The Isis caliphate is no more. Four years after its fighters captured large swathes of Iraq and Syria and declared its intention to spread jihad around the world, the terror group no longer holds any territory.
But as one extremist Islamic state falls, another one endures. Over the past few years, a group that was formerly part of al-Qaeda has cemented its power in northern Syria and now rules over some 3 million people.
After forcing out rival rebel groups in Idlib earlier this year, Hayat Tahrir al-Sham (HTS) has imposed its control over all aspects of life in the province. Now, a university with more than 6,000 students has become the battleground between in its quest for dominance.
“They came when we were in the middle of exams and said they would be taking over,” says Ahmad, a student at Free Aleppo University, which was shut down last week by the HTS-controlled administration in Idlib.
“We have demonstrated against the decision many times. They arrested many professors at our university to put us under pressure to leave,” says Ahmed, who would give only his first name because he fears retribution for speaking out.
When the group first shuttered the university, its lecturers gave classes outside the building’s gates in protest. But the HTS-run salvation government officially closed it down last week.
“I wasn’t surprised. The problem is the mentality. Both HTS and Isis worked with Assad to destroy our revolution,” he adds.
The takeover of the university is just the latest power grab in the group’s slow and steady march to dominance.
Like Isis, Hayat Tahrir al-Sham wants to create an Islamic state of its own. Where Isis aimed to expand quickly and attract the maximum possible attention, HTS has played a long game. It has been pragmatic, and worked with other groups when it needed to. But it has also been opportunistic and crushed its rivals. Unlike Isis, it has put aside global ambitions to focus on succeeding locally. That has meant less of the headline-grabbing atrocities and violent repression than its former jihadi partner. In doing so, it has pursued a far more durable force than Isis.
“Hayat Tahrir al-Sham shares the same end state goal as Isis, which is to build a state based on a rigid interpretation of Salafist Sunni Islam. But it has a smarter way to do it,” according to Nicholas Heras, a fellow at the Centre for a New American Security think tank.
Its strategy has been “to allow other rebel groups to exist, but like a powerful mafia enterprise, to maintain the ability to use overwhelming and concentrated force on any opponents as they appear.”
“HTS also has positioned itself to control the major border points into and out of Idlib, and to control the roadways that serve as the major arteries of the province,” he adds. In doing so, it has become “the powerbroker in Idlib and the de facto sovereign power there”.
The closure of Free Aleppo University was just another demonstration of that power. The result is that thousands of students have been forced to stop their education and left many facing the prospect of being displaced again.
“Some of the professors and academic figures were arrested. Some students were arrested. It’s so dangerous for the education, for the students. Many professors are thinking of leaving Syria now,” says one lecturer at the university.
“Thousands of students were so close to achieving what they lost seven or eight years ago have been stopped from completing their studies. Their dreams have collapsed,” he adds.
But their problem is part of a larger issue that shows few signs of being resolved. As early as 2017, former US envoy for Syria Brett McGurk called the territory controlled by the group “the largest al-Qaeda safe haven since 9/11”. Since then, the group’s grip on the province has only got stronger.
The Independent
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