The US Military launched “dozens” of airstrikes against Islamic State targets in central Syria on December 8, the day that President Bashir al-Assad’s regime was overthrown by the terrorist organization known as Hayat Tahrir al-Sham (HTS).
US Central Command (CENTCOM) announced it “struck over 75 targets using multiple US Air Force assets, including B-52s, F-15s, and A-10s.” The targets included “ISIS leaders, operatives, and camps.” No senior Islamic State leaders have been reported killed, but CENTCOM is still assessing the results of the operation.
The strike took place just one day after Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF) warned that the Islamic State would take advantage of the faltering efforts by Assad’s now-defunct Syria Arab Army.
The SDF, which was created and backed by the United States to battle the Islamic State, is led by the Kurdistan Workers Party (PKK), which is also listed by the US as a Foreign Terrorist Organization.
Assad regime collapses during a lightning offensive led by Hayat Tahrir al-Sham
Assad has been battling a host of insurgent and terror groups since his brutal crackdown on civilian dissent during the beginning of the so-called “Arab Spring” in 2011. Assad’s regime is responsible for imprisoning and murdering hundreds of thousands of civilians during that period.
Backed by Russia, Iran, Lebanese Hezbollah, and a host of Iranian-backed militias from Iraq, Pakistan, Afghanistan, Qatar, and other countries, Assad’s beleaguered forces were able to beat back opposition groups to northern and eastern Syria before the rebels’ latest offensive. Three large factions, Hayat Tahrir al-Sham, the Turkish-backed Syrian National Army (SNA), and the US-backed Syrian Democratic Forces operating in northern and eastern Syria emerged as the three main opposition groups.
Hayat Tahrir al-Sham is the successor to Jabhat al Nusrah (the Al Nusrah Front), which was Al Qaeda’s branch in Syria. It is a US-listed Foreign Terrorist Organization, and Abu Muhammad al Julani, its leader, is a US-listed Specially Designated Global Terrorist. Julani previously served as Al Qaeda’s leader in Syria and reported directly to its previous emir, Ayman al Zawahiri. In a vaguely worded statement, Julani supposedly distanced the Al Nusrah Front from Al Qaeda in 2016 in order to receive international support. However, HTS shelters foreign terrorist fighters, and terrorist groups such as the Turkistan Islamic Party fight under its banner.
By the fall of 2024, HTS was confined to the northeastern Syrian province of Idlib. The Syrian National Army, which also has jihadist terror groups such as Ahrar al-Sham operating under its banner, was holding territory along the border between Syria and Turkey. Both groups received protection and support from Turkey.
On November 27, 2024, HTS and the SNA launched an operation against both the Assad regime and the US-backed SDF. A force primarily composed of HTS quickly took the city of Aleppo and then pushed southward along the M5 Motorway as Assad’s Syrian Arab Army crumbled. The cities of Hama and Homs fell in short order, and the road to the capital, Damascus, was open. Assad fled the country, and HTS forces quickly captured Damascus.
As HTS-led forces advanced south on Damascus, SNA forces, backed by the Turkish military, targeted US-allied SDF forces. The SNA has gained some ground; however, the fighting is ongoing.
The massive US strikes on the Islamic State are part of an effort to degrade the terror group and keep it from gaining ground in SDF-held Syria. However, it may also serve as a warning to the SNA and HTS not to push too hard against America’s flawed ally in Syria
