Syria terror alert as groups scramble to fill power vacuum after Assad ousted

VIOLENT jihadists are already trying to fill the power vacuum in Syria after Bashar al-Assad's regime was overthrown, experts fear.

- Michael Knowles

Military and spy chiefs are on red alert over fears Islamic State and al-Qaeda could regroup in Syria.

Instability could lead to battlehardened ISIS fighters escaping from prisons, Prime Minister Sir Keir Starmer has been warned.

US President Biden Joe said he is "clear-eyed about the fact that ISIS will try to take advantage of any vacuum to re-establish its capability to create a safe haven".

The Islamist rebel group - Hayat Tahrir al-Sham (HTS) which led the overthrow of the al-Assad dictatorship also had links to al-Qaeda, prompting fears they could "create a radicalising and intolerant caliphate".

Former MI6 chief Sir Richard Dearlove told the Daily Express: "Assad's flight from power leaves a vacuum and groups are already vying to fill it, including ISIS. Libya and Iraq were unable to escape the baleful effects of their dictators' terrible legacies. Syria's political fate hangs in the balance.

"HTS has a brief opportunity to demonstrate that Syria could follow a pluralist future. Its terrorist origins would suggest otherwise.