🆕 Actor Profile: Hayat Tahrir al-Sham
Hayat Tahrir al-Sham (HTS) is an Islamist political and militant group mainly operating in #Syria’s Greater Idleb area, which includes parts of Aleppo’s western countryside, the Lattakia mountains, and al-Ghab Plain in northwestern Hama. HTS leadership was historically composed of both Syrian and foreign Islamists, with links to the Islamic State and al-Qaeda. However, the group’s current identity is largely Syrian Islamist, reflecting a pragmatic shift in its strategic goals. HTS has rebranded itself from a former transnational Salafi-Jihadi group to a more localized Islamist group that at times targets and clashes with other radical Islamist groups such as the Islamic State and the al-Qaeda-affiliated Hurras-al-Din. With this change, the group has increasingly sought to cultivate a more moderate public image.
HTS actively maintains an area of territorial control in northwest Syria. The group’s capacity to project territorial authority came to the fore in the aftermath of the February 2023 earthquakes, when HTS blocked the entry of foreign aid from regime-held areas, preferring to wait for aid via Turkey, in order to deprive the regime of any ability to demonstrate control in the region.
Our latest actor profile tracks recent patterns of HTS activity, with a specific focus on its interactions with regime forces, Islamist- and Turkey-backed opposition factions, and civilian populations, while also exploring potential trajectories for the group into the future.
Read it here: bit.ly/3qbOY0M
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