Assad's fall in Syria stokes worries of comeback by ISIS terror group

The rapid collapse of the 24-year regime of President Bashar al-Assad in Syria at the hands of a hardline rebel group has stoked worries of a comeback by the brutal ISIS terror group.

- Bhagyashree Garekar

WASHINGTON -

Hayat Tahrir al-Sham (HTS), which is now in control of Damascus, has deep historical ties to both ISIS and Al-Qaeda.

US President Joe Biden, in an address to the nation on Dec 8 as news emerged that the deposed Syrian leader had fled to Moscow, said that US forces had conducted dozens of air strikes on ISIS camps and operations in Syria.

"We're clear-eyed about the fact that ISIS will try and take advantage of any vacuum to re-establish its credibility and create a safe haven," Mr Biden said.

"We will not let that happen."

US forces conducted dozens of air strikes on Dec 8, striking more than 75 ISIS targets using B-52 bombers, F-15 fighter jets and A-10 aircraft, said the US Central Command based in Tampa, Florida.

The HTS rebels, from their base in Syria's north, marched into the capital in less than two weeks, a rapid advance that stunned the world and the Washington foreign policy establishment.

Its leader, Abu Mohammad al-Jolani, is a former member of the Islamic State in Iraq, which later expanded into ISIS.

He founded the Jabhat al-Nusra front in 2012, which pledged allegiance to Al-Qaeda in 2013.

Three years later, the two groups severed ties and al-Nusra rebranded itself as HTS.

In numerous interviews with the Western media, the HTS commander said he has been fighting both ISIS and Al-Qaeda.

He also claimed he has disavowed global jihad and international terror because these brought "nothing but destruction and failure".

But the US has called HTS a terrorist organization since 2018, and analysts here are skeptical that the group has left its terror past behind.