Syria dissolves rebel factions as al-Sharaa consolidates power

Unlock Editor’s Digest for free

Roula Khalaf, editor of the FT, picks her favorite stories in this weekly newsletter.

Syrian rebel groups have agreed to disband as part of the interim government’s defense ministry as the new administration rushes to consolidate power within a restructured government institution.

The new administration’s commander-in-chief Ahmed al-Shara – the former head of the Islamist rebel group Hayat Tahrir al-Sham, who previously used his nom de guerre Abu Mohammed al-Jolani – announced the deal on Tuesday after a meeting with the group’s chiefs. Turkish-backed Syrian National Army and factions in northeastern and southern Syria.

The government said the meeting “resulted in an agreement to dissolve all parties and merge them under the umbrella of the Ministry of Defence”.

The Kurdish-led, US-backed Syrian Democratic Forces were absent as they clashed with Turkish-backed rebels in the northeast after an initial Washington-brokered ceasefire there collapsed.

The interim government deal was reached just two weeks after the fall of dictator former President Bashar al-Assad following a lightning attack by HTS-led rebels after 13 years of brutal civil war. It comes as Al-Shara seeks to cement power over the fractured country.

He faces a difficult task. His group, the HTS, has increasingly professionalized its forces through military academies and training, unlike more fractured allied rebel groups.

Security is a key issue for the new administration, which faces concerns including clashes between Turkish-backed rebels and the SDF; the threat of a resurgence of ISIS, a longtime foe of HTS that was not part of Tuesday’s deal; And the possibility of loyalists of the ousted government regrouping after Assad disbanded his army before fleeing the country.

Shariah’s government is consolidating institutions such as the police department, army and security forces. In the past two weeks, it has opened “settlement centers” for police job applications and former regime soldiers.

It has been trying to maintain security across the country by deploying security and police personnel from its enclave in Idlib, a corner of northwestern Syria that has been under HTS control for years.

Security concerns have risen this week, particularly as unconfirmed reports of revenge killings in small villages and highway robberies spread across the country.

On Monday, in the northwestern Christian town of al-Suqailabiya, a large Christmas tree in a roundabout was set on fire by unidentified assailants, raising fears that Syria’s Christian minority could be targeted by radical Islamist groups.

Footage shared on social media showed a member of the HTS standing with two priests in al-Suqailabiyah as the tree was to be repaired before dawn.

Hundreds of people across Syria protested the vandalism on Tuesday. Protesters carrying crosses were seen marching through the streets of Bab Touma area of ​​Damascus. Elsewhere in Damascus, people shopped at a large open-air Christmas market.

Incidents such as the burning of Christmas trees have so far been described as isolated incidents by the new leadership, which has sought to portray itself as a moderate administration for all Syrians despite its roots in Islamist beliefs and jihadism.

But minority groups fear being sidelined and attacked, despite the widespread repression under Assad that has characterized his rule and enjoyed some protection.