Hayat Tahrir al-Sham, a group previously linked to the Islamic State of Iraq and to al-Qaeda, has evolved in ways that challenge accepted views of “jihadism.” Now ruling over territory in Syria’s northern Idlib and western Aleppo governorates, it functions more like a government than a nonstate actor, and HTS leader Abu Muhammad al-Jawlani is seeking the group’s removal from the U.S. State Department’s list of Foreign Terrorist Organizations. But HTS is hardly anodyne. The group still espouses extremist beliefs that glamorize terrorism abroad, and its fighters fire rockets into civilian areas controlled by the Assad regime. Moreover, HTS hosts other designated groups in its territory, including Jamaat Ansar al-Islam, Katibat Imam al-Bukhari, and Katibat al-Tawhid wal Jihad.
In this thought-provoking Policy Focus, illustrated with photographs of HTS personalities and personnel, jihadism expert Aaron Y. Zelin digs deep into the group’s past before reckoning with the implications of Jawlani’s request. Whatever the U.S. decision, he suggests, political jihadism is here to stay.
March 11, 2025: President Ahmad al-Shar’a meets a delegation from Sweida Governorate. The governor of Sweida, Dr. Mustafa al-Bakour, and a number of activists and free people from Sweida visited Damascus and met with President Ahmed al-Shar’a at the People’s Palace. The attendees exchanged details on important national and local issues. The meeting also stressed the importance of the historical stage in Syria’s history, during which free Syrians aspire to a democratic homeland in which justice, law, and fair representation of all segments of the Syrian people prevail, despite the difficult regional and international circumstances and the plots being hatched against the unity of Syria, its land and people. The attendees stressed that Damascus was and will remain the capital of Sweida and all Syrian provinces.
March 10, 2025: Meeting of President Ahmad al-Shar’a with members of the committee tasked with investigating and finding the facts into the recent events on the Syrian coast
Signing an agreement stipulating the integration of the Syrian Democratic Forces into the institutions of the Syrian Arab Republic, emphasizing the unity of Syrian territory and rejecting division
March 9, 2025: Presidential decision to form a higher committee to maintain civil peace
March 4, 2025: The President of the Syrian Arab Republic leaves Egypt after attending the “Palestine Summit” held in Cairo
A side meeting between the President of the Republic, Mr. Ahmed al-Shar’a, and the Minister of Foreign Affairs, Mr. Asaad al-Shaibani, with the President of the Arab Republic of Egypt, Mr. Abdel Fattah al-Sisi, on the sidelines of the “Palestine Summit” held in Cairo
President of the Republic Mr. Ahmad al-Shar’a meets with Lebanese President Mr. Joseph Aoun on the sidelines of the “Palestine Summit” held in Cairo
Moments of the arrival of the President of the Syrian Arab Republic, Mr. Ahmad al-Shar’a, and his reception by the Egyptian President, Mr. Abdel Fattah Al-Sisi, at the headquarters of the extraordinary Arab Summit
President of the Syrian Arab Republic Mr. Ahmad al-Shar’a and Minister of Foreign Affairs Mr. Asaad al-Shaibani meet with Mr. Antonio Guterres, Secretary-General of the United Nations, on the sidelines of the “Palestine Summit”
President of the Syrian Arab Republic Mr. Ahmad al-Shar’a and Minister of Foreign Affairs Mr. Asaad al-Shaibani meet with President of the Palestinian Authority Mr. Mahmoud Abbas and his accompanying delegation on the sidelines of the “Palestine Summit”
Meeting of the President of the Syrian Arab Republic, Mr. Ahmad al-Shar’a, and the Minister of Foreign Affairs, Mr. Asaad al-Shaibani, with the Chairman of the Yemeni Presidential Leadership Council, Mr. Rashad Mohammed al-Alimi, on the sidelines of the “Palestine Summit”
President of the Republic Mr. Ahmed al-Shar’a and Minister of Foreign Affairs Mr. Asaad Al-Shaibani meet with President of the European Council Mr. Antonio Costa on the sidelines of the “Palestine Summit”
President of the Syrian Arab Republic Mr. Ahmad al-Shar’a arrives in the Arab Republic of Egypt to participate in the “Palestine Summit”
March 2, 2025: President of the Syrian Arab Republic, Mr. Ahmad al-Shar’a, meets with members of the committee tasked with drafting the constitutional declaration
Presidential Decree to Form a Committee of Experts to Draft the Constitutional Declaration
February 28, 2025: The President of the Syrian Arab Republic congratulates the Syrian people on the occasion of the advent of the month of Ramadan
President of the Syrian Arab Republic Mr. Ahmad al-Shar’a, accompanied by the Minister of Foreign Affairs Mr. Asaad al-Shaibani, receive a delegation from the Republic of Turkey headed by the President of the Foundation for the Propagation of Sciences Mr. Bilal Erdogan at the People’s Palace in Damascus
February 27, 2025: President of the Syrian Arab Republic, Mr. Ahmad al-Shar’a, meets with a delegation from the Syrian Forum for Development at the People’s Palace
February 26, 2025: President al-Shar’a’s visit to the Hashemite Kingdom of Jordan to discuss several issues
Meeting of the President of the Republic, Mr. Ahmad al-Shar’a, and the Minister of Foreign Affairs, Mr. Asaad al-Shaibani, with His Majesty King Abdullah II, in the presence of His Highness Prince Al Hussein bin Abdullah II, the Crown Prince of Jordan, the Prime Minister of Jordan, Dr. Jaafar Hassan, and the Minister of Foreign Affairs of Jordan, Ayman Safadi, at Basman Royal Palace.
A bilateral session brought together the President of the Syrian Arab Republic, Mr. Ahmad al-Shar’a, and His Majesty King Abdullah II, during which they discussed several issues of interest to both countries.
The arrival of the President of the Syrian Arab Republic, Mr. Ahmad al-Shar’a, and the Minister of Foreign Affairs, Mr. Asaad al-Shaibani, to the Royal Marka Airport in the Jordanian capital, Amman, to meet His Majesty King Abdullah II.
February 24, 2025: Meeting of the President of the Syrian Arab Republic, Mr. Ahmad al-Shar’a, with dignitaries and notables of the Druze community
February 23, 2025: The President of the Syrian Arab Republic, Mr. Ahmad al-Shar’a, received an official invitation from the President of the sisterly Arab Republic of Egypt, Mr. Abdel Fattah El-Sisi, to participate in the emergency meeting of the Council of the League of Arab States, which will be held on March 4, 2025 in Cairo.
February 21, 2025: President of the Syrian Arab Republic, Mr. Ahmad al-Shar’a, in the presence of the Minister of Foreign Affairs, Mr. Asaad al-Shaibani, receives at the People’s Palace, Mr. Shi Hongwei, Ambassador of the People’s Republic of China to Syria, and his accompanying delegation.
February 20, 2025: President of the Syrian Arab Republic Mr. Ahmad al-Shar’a and Minister of Foreign Affairs Mr. Asaad al-Shaibani receive in Damascus a high-level Cypriot delegation headed by Mr. Konstantinos Koumpos, Minister of Foreign Affairs of Cyprus
February 18, 2025: The Prime Minister of the Emirate of Afghanistan, Mr. Mohammad Hassan Akhund, sent a congratulatory telegram to the President of the Syrian Arab Republic, Mr. Ahmad al-Shara, in which the Prime Minister congratulated Mr. al-Shara on assuming the presidency of the Republic, wishing him success in overcoming challenges and achieving the goals and aspirations of the Syrian people. Mr. Akhund also expressed his hope to strengthen and consolidate the fraternal relations between Afghanistan and Syria in a way that serves the interests of the two peoples, and concluded his message by praying for the Syrian people to achieve more prosperity and prosperity.
The President of the Syrian Arab Republic, Mr. Ahmad Al-Shara, received a congratulatory telegram from Mr. Saad Hariri, in which Mr. Hariri expressed the positive response in Lebanon after Mr. Al-Shara assumed the presidency of the republic. He expressed his optimism that President al-Shara would achieve the goals of the Syrian people for which they had struggled for years. He also considered his assumption of the presidency a clear indication of Syria’s liberation from a brutal tyranny that had spread corruption and crime in Syria. Mr. Hariri also expressed his aspiration to establish friendly relations between Lebanon and Syria that would meet the interests of the two peoples and erase the traces of a sinful era that had vanished forever.
February 16, 2025: President of the Syrian Arab Republic, Mr. Ahmad Al-Shara, meets with dignitaries and notables of Tartous Governorate during his visit to the city
President of the Syrian Arab Republic, Mr. Ahmad Al-Shara, meets with dignitaries and notables of Latakia Governorate during his visit to the city
February 15, 2025: Meeting of the President of Syria Ahmad al-Shar’a with dignitaries and notables of the Afrin region and its countryside
President of Syria Ahmad al-Shar’a meets with dignitaries and notables of Aleppo Governorate during his visit to the city
President of the Syrian Arab Republic, Mr. Ahmad al-Shara, meets with dignitaries and notables of Idlib Governorate
President of the Syrian Arab Republic Mr. Ahmad Al-Shara meets with the people during his visit to the city of Idlib
President of the Syrian Arab Republic, Mr. Ahmad al-Shara, conducts an inspection visit to the camps for displaced persons in Idlib Governorate
February 14, 2025: The President of the Syrian Arab Republic, Mr. Ahmed Al-Shara, received a congratulatory telegram
Meet our brother Sayfullah Jab’ar Al Turki who emigrated from Turkey to carry out Jihad in the cause of Allah in Syria. I don’t know too much about him but I will narrate what I saw and heard from Sayfullah within the time that I had spent with him. Before coming to Syria , he had told me about the Jahil life he lived before he got guidance from Allah SWT. He used to be involved in gang fights and other evil things while chasing the Dunya. Alhamduli’Llah he started practising the Deen and mended his ways.
Sayfullah started to realise the commandment of his Deen which he had to fulfil which is Jihad and to come to the defence of his brothers and sisters in Syria. I got the opportunity to meet Sayfullah when he joined my brigade within JFS, upon meeting him I recognised he had an injury to his head with some part of his skull missing, later he told me he sustained the injury in a previous battle he participated in.
After getting to know Sayfullah I found him to be someone determined to participate in battle even so in the Inghimashi role (front line stormers). When he was not taking part in battles I would find him occupying himself in the remembrance of Allah and increasing his knowledge by reading books. One thing that amazed me of Sayfullah was his long night prayers he would engage in every night, he would also advise other Mujahideen to engage in this worship and would say to them that: “this is your key to steadfastness on the battlefield.”
Just after Russia intervened in the Syria conflict, the Shia mercenaries also began a large scaled offensive from South Aleppo in an attempt to reach Kafarya & Fua, our unit was sent back to repel the attacks and launch counter attacks to regain the areas which we had lost. It was in the upcoming battles that Sayfullah would be martyred. The first counter attack we launched was a success and gained a few areas with few casualties Alhamdulilah, Sayfullah was not pleased as he was not chosen for the Inghimashi role he very much desired as he was put in a secondary position.
But he remained patient as he knew there would be an upcoming battle shortly within a few days. Preparations were made and everyone knew what role they would take up for this battle. Sayfullah was infuriated as he again found out that he would not be filling the Inghimashi spot once again, this time he couldn’t hold his anger and decided he would approach the commander to either place him in the role or quit and leave the brigade.
Sayfullah approached me to be the mediator between the two, reason was he only spoke Turkish and English and our commander spoke Arabic only. Our commander told me the reason for Sayfullah not being selected for the Inghimashi role. It was that he knew little Arabic and this could effect the squad in battle, it was hard for me to keep Sayfullah calm even though I advised him many times to remain patient and that he would get the opportunity soon. But his determination to be picked was not going to stop him as he told me to translate to the commander that if he wasn’t selected for this battle he would pack his bags and leave.
Seeing his persistence and courage the commander chose to switch him to the Inghimashi role. Sayfullah was delighted and now became impatient for the battle to begin. Me and Sayfullah shared the same room in our base and would spend time together as his poor Arabic and serious attitude character would keep him away from socializing with others. Every night before sleep we would engage in discussion and I once posed a question to him: “what is the thing you desire most in this world?”, he replied to live the rest of his life in Jihad and to go from one battle to the other and finally be martyred in the cause of Allah.
As a few days remained for the upcoming battle during the night Sayfullah and I would speak about the hereafter to raise each others Emaan, unlike other brothers he wouldn’t talk about Jannah or the Hoor Al Ayn but rather he would fear the hell fire and would just yearn to have himself saved from it. Moving on to the battle ,Alhamdulilah, it went well as we captured all the areas we were assigned to capture except one village. The Shia allegedly had an ambush set-up there as one of the commanders was observing things.
We decided to hold the lines we had captured and make Ribaat (Guarding a station). This Ribaat was going to be demanding as enemy artillery were raining down upon us and our positions had no defences. It was on the third day Sayfullah received his martyrdom (May Allah accept him), it happened when the Shia mercenaries made an advancement in an attempt to recapture the areas we gained, as they had advanced from two axes they laid a siege on the brothers. The brave Mujahideen fought to their last breaths and refused to surrender.
Sayfullah was hit by a sniper as so was the case with a few other brothers, injured brothers managed to sneak out crawling while escaping enemy fire, the bodies of the martyrs were left behind as it was impossible to retrieve them. Alhamdulilah, no one was captured alive. Even though we suffered some casualties, this was insignificant compared to what the Shia mercenaries suffered in the previous days and battles. We ask Allah سبحانه وتعالى to accept Sayfullah Jab’ar Al Turki and all the other brothers who fell as martyrs alongside him and to grant quick recovery to the injured ones Amongst them. Ameen.
