down, representing the Syrian people who described the Assad rule as brutal. During their rule, the Assad family has been responsible for multiple extrajudicial killings, torture, the building of detention facilities, and unfair imprisonment. When rebel groups took control of Damascus, they freed hundreds of prisoners jailed in detention facilities.

Picture: Sky News

The civil war has been ongoing for 13 years, with rebel groups always facing some kind of obstacle, either from other militant groups, interference of other world powers, or the Syrian government. Multiple rebel groups were involved in this war. Hayat Tahrir al-Sham is one of them. This group, led by Abu Mohammad al-Jolani, was once a close ally of al-Qaeda, and al-Jolani was an apprentice of the former ISIS leader. HTS departed from al-Qaeda after a disagreement with al-Qaeda about their use of extreme Islamism.

Since then, they have been involved with numerous attacks on the Syrian government around the country. They most notably played a big part in capturing Idlib, being one of the biggest powers in the city. HTS, along with Turkey-backed Syrian National Army, the Kurdish-backed Syrian Democratic Forces, and some other rebel groups, has been plotting against the Assad regime for years. Although each group has different intentions, their attacks on the Syrian government have weakened the regime throughout these 13 years.

Perhaps that is one of the reasons why HTS was able to soar through the country, gaining power in multiple crucial cities and ultimately reaching Damascus in just 11 days. Though it is also important to note that the Assad regime is very dependent on Russia and its forces. Recently, with Ukraine – backed by the EU – attacking back at Russia, Russia has experienced losses in its military. Some sources reported that Russia wasn’t able to supply Assad as well as they did before. HTS took notice of this and used it to their advantage, leaving Assad with no choice but to surrender.

The future of Syria as of now seems conflicted. While Assad has not announced the collapse of the government, the fact that his regime fled to Russia and the situation in Damascus point to it. Right now, HTS has announced that they have power over Syria. A large majority of the Syrian people are pleased with this announcement, and some Syrians who had immigrated to escape Assad’s “cruel” rule are starting to return. Although rallies have occurred, no incidents of violence after HTS coming to power have been recorded. The way HTS will rule the country is unclear. Since these advancements are very recent, it is time that will show us how this will affect Syria and the world.

International reactions arrived shortly after Hayat Tahrir al-Sham’s significant control over the country. Although Turkey, which has been backing the fight of the Syrian rebels for years, acknowledges HTS as a terrorist organization, the Turkish public seems to be in support of this news. President Erdogan also made statements of support to the HTS rule. It is also to Turkey’s advantage that HTS is enemies with the Kurdish forces in northern Syria.

Russia, which is one of Assad’s closest allies, has not yet taken action against HTS. They allowed Assad and his family to seek refuge in their country. The Kremlin Palace confirmed that Assad was currently in Moscow. HTS, which has ordered for Assad to be executed, is demanding the return of Assad to Syria. Russia is expected to take action as they did when HTS first entered and took control of Aleppo. A major reaction from Iran, Assad’s second closest ally, has not yet been reported. More international reactions are expected.

A definite answer about the future of Syria has not yet been achieved. We will keep you updated as this situation escalates and more sources of information come out.

Source: CNN

Author: Defne Doğan