Violence continues to surge in the new Syria under the rule of Al-Julani’s regime, where Salafi and jihadist terror groups have been integrated into the country’s so-called “security forces.”
Operating under the guise of the “Syrian army,” these jihadist factions are targeting anyone they deem infidels. No one is surprised that these groups continue attacking the Druze population in southern Suwayda and in Jaramana near Damascus, committing brutal atrocities.
Equally unsurprising was the appointment of Ahmad Al-Hays (aka Abu Hatem Shakra), designated by the U.S. as a terrorist, as the commander of Division 86 of the Syrian army, overseeing the Deir ez-Zor and Hasakah regions. Al-Hays leads the Turkish-backed terror group Ahrar al-Sharqiya, notorious for killing Kurds and for the 2019 rape and murder of Kurdish politician Hevrîn Xelef.
This appointment has triggered alarm among the Kurds, who fear they may be the next target of state-sanctioned jihadist violence.