Syria dissolves rebel factions as al-Sharaa consolidates power

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Syria’s rebel factions have agreed to disband and become part of the interim government’s defence ministry as the new administration rushes to consolidate power within revamped government institutions.

The new administration’s commander-in-chief Ahmed al-Sharaa — former head of Islamist rebel group Hayat Tahrir al-Sham, who previously used his nom de guerre Abu Mohammed al-Jolani — announced the agreement on Tuesday after meeting the heads of groups including the Turkish-backed Syrian National Army and factions in the north-east and south of Syria. 

The government said the meeting resulted “in an agreement to dissolve all factions and merge them under the umbrella of the Ministry of Defence”.

The Kurdish-led, US-backed Syrian Democratic Forces were absent as they clashed with Turkish-backed rebels in the north-east following the breakdown of an initial Washington-brokered ceasefire there.

The interim government’s deal was reached just over two weeks after the fall of autocratic former president Bashar al-Assad following a lightning offensive by the HTS-led rebels after 13 years of brutal civil war. It comes as al-Sharaa seeks to cement power over the fractured country.

He faces a daunting task. His group, HTS, has increasingly professionalised its forces through military academies and training, unlike more fractured allied rebel groups.

Security is a key issue for the new administration, which faces concerns including the clashes between Turkish-backed rebels and the SDF; the threat of a resurgence of Isis, longtime foes of HTS who were not part of Tuesday’s deal; and the potential for loyalists to the deposed regime to regroup after Assad dissolved his army before fleeing the country.

Sharaa’s government is piecing together institutions such as police departments, the army and security forces. Over the last two weeks, it has opened police job applications and “settlement centres” for former regime troops.

It is striving to maintain security across the country by deploying security and police personnel from its enclave in Idlib, a corner in north-west Syria that has been under HTS control for years.

Concerns about security grew this week, especially as unconfirmed reports spread of revenge killings in small villages and banditry on highways across the country.

On Monday, in the north-west Christian town of al-Suqaylabiyah, a large Christmas tree on a roundabout was set on fire by unknown perpetrators, further raising fears among Syria’s Christian minority of being targeted by hardline Islamist groups.

Footage shared on social media showed a member of HTS standing with two priests reassuring the crowd in al-Suqaylabiyah that the tree would be repaired before the morning.

Hundreds of people protested the act of vandalism across Syria on Tuesday. Protesters in the Bab Touma area of Damascus were seen carrying crosses and marching through the streets. Elsewhere in Damascus people shopped at a large open-air Christmas market. 

Incidents such as the Christmas tree burning have so far been described as isolated cases by the new leadership, which has sought to portray itself as a moderate administration for all Syrians despite its Islamist convictions and roots in jihadism.

But minority groups fear being sidelined and attacked, having enjoyed some degree of protection under Assad despite the widespread repression that characterised his rule.