Islamist Groups Seize Key Crossing in Southern Syria

The hard-line Ahrar al-Sham group and allied fighters took a crossing in the southern Quneitra province near Israel]1 on Thursday from a rival group of Islamist fighters called Army of Jihad, Reuters reports.

If confirmed, the capture would mark progress for Ahrar al-Sham, one of the oldest insurgents movements and one of the main jihadist groups alongside Islamic State and al-Qaida’s Syrian affiliate Jabhat al-Nusra.

The capture of the crossing suggests that the group has recovered after its senior leadership was completely wiped out in a bomb blast in Idlib last September.

Control of the crossing has passed through many hands in the past four years, as insurgent groups occasionally work together but have also fought each other in Syria’s ever-shifting battlefield.

Ahrar al-Sham has been active in an alliance of Islamist groups calling itself Army of Fatah, which recently seized northwestern towns including the provincial capital of Idlib from government forces.

The Syrian rebel offensive in Idlib points to a new unity and assertiveness among an array of of disparate opposition forces, which have long been divided by infighting.

The alliance, which includes Jabhat al-Nusra, is edging closer to the coastal province of Latakia, a stronghold of President Bashar al-Assad that is central to the rebel’s goal of ousting the Syrian regime.

Analysts claim the rebels are trying to pressure the government at a time when it is overstretched on many fronts.

The alliance has been working in tandem with groups that include mainstream rebels backed by the U.S.

“While the Islamist groups appear to be stronger than their Western-backed allies, it is a rare example of cooperation, just weeks after Nusra Front fighters crushed a previous U.S.-backed rebel force in a blow to Washington’s Syria strategy,” Newsweek reports.

Early U.S. attempts to channel support to moderate rebels groups, including the Free Syrian Army’s Harakat Hazm and the Syrian Revolutionary Front, collapsed when Jabhat al-Nusra ousted the groups from their strongholds.

Nonetheless, Islamist groups have suggested that they are no longer determined to fight against Western-backed groups, Reuters reports.

“Maybe Nusra fought … Hazzm at the start, because they said they were no good. Now they have a plan to fight only the regime,” Mazin Qusum, commander of the Siham al-Haqq brigade, an Islamist unit fighting alongside the Army of Fatah, told Reuters.

However, some analysts suggest that the fighters, who share the common goal of ousting the regime, could turn their backs on each others once they’ve achieved their military objective.

“As the biggest group in Army of Fatah, Ahrar al-Sham appears to hold the key to preventing infighting,” Reuters concludes.

Syria and Iran Vow to Intensify Fight Against Terrorism

Syria and Iran have agreed to “intensify efforts to fight terrorism,” Syrian’s defense minister said, following a string of rebel victories against government forces in Syria, AFP reports.

“We agreed on the next measures to be taken together to confront terrorism,” Syrian state agency SANA quoted defence minister General Fahd al-Freij as saying.

“It is important to intensify efforts to fight terrorism, particularly after the escalation of recent months,” he added.

The Syrian regime and its allies refer to anyone seeking its removal from power as “terrorists” and regularly accuse opposition supporters such as Turkey and Qatar of funding extremism.

Iran, a key backer of President Assad, has provided financial and military support to the regime.

Meanwhile, the U.N. envoy to Syria, Staffan de Mistura, has said that his organization will commence meetings in May with Syria’s government, opposition groups and regional powers, including Iran, in an attempt to restart negotiations aimed at ending the conflict in Syria.

E.U. foreign policy chief Federica Mogherini indicated on Tuesday the hope that Iran would play an important and constructive role in a Syrian-led transition, a reference to the Geneva Communiqué, a 2014 plan for political change in Syria that has yet to happen.

In January 2014, U.N. Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon invited Iran to attend a round of Syria peace negotiations in Switzerland, then withdrew the invitation due to Iran’s lack of support for the Geneva Communiqué.

Recommended Reads

• Reuters: Shared Battlefield Goals Trump Ideology Among Rebels – For Now
• The Economist: Hezbollah in the Crosshairs
• VICE: Iran Could Help Broker Peace in Syria, Says E.U. Foreign Policy Head
• Associated Press: Syrian Insurgents Expose Weak Regime
• Agence France-Presse: Ideas Box Brings Oasis of Learning to Syria Child Refugees

Photo Courtesy of AP Images