Syria’s transition faces tensions as Islamist fighters clash with former Assad supporters

Clashes between Islamist fighters now in control of Syria and supporters of the ousted Bashar al-Assad government left six fighters dead and several others wounded on December 25.

The Syrian Observatory for Human Rights announced that the deadly confrontation occurred when fighters from Hayat Tahrir al-Sham (HTS), the group that led the successful offensive against Assad earlier this month, attempted to arrest a former Assad official, Caliber.Az reports referring to US me

This official, accused of issuing execution orders and arbitrary judgments against thousands of prisoners, was the target of the operation.

The fall of Assad's regime has been surprisingly swift, with the former president fleeing the country and his forces disintegrating in a matter of weeks. However, the insurgents now in power, deeply rooted in fundamentalist Islamist ideology, have yet to clarify how they plan to govern or whether they intend to share power, despite claims of pursuing a pluralistic system.

Although sectarian violence has flared sporadically since Assad’s ouster, it has been far less severe than many had feared after nearly 14 years of brutal civil war that left an estimated half-million people dead and displaced millions.

This week, some Syrians who were forced to flee began returning to their homes in search of a new life. However, many found that their houses had been reduced to rubble, leaving them to face the harsh reality of the destruction. In Idlib, residents worked tirelessly to repair shops and seal broken windows, attempting to bring some semblance of normalcy back to their shattered community.

The city of Idlib and much of the surrounding province has been under the control of HTS, led by Ahmad al-Sharaa, also known as Abu Mohammed al-Golani, who was once aligned with al-Qaida. The area has been a frequent target of Assad’s forces, enduring relentless attacks throughout the war.

Hajjah Zakia Daemessaid, a 62-year-old woman who was displaced during the conflict, returned to her home in the Idlib countryside only to find it in ruins. "My husband and I spent 43 years of hard work saving money to build our home, only to find that all of it has gone to waste," she lamented.

As life slowly begins to return to some parts of Syria, the streets of devastated neighborhoods remain eerily quiet, with cars passing by loaded with luggage and people sitting idly in abandoned coffee shops.

Meanwhile, in Damascus, the new authorities carried out raids on December 25, seizing large quantities of illicit drugs, including the banned stimulant Captagon and cannabis, which were reportedly used by Assad's forces during the war. A million Captagon pills and hundreds of kilograms of cannabis were burned in a public display by the interim authorities.

By Tamilla Hasanova