In December after the Islamist Hayat Tahrir al-Sham (HTS) took power in Syria, the Biden Administration lifted the $10 million bounty on the head of Ahmed al-Sharaa, formerly known by the nom de guerre Abu Mohammed al-Jolani. Sharaa has gone on quite an effort to...
US Blesses Idea of Syrian Military Integrating Foreign Islamist Fighters
The position of the United States on the Islamist Syrian government has been complex since the Hayat Tahrir al-Sham (HTS) took power in December. The HTS, after all, was effectively al-Qaeda’s Syria branch up until it distanced itself from the parent group, with...
Israel, Syria Reportedly Engage in Direct Security Talks
According to reports citing unnamed sources, Israel and Syria have recent held direct security talks with one another. The talks are said to have happened in the wake of indirect talks between the two sides involving intermediaries, which have been confirmed. The...
Sectarian Tensions Erupt Across Syria, Posters Call for Religious Tax on Christians
Secretary of State Marco Rubio’s recent warning that Syria may be on the verge of another “full scale civil war” seems increasingly more possible, with sectarian tensions erupting on multiple fronts, as the Islamist Hayat Tahrir al-Sham (HTS) government’s promise of...
Syrian Troops Clash With Kurdish SDF as Tensions Rise in Northern Syria
While the cooperation between the Islamist Hayat Tahrir al-Sham (HTS) government in Syria and the Kurdish SDF originally made it seem like the violence in northern Syria was on the decline, a new round of fighting between those groups has led to increased tensions and...
Five Killed in East Syria Car Bomb, ISIS Suspected as Conflict Escalates
Attentions are focusing on al-Mayadeen District in Syria’s Deir Ezzor Governorate today, after a late Monday suicide car bombing against a local police station killed at least five people and wounded a numbers of others. Syrian state media reported that three security...
Syrian Forces Kill Three ISIS Members in Aleppo Hideout Raid
When the Islamist Hayat Tahrir al-Sham (HTS) seized power in Syria in December, it was seen as the presumptive end of the protracted civil war in that country, since it removed President Assad from power. Since then, there seems to be quite a bit of internal conflict...
Trump Will Lift All Sanctions on Syria, Will Meet HTS Leader Wednesday
President Trump has announced that he will lift all sanctions the US has against the Syrian government, which he says will “give them a chance at greatness.” He will also meet Syria’s leader, Hayat Tahrir al-Sham (HTS) leader Ahmed al-Sharaa on Wednesday. The US has...
At Least 11 Alawites Killed in Syria as Sectarian Violence Continues to Rage
Sectarian violence against Syria’s Alawite minority became a huge matter in early March, when massacres left well over 1,300 people dead and the ruling Hayat Tahrir al-Sham (HTS) insisting the matter was over and an investigation would happen. The probe has been...
Israel and Syria Have Engaged in Secret Talks Since April
Israel has made much of the idea that Syria’s new Islamist government is a direct threat to them, as they continue to invade southern Syria and carry out regular airstrikes across the country. Quietly, they’ve been carrying out negotiations since at least April under...