Shakeup rattles major Islamist group in Idlib
Ahrar al-Sham, once one of the largest factions of the Syrian opposition, has divided into two wings: one with ties to the Free Syrian Army and another close to Hayat Tahrir al-Sham.
IDLIB, Syria — A crisis within Ahrar al-Sham erupted on Oct. 20 when the movement’s Shura Council, led by Jaber Ali Pasha, dismissed the head of the movement’s military wing, Capt. Anad Darwish, nicknamed Abu al-Mundhir, and his deputy Abu Suhaib.
The dismissal followed a group of the movement’s military leaders calling for reinstating the former leader of Ahrar al-Sham, Hassan Soufan. Soufan, who was dismissed in 2019, is known for being very close to Hayat Tahrir al-Sham (HTS), a UN- and US-designated terrorist organization and the dominant outfit in Idlib. Ahrar al-Sham's leadership feared he would make the movement part of HTS.
Ahrar al-Sham, a Salafist armed group affiliated with the Turkish-backed Free Syrian Army (FSA), is one of the largest opposition groups in Syria. One wing has remained close to the FSA, while another, led by Soufan, has expressed a desire for rapprochement with HTS.
Orabi Abdel-Hay Orabi, a Syrian journalist specializing in Islamic and jihadist groups and residing in Turkey, told Al-Monitor that Soufan, a charismatic leader, “never accepted the way he was removed from the movement’s hierarchy.”
