Syria: al-Qaeda in a Tie
Syria: al-Qaeda in a Tie
This is a guest article by Amir Schumo.
Amir is a Kurd from Northeast Syria (today’s Rojava) and organized demonstrations against Assad during the Syrian revolution. He has been politically active since then.
Schumo came to Germany in 2015; parts of his family are still in Syria.
He is an expert on the Syria region and surroundings and provides, alongside personal insights and anecdotes, an in-depth overview of the developments in the region and their significance.
Schumo has previously contributed to various articles on Syria with his expertise and anecdotes.
Reminder: The words marked in red are links to relevant critique articles.
This article is a continuation of our series on Syria, but it can be read as a standalone piece – we highly recommend reading the previous article about the blazer-wearing terrorist and our series on Syria to read.
After the fall of Bashar al-Assad, the people in Syria held onto hope for a new beginning.
The reality they face today, however, is sobering:
A new de facto regime, calling itself the transitional government, has taken power.
The leadership of this transitional government is in the hands of Abu Muhammad al-Dscholani, a former al-Qaida terrorist and former leader of the Al-Nusra Front, the Syrian affiliate of al-Qaida.
The development of a new image, with jihadists appearing in suits and ties, is an attempt to neutralize the radical reputation of the group.
In suit and tie, he increasingly presents himself as a moderate leader seeking political change in Syria.
However, behind this facade lies a jihadist-Salafist regime associated with violence, repression, and religious intolerance.
The brutality with which al-Dscholani and his allies, such as the Islamic Turkestan Party, target religious minorities in Syria has been documented.
Accusations that someone supports the Assad regime are often used as a pretext for arrests, torture, and executions without fair trials — in some areas, public executions and the display of ISIS flags and slogans have become the brutal new reality.
Abdul Aziz Dawood Khodabard (center), known as “Abu Muhammad al-Turkistani“, has been appointed brigadier general in the newly established Syrian military and is one of only five people to hold this rank.
The facade of the de-facto regime consists of members of the HTS terror organization, the successor organization of al-Qaida in Syria.
Overnight, they donned suits and ties to shed the radical reputation and send positive signals to the Syrian population to gain their tolerance.
A video of one of these jihadists recalls ISIS street executions.
The 2015 footage shows Shadi al-Waisi, the current Minister of Justice of the interim regime, announcing a death sentence.
While Justice Minister Shadi al-Waisi announces the death sentence, armed men demand a veiled woman accused of prostitution to kneel in the street, then shoot her in the head.
Al-Dscholani and his transitional government have suspended the Syrian constitution.
Additionally, they have appointed at least six foreign jihadists as officers, raising questions about whether a transitional government, partly composed of foreign fundamentalists, truly has the authority to make such decisions.
This development underscores the increasing internationalization of radical groups in Syria – among the appointed officers are fighters from countries like Albania, Turkey, Egypt, China (Xinjiang), and Tajikistan.
This trend highlights Syria’s growing role as a central hub for jihadists, raising the possibility of future attacks against the entire world:
· Abdul Samirz Yashari from Albania
· Omar Mohammed Jiftchi from Turkey
· Alaa Mohammed Abdel Baqi from Egypt
· Abdul Aziz Dawood Khodabardi, a Uyghur from China (pictured above)
· Mulan Tursun Abdul Samad from Tajikistan
· Abdul Rahman Hussein al-Khatib, presumably a Jordanian citizen
· “Dhu al-Qarnayn” Zanur al-Basir Abdul Hamid, known as Abdullah al-Daghestani, leader of the “Army of Migrants and Supporters“
The situation in North Syria (Rojava) remains marked by intense violence.
The slogans and flags of the so-called Syrian National Army (SNA), significantly supported by Turkey, point to a Salafist-Jihadist ideological background among its members.
The SNA operates with a high level of violence against the Kurdish population.
Recently, drones operated by mercenaries have been used to facilitate bombings targeting often armed civilians.
It should be noted that Turkey has also deployed SNA mercenaries in other conflicts, such as in Libya, where since December 2019, Syrian mercenaries have been sent.
By mid-2020, approximately 18,000 Syrian fighters are believed to have been dispatched to Libya to support the local government.
The current developments cast a dark shadow over Syria.
The north-east of Syria is controlled by the SDF, while the rest of the country is infiltrated by jihadists with a more moderate appearance, mainly for the international stage. However, the local population has seen little change in their daily conditions.
In particular, Israel and Turkey benefit from this situation.
Syria remains a country marked by violence and persecution, and its political future appears bleak.