The new Syrian authorities in Damascus announced on Tuesday December 24 an agreement with “all armed groups” for their dissolution, specifying that they would be integrated into the Ministry of Defense. “A meeting of the leaders of the “armed” groups with the new leader of Syria Ahmad al-Shareh “resulted in an agreement on the dissolution of all groups and their integration under the tutelage of the Ministry of Defense,” the news said authorities on their Telegram account.
Ahmad al-Chareh said on Sunday that he would “absolutely not allow weapons to escape state control.” He added during a press conference that this decision would also apply to “factions present in the Syrian Democratic Forces zone” (FDS, dominated by the Kurds, Editor’s note).
Photos published by the official Sana agency and the authorities’ Telegram account show the new leader surrounded by the leaders of several armed factions, but no representatives of the Kurdish-led forces in the northeast of the country.
Integrated into the Ministry of Defense
An armed coalition led by the radical group Hayat Tahrir Al-Sham (HTC), an Islamist group led by Ahmad al-Chareh, whose nom de guerre Abu Mohammed al-Joulani, took power in Damascus on December 8, ousting the president Bashar al-Assad.
HTS military leader Mourhaf Abou Qasra, known by his nom de guerre Abu Hassan al-Hamwi, told AFP last week that “the next step” would be the dissolution of the armed factions, starting with his own. , to blend them into the future military institution. This military official affirmed that the new power wanted to extend its authority over areas of northeastern Syria, controlled by a semi-autonomous Kurdish administration.
Thirteen years of war in Syria have left more than half a million dead and divided the vast country into zones of influence controlled by different belligerents supported by regional and international powers.