Syrian rebel leader Al-Golani announces dissolution of Assad’s security forces

Ahmad al-Sharaa, better known as Abu Mohammed al-Golani, the leader of Syrian rebel group Hayat Tahrir al-Sham, announced on December 11 that he would dissolve the security forces of Bashar al-Assad’s fallen regime.

In a written statement, he confirmed plans to shut down the notorious security apparatus that had propped up the Assad family's 50-year rule over Syria, Caliber.Az reports via foreign media.

Al-Golani's forces, who recently led a rapid offensive across Syria, overthrew the Assad regime and replaced it with a transitional government in the northwest. This interim administration, comprising ministers from the rebel enclave, is expected to remain in power until March 2025.

The military command linked to Hayat Tahrir al-Sham had previously declared amnesty for military conscripts and is now set to eliminate the regime’s security forces, as well as close down its infamous prisons.

These detention centres have been the focus of widespread grief, with thousands of Syrians seeking loved ones believed to have been imprisoned under Assad’s rule. Many detainees have been found dead, while others remain missing.

In his statement, al-Golani also addressed concerns over chemical weapons, stating that his forces were carefully monitoring suspected chemical weapon depots and coordinating with international bodies to secure them. His group reiterated its commitment to never using such weapons.

Al-Golani’s government is expected to be composed of technocrats, marking a shift away from the previous regime’s authoritarian rule.

To recall, on December 8, Syrian rebels captured Damascus unopposed following a swift advance, prompting President Bashar al-Assad to flee to Russia after 13 years of civil war and over six decades of autocratic rule by his family.

The fall of Assad’s regime marks a pivotal moment for the Middle East, eliminating a stronghold that allowed Iran and Russia to exert influence in the Arab world. Moscow granted asylum to Assad and his family, according to Russia's ambassador to international organizations in Vienna.

The unexpected overthrow of Assad, backed in part by Türkiye and rooted in Sunni jihadism, disrupts Iran’s ability to supply weapons to its allies and could jeopardize Russia’s Mediterranean naval base. It also raises hope for millions of refugees across Türkiye, Lebanon, and Jordan to return home. For Syria, it marks a sudden end to years of frozen conflict, which has claimed hundreds of thousands of lives, devastated cities, and crippled the economy through global sanctions.

Top rebel commander Abu Mohammed al-Golani declared the victory a historic turning point, while former prisoners, freed after rebels stormed prisons, celebrated in the streets. 

By Aghakazim Guliyev