Syria's rebels planned years ahead for life after Assad

Hayat Tahrir al-Sham commanders talk to Bel Trew about the planning and military innovations that brought them victory

- Bel Trew

Locally made weaponry, including night-vision equipment, rocket systems, drones and armoured vehicles, was pivotal in the shock ousting of Syria’s Bashar al-Assad, top rebel commanders have revealed, as the interim government announced that rebel factions will dissolve and merge to form a new Syrian defence ministry.

In interviews with The Independent, senior figures from Hayat Tahrir al-Sham (HTS) – the Islamist opposition faction that led the charge – explained how they had planned the offensive for more than four years after devastating losses at the hands of the Assad regime in 2020 forced them to build a “new military doctrine” from scratch.

This shift involved a new weapons programme – including locally manufactured sniper systems that allowed them, for the first time, to fight at night – as well as uniting disparate groups into a formal military structure, encouraging defection from the regime, and meticulously planning for “the day after” the end of Assad.

Now, they are poised to reveal their new military structure, with the HTS chief who became the country’s de facto leader, Ahmed al-Sharaa – also known as Mohammed al-Golani – saying on Tuesday that they had reached an agreement with disparate faction chiefs to consolidate under the defence ministry and build a new military together with those who defected from Assad’s forces.

HTS commanders told The Independent that for four years they shed “the mindset of the opposition or a militia” and adopted “the mindset of a state”, including the creation of outreach programmes to encourage regime soldiers to desert, defect, and enrol in a new military force; barring rebels from conducting revenge attacks; and training rebel forces into “a single institutional and national military body with a clear and wellstudied plan”.