Pentagon: Al-Qaeda remnants seek influence in Syria’s new government
Hurras al-Din announced its dissolution in January, but US intelligence believes its adherents may still seek influence via Syria’s new government, which is led by their former jihadist rival and ex-HTS leader Ahmed al-Sharaa.
WASHINGTON — Al-Qaeda’s notorious offshoot in Syria, Hurras al-Din, announced its formal dissolution in January after the fall of the Bashar al-Assad regime.
But nearly two years after US airstrikes killed al-Qaeda’s veteran top leader, Ayman al-Zawahiri, in Kabul, the Pentagon’s main intelligence agency assessed that some of the jihadist group’s remaining adherents continue to find refuge under a new government led Ahmed al-Sharaa, who formerly led their once top rival, Hayat Tahrir al-Sham (HTS).
“[T]he DIA assessed that some al-Qaeda aligned groups continued to operate with some degree of autonomy under the auspices of HTS, which enables former [Hurras al-Din] elements freedom of movement,” US Defense Intelligence Agency officials told a Pentagon inspector general in June, according to a recently released report.
“The DIA assessed that al-Qaeda will probably seek to influence the government’s formation and policies moving forward,” agency officials reported.
