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Hay'at Tahrir al-Sham

Not to be confused with Sham Liberation Army.
Hay'at Tahrir al-Sham
هيئة تحرير الشام
Leaders
Dates of operation28 January 2017 – 29 January 2025 (as a militia)
Merger of
Allegiance
HeadquartersIdlib Governorate, Syria
Active regions
  • Syria (until January 2025)
  • Lebanon (until August 2017)
Ideology
Factions:
Historical:
StatusDissolved on 29 January 2025[18]
Size
  • c. 31,000 (est. 2017)[19]
  • 15,000–30,000 (est. 2018)[20][21]
  • 12,000–15,000 (est. 2020)[22]
  • 15,000 (est. 2022)[23]
Part of
AlliesState allies:

Non-state allies:

OpponentsState opponents

Non-state opponents

Battles and wars
See list
Designated as a terrorist group by

Hay'at Tahrir al-Sham (HTS),[a] also referred to as Tahrir al-Sham, was a Sunni Islamist political organisation and former militia group involved in the Syrian civil war.[58][59][60][42] It was formed on 28 January 2017 as a merger between several armed groups: Jaysh al-Ahrar (an Ahrar al-Sham faction), Jabhat Fateh al-Sham (JFS), Ansar al-Din Front, Jaysh al-Sunna, Liwa al-Haqq, and the Nour al-Din al-Zenki Movement.[3][61] The unification process was held under the initiative of Abu Jaber Shaykh, an Islamist militant commander who had been the second emir of Ahrar al-Sham. HTS, along with other Syrian opposition groups, launched an offensive that led to fall of the Assad regime on 8 December 2024.[3]

Proclaiming the nascent organisation as "a new stage in the life of the blessed revolution", Abu Jaber urged all factions of the Syrian opposition to unite under its Islamic leadership and wage a "popular jihad" to achieve the objectives of the Syrian revolution, which he characterised as the ouster of the Ba'athist regime and Hezbollah militants from Syrian territories, and the formation of an Islamic government.[62] After the announcement, additional groups and individuals joined. The merged group has been primarily led by Jabhat Fatah al-Sham and former Ahrar al-Sham leaders, although the High Command also has representation from other groups.[63] The Nour al-Din al-Zenki Movement[6] split from Tahrir al-Sham in July 2017, and the Ansar al-Din Front in 2018.[64]

The formation of HTS was followed by a string of assassinations of its supporters. In response, HTS launched a successful crackdown on Al-Qaeda loyalists, which cemented its power in Idlib. HTS then pursued a "Syrianisation" programme, focused on establishing a stable civilian administration that provides services and connects to humanitarian organizations in addition to maintaining law and order.[61] Tahrir al-Sham's strategy was based on expanding its territorial control in Syria, establishing governance and mobilising popular support. In 2017, HTS permitted Turkish troops to patrol North-West Syria as part of a ceasefire brokered through the Astana negotiations. Its policies brought it into conflict with Hurras al-Deen, Al-Qaeda's Syrian wing, including militarily.[65] HTS had an estimated 6,000–15,000 members in 2022.[23]

From 2017 to 2024, Hay'at Tahrir al-Sham gave allegiance to the Syrian Salvation Government (SSG), which was an alternative government of the Syrian opposition in the Idlib Governorate.[66][67] While the organisation officially adhered to the Salafi school, the High Council of Fatwa of the Syrian Salvation Government – to which it is religiously beholden – consisted of ulema from Ash'arite and Sufi traditions as well. In its legal system and educational curriculum, HTS implemented Shafi'ite thought and taught the importance of the four classical Sunni madhahib (schools of law) in Islamic jurisprudence.[68] After the fall of Damascus, the SSG was replaced by the Syrian transitional government. From 2021 to the fall of Assad, HTS was the most powerful military faction within the Syrian opposition.[69] Τhe organisation was designated a terrorist group by United Nations Security Council Resolution 2254,[70] which classified the group's precursor, Al-Nusra Front.[71] On 29 January 2025, at a conference in Damascus, Hussein Abdel Ghani, spokesperson for the Military Operations Administration, declared in a speech that all military factions would be dissolved and become part of "state institutions."[72][18]

  1. ^ Cite error: The named reference jaber was invoked but never defined (see the help page).
  2. ^ a b "Julani is a temporary leader of the 'Liberation of the Sham' ... This is the fate of its former leader". HuffPost. 2 October 2017. Archived from the original on 2 October 2017. Retrieved 2 October 2017.
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  13. ^ Pierre, Boussel. "The new age of armed groups in the Middle East". Foundation for Strategic Research. Archived from the original on 23 December 2022. Retrieved 13 December 2022. Jurists who support the Salafist cause and personalities from civil society constitute a minority.
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  15. ^ Drevon, Haenni; Jerome, Patrick (2021). "Abstract". How Global Jihad Relocalises and Where it Leads: The Case of HTS, the Former AQ Franchise in Syria (PDF). San Domenico di Fiesole (FI), Italy: European University Institute. p. v. ISSN 1028-3625. Archived (PDF) from the original on 29 January 2023. Retrieved 16 January 2023. HTS's domination was followed by a policy of gradual opening and mainstreamisation. The group has had to open up to local communities and make concessions, especially in the religious sphere. HTS is seeking international acceptance with the development of a strategic partnership with Turkey and desires to open dialogue with Western countries. Overall, HTS has transformed from formerly being a salafi jihadi organisation into having a new mainstream approach to political Islam.
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  23. ^ a b Chair of the Security Council Committee (3 February 2022). "Letter ... pursuant to resolutions 1267 (1999), 1989 (2011) and 2253 (2015) concerning Islamic State in Iraq and the Levant (Da'esh), Al-Qaida and associated individuals, groups, undertakings and entities" (PDF). Letter to President of the Security Council. United Nations Security Council.
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    • Fraihat, Alijla; Ibrahim, Abdalhadi; Grant-Brook, William (2023). "The State in Idlib: Hay'at Tahrir al-Sham and Complexity Amid the Syrian Civil War". Rebel Governance in the Middle East. Palgrave Macmillan. p. 76. doi:10.1007/978-981-99-1335-0. ISBN 978-981-99-1334-3. S2CID 264040574. HTS's most important foreign relationship at present is with Ankara. HTS has a close relationship with its northern neighbour, allowing Turkish soldiers' presence in Idlib to uphold an unstable stalemate with Assad's forces.
    • Hamming, Tore (2022). Jihadi Politics: The Global Jihadi Civil War, 2014–2019. London, UK: Hurst. pp. 48, 396. ISBN 9781787387027. Ahrar al-Sham (and later HTS) established close relations with Turkey. ... In Syria, Turkey managed to establish close relations first with Ahrar al-Sham and subsequently with HTS.
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هيئة تحرير الشام Arabic هيئة تحرير الشام ARZ Хаят Тахрыр аш-Шам BE হায়াত তাহরির আল-শাম Bengali/Bangla Hayat Tahrir al-Sham BR Tahrir al-Xam Catalan ھەییەی تەحریر شام CKB Tahrír al-Šám Czech Haiʾat Tahrir asch-Scham German Χαγιάτ Ταχρίρ αλ-Σαμ Greek

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