18 Facts About Tahrir al-Sham

Hay'at Tahrir al-Sham, commonly referred to as Tahrir al-Sham, is an active Sunni Islamist militant group involved in the Syrian Civil War.

Many groups and individuals defected from Ahrar Tahrir al-Sham, representing their more conservative and Salafist elements.

Tahrir al-Sham has been accused of working as al-Qaeda's Syrian branch on a covert level, and is considered by many analysts to be one of its branches, and that many of the group's senior figures, particularly Abu Jaber, held similarly extreme views.

However, Tahrir al-Sham has officially denied being part of al-Qaeda and said in a statement that the group is "an independent entity and not an extension of previous organizations or factions".

Hay'at Tahrir al-Sham gives allegiance to the Syrian Salvation Government, which is an alternative government of the Syrian opposition in Idlib Governorate.

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Tahrir al-Sham led a more Islamist and less nationalist faction within Ahrar al-Sham, Jaysh al-Ahrar, which supported merger of Ahrar al-Sham with JFS.

In Idlib pro- Hayyat Tahrir al-Sham protests were held waving pictures of its emir Abu Jaber on 3 February 2017.

On 18 August 2017, Tahrir al-Sham captured 8 rebel fighters from the town of Madaya after it accused them of wanting to return to Madaya during a ceasefire agreement.

On 11 March 2017, Tahrir al-Sham carried out a twin bombing attack in the Bab al-Saghir area of Damascus's Old City, killing 76 and wounding 120.

Tahrir al-Sham was succeeded by Nusra Front founder Abu-Muhammad al-Julani, who had already been the de facto military commander.

In February 2018, Tahrir al-Sham was accused of killing Fayez al-Madani, an opposition delegate tasked with negotiations with the government over electricity delivery in the northern Homs Governorate, in the city of al-Rastan.

On 1 March 2021 it was reported that Hayat Tahrir al-Sham intensified its campaign against an al-Qaeda affiliate in Idlib.

Tahrir al-Sham was imprisoned at the Sednaya Prison in 2005 and released among several jihadist prisoners in 2011 who would form several Salafist rebel groups during the Syrian Civil War.

Since October 2017, the "general commander" or emir of Tahrir al-Sham is Abu Mohammad al-Julani, who is Tahrir al-Sham's "military commander"and the emir of Jabhat Fateh al-Sham, who led its predecessor organisation al-Nusra Front, the Syrian branch of al-Qaeda.

Previously, the general commander of Tahrir al-Sham was Hashim al-Shaykh, known as Abu Jaber, who was the leader of Ahrar al-Sham between September 2014 and September 2015.

On 1 March 2021, it was reported that Hayat Tahrir al-Sham intensified its campaign against al-Qaeda affiliate in Idlib.

In February 2018 Ahrar al-Sham and the Nour al-Din al-Zenki Movement merged and formed the Syrian Liberation Front then launched an offensive against Tahrir al-Sham seizing several villages and the city of Maarrat al-Nu'man.

The Turkish government once said it was opposed to Tahrir al-Sham, and had fought with it and declared it a terrorist organisation, and HTS's Syrian Salvation Government was a direct challenge to the Turkish-backed Syrian Interim Government.