As the government and opposition delegations began talks on March 23 to end Syria’s six-year war, al-Qaeda’s latest manifestation, Tahrir al-Sham, launched attacks in Damascus, Homs, Hama and Aleppo provinces with the aim of torpedoing the UN-mediated negotiations.
Hay’at Tahrir al-Sham, ‘Organisation for the Liberation of Syria,’ is a coalition of six of the main jihadi groupings plus minor factions forged by Jabhat Fatah al-Sham (ex-Jabhat al-Nusra) at the end of January.
The Jabhat has long sought to merge with other radical groups in order to assert command and control and secure funding and weapons. Qatar is currently the main source of money for al-Qaeda and other jihadi groups although Saudi Arabia continues to provide some finance and arms and Turkey logistical support.
The ultimate objective of the coalition, which may have as many as 31,000 fighters, is to transform Syria into a theocratic emirate governed by al-Qaeda. Syrians who live in areas it holds have nicknamed the Tahrir al-Sham ‘Hetesh,’ on the basis of its Arabic acronym (HTS). The term is considered pejorative as is the case with Daesh, the acronym for Islamic State (DHS), the second child of al-Qaeda.
Few Syrians want to live under the rule of either of the terrible al-Qaeda twins. Men are compelled to grow beards, dress in Afghan style clothing, and attend mosque prayers five times a day. Women must cover from head to toe and remain at home, invisible.
Since the Islamic State has come under attack by Iraqi forces in Mosul in northern Iraq and Syrian Kurdish forces in the northern Syrian city of Raqqa, the Jabhat has become the most powerful jihadi organisation in Syria, boosting al-Qaeda’s relevance on the global scene. Islamic State’s star is fading in West Asia and the movement may be forced underground from where it will continue to mount deadly suicide bombings in Iraq, Syria and elsewhere.
The Jabhat coalition is largely based in Syria’s north-western Idlib province where its fighters have been battling other extremist factions as well as groups gathered under the banner of the ‘Free Syrian Army.’ However, the Jabhat and its allies have also deployed fighters across the country and claim to have made detailed plans for the ongoing operations against the overstretched Syrian army, backed by Iranian ground troops and Russian air power.
The situation on the ground in Syria, in particular, is growing increasingly complicated due to the multiplicity of competing regional and international actors involved in the conflict. Rivals Ankara and Washington seek to “liberate” Raqqa, the Islamic State capital, with their surrogate forces.
Turkey is determined that the ‘Free Syrian Army’ fighters should play a major role in this campaign, while the US has given the task to Kurdish-dominated Democratic Forces units. They are regarded by Turkey as “terrorists” due to their links with separatist Turkish Kurds. The US has deployed 1,000 of its special forces and set up two air bases in northern Syria under the pretext of pursuing the anti-Islamic State campaign.
The Syrian government’s ally, Russia is also courting the Syrian Kurds, the most effective militia operating in the country, by providing training for their fighters and, reportedly, establishing a base in Kurdish held territory along the Turkish-Syrian border. Russia has an air base near Latakia and a small naval facility at Tartous, both on the Syrian coast.
Arms dumps
Meanwhile, Israel has repeatedly carried out air strikes on Syrian targets which Tel Aviv claims, are arms dumps for the Lebanese Hizbollah movement, the third key Syrian government ally. Israel has been making contingency plans for fresh wars on both Hizbollah in Lebanon and the Palestinian Hamas movement in Gaza.
Determined to boost the offensive against Islamic State, US Secretary of State Rex Tillerson convened a meeting of the 68-nation coalition on March 22-23, the first in two years. This outsized grouping provides the US with political cover for military intervention in Syria and Iraq. However, Washington remains too narrowly focused on Islamic State and has done little to counter the Jabhat, its eager successor which now poses a greater danger.
While conducting sporadic bombing raids against Jabhat targets in Idlib, the US has done little to halt the flow of funds and arms to the group by exerting pressure on Qatar, Saudi Arabia and Turkey, states favouring a theocratic regime in Syria, to end their support for the Jabhat.
Washington and its allies still believe they can use the Jabhat to topple Syrian President Bashar al-Assad as they recruited Afghan “mujahedin” to drive the Russians from Afghanistan during the 1980s. The “mujahedin” morphed into the Taliban — to fight the US — and al-Qaeda, the parent of jihadi groups destabilising West Asia and terrorising countries across the world.
All al-Qaeda plants must be rooted out. The US and its partners have not learned the lesson that you cannot exploit radical religious movements without paying a high price. Unfortunately, the blood price is exacted from Syrians, Iraqis, and, since the US assault on their country in 2001, Afghans.