The collapse of Bashar al-Assad in Syria looked improbable a short while back, however, Syrian rebels, who were with Al-Qaeda and ISIS (Islamic State of Iraq and the Syria) terrorists not too long ago, executed a swift march to power, ushering in an unpredictable new era for the nation after 13 years of civil war. Bashar al-Assad and his family are reportedly in Moscow after the country gave them asylum on humanitarian grounds and an agreement was reached to protect Russian military bases.
The rebels may claim to have liberated Damascus, but the recent turmoil in yet another Middle Eastern country, the area which is prone to similar uprisings and disorder, has also sparked a lot of concerns about potentially dismal future amid further violence. More significantly, there are grave concerns regarding the weapons that Bashar al-Assad accumulated, and the possibility that they would fall into the wrong hands following the overthrow of his regime.
Notably, on 8th December Israeli Air Force (IAF) began a series of intense raids on strategic and military targets throughout Syria, which continued the next day in light of the latest developments. The strikes targeted weapons that Jerusalem believed could fall into the hands of hostile elements. Numerous locations have been pounded by dozens of IAF planes, with an emphasis on eliminating “strategic weapons.”
تغطية صحفية: لحظة شن طائرات الاحتلال غارات على مدينة درعا السورية ومحيطها pic.twitter.com/udYN2eUDco
— شبكة قدس الإخبارية (@qudsn) December 9, 2024
Israeli planes struck at least three key Syrian army air facilities that held dozens of helicopters and warplanes, according to two Syrian security officials on 9th December. This was the largest round of air base assaults since Assad was overthrown. According to the sources, the strikes targeted Aqrba airport southwest of the capital Damascus, Shinshar base in the Homs region and Qamishli air base in northeast Syria. A day earlier, IAF strikes destroyed tanks, helicopters and aircraft belonging to the Assad’s military in addition to hitting advanced missile storage centers, air defense systems, weapons manufacturing facilities and chemical weapons locations.
It is estimated that Israel has launched about 250 strikes on Syrian military installations since al-Assad’s exit. According to the Ynet news site, Western intelligence sources estimated that about 300 strikes have been launched against Syrian military targets. Officials asserted that if the strikes maintain their present pace, the Syrian Air Force will be virtually destroyed in a few days, making it impossible for the rebel groups and any future government to threaten the Jewish state.
Israel carried out several strikes on military targets in Syria on 9th December, including a research center in Damascus that is suspected of having ties to in the creation of chemical weapons, a British war monitor told AFP. Syria also claimed that the IAF attacked the port of Latakia, to destroy the ex-regime’s naval assets.
🚨عاجل ‼️⚡️
— رؤى لدراسات الحرب (@Roaastudies) December 9, 2024
هجمات إسرائيلية على السفن البحرية السورية في ميناء اللاذقية.
بينما تعمل السلطات السورية الجديدة على تقسيم السلطة السياسية، تواصل إسرائيل حرمان جيشها بشكل منهجي من إمكاناته العسكرية… pic.twitter.com/lVqKNEn0Hw
Israel Defense Forces (IDF) also seized control of the Golan Heights buffer zone between the two countries. Israeli forces occupied positions inside the buffer zone between Israel and Syria for the first time since the 1974 Agreement on Disengagement was signed after the Yom Kippur War. Israel annexed the Golan in 1981 after capturing it from Syria in the final stages of the 1967 Six-Day War. Foreign Minister Gideon Saar stated that IDF was only making “a very limited and temporary step” taken for “security reasons.”
Meanwhile, the United States also launched dozens of strikes on Islamic State targets in central Syria. Over the weekend, reports surfaced of hundreds of airstrikes on strategic targets in Syria. According to the US Central Command (CENTCOM), it has hit over 75 targets, including ISIS commanders, operatives and camps to prevent the group from exploiting the chaos that has followed the ouster of Assad. Turkey is also involved in the airstrikes in Syria.
“Turkey has no eye on the territory of any other country. The only aim for our cross-border operations is to save our homeland from the terrorist attacks,” declared Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan.
The civil war in Syria, which began in 2011 as a revolt against Assad’s government, attracted significant foreign powers, gave Islamic extremists a platform to plan attacks globally and forced millions of people to flee to neighboring countries. Iran, Russia and Hezbollah, a terrorist organization from Lebanon, have all provided crucial assistance to Assad.
Syria’s new rulers
Hayat Tahrir al-Sham (HTS), the strongest faction of the rebel coalition, is regarded as a terrorist organization by the US and other Western nations. It was affliated with Al-Qaeda and many Syrians are fearful that the outfit would impose brutal Islamist rule on them. Abu Mohammed al-Jolani, the commander of HTS, has tried to reassure the world community that he opposes jihadi attacks abroad and claimed he will not interfere with the minorities.
Jolani was sent to Syria by Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi, ISIS supremo, to create the Al-Nusra Front, a division of Al Qaeda, when the country’s bloody civil war broke out in 2011. Two years later, their disagreement intensified. Baghdadi’s demands to disband the Nusra Front and merge it with ISI to create ISIS were turned down by Jolani. He instead vowed to support Al Qaeda, which subsequently distanced itself from ISIS.
Afterward, the Nusra Front joined Al Qaeda as an affiliate in Syria and fought ISIS for supremacy in the struggle against Assad. Eventually, in 2017, Jolani severed the connection with Al Qaeda and changed the name of his group to the Hayat Tahrir al-Sham group, or HTS. The outfit has its origins in radical Islamist terror outfits and is classified as a terrorist organization worldwide. The United States put a $10 million reward on Jolani’s head in 2018.
Jolani is putting a lot of effort into presenting himself as an upgraded version of his past self, yet his fundamentalist heritage and previous statements are seriously undermining his tall claims. Sunni extremism has caused catastrophic casualties in Syria, and minorities including Christians, Alawites, Druze and Yazidis have good reason to be concerned about the rise of extremist rule.
Jolani’s position seems to have changed, but it’s unclear if this is for real or just a calculated re-branding, similar to what the Taliban did after again seizing power in Afghanistan in August 2021.
