Syria: Foreign fighters given senior army posts

Syria’s new leaders are said to have given some foreign Muslim fighters senior positions in the country’s military.

The army is being reorganized by Hayat Tahrir al-Sham (HTS) – the Islamist group that now controls the country – following the ouster of Bashar al-Assad earlier this month.

Although there is no evidence to confirm the move of the new leadership, it is likely to raise concerns inside and outside of Syria about the role that foreign terrorists can play in the future of the country.

Several Syrian sources have found that of the 50 new military units announced, at least six have gone to foreigners.

Based on the published names, they are said to include Chinese Uyghurs, Jordanians and Turks. All are said to have been given high positions such as colonels or brigadier-generals.

The role of foreign fighters in various armed groups during the civil war is a source of strong opinion in Syria.

Thousands of fighters from around the world have joined the anti-Assad campaign in what has become an all-time conflict as large-scale protests have been met with security crackdowns.

Some formed their own groups and others provided the basis for the Islamic State group, which seized large swaths of eastern Syria.

Opponents of HTS have long accused it of being made up mostly of foreign fighters – a charge that Assad’s supporters have tried to attribute to the group while it is engaged in anti-government activities.

But during the years he ran the terrorist group in Idlib, Ahmed al-Sharaa – the leader of HTS and now Syria – removed some of these foreign fighters in order to strengthen his group’s identity as a nationalist and not an extremist. jihadist power.

Al-Sharaa’s message since taking power has repeatedly emphasized the vision of a united Syrian state, in which all communities should be respected and have a role.

For those worried that his actions may not match his words, this apparent move to establish the roles of prominent foreign fighters may give them pause for thought.

The posts appear to be designed to reward those fighters – whether in Syria or elsewhere – who played a key role in the regime’s eventual victory.

For the same reason, some of the remaining foreign fighters – along with their families – now appear to have been granted Syrian citizenship.

This issue is one of many that could undermine any new political and social change in Syria.

The new authorities are putting a lot of weight on the National Dialogue Conference which is planned to bring together representatives of all social groups – although no date has been set.

The hope is that the meeting will start a process of rebuilding the institutions of a broken and divided country.