Syria’s new leaders dissolve rebel factions, merge them under Defense Ministry

The leader of Hay’at Tahrir al-Sham (HTS), the Islamist rebel group that led the assault that ultimately toppled Bashar al-Assad’s regime, has reached an agreement with other rebel leaders in its coalition to dissolve their factions and merge them under the Defense Ministry, HTS said in a statement posted Tuesday on Telegram.

While details are sparse as to what the agreement entails and which rebel groups are involved, HTS leader Ahmed al-Sharaa has previously discussed his goal of uniting all fighters under a national army. Sharaa - Syria’s de facto leader who is also known by his nom de guerre, Abu Mohammed al-Jolani - has spent the days since the fall of the Assad regime meeting with the leaders of various groups.

“Syria must remain united, and there must be a social contract between the state and all sects to ensure social justice,” Sharaa said on Dec. 17, adding that “everyone will be subject to the law.”

The rebel groups that joined HTS in defeating Assad were a complex patchwork of fighters, backed at times by foreign powers who were focused on battling different enemies - including, sometimes, one another.

Uniting the rebels under one national army was among the promises that Sharaa has been making to show that his government will be inclusive of all Syrians. HTS, which remains on the State Department’s list of terrorist organizations and has historical ties to the Islamic State and al-Qaeda, has sought in recent years to rebrand itself as an Islamist movement with a focus on local issues, rather than transnational jihad.

Sharaa has met with senior officials of Middle Eastern and Western countries in recent weeks, as he seeks to attain international legitimacy and as world powers rebuild relations with Syria after Assad’s fall.