Islamist groups hail HTS victory in Syria, Hezbollah and IS find it 'dangerous'

Letting go of historic ideological differences and sectarian divides, Islamist groups and militants across the world congratulated Syrian rebels, led by the Hayat Tahrir al-Sham (HTS), on their victory over the Bashar al-Assad regime.

Assad fled Syria after a lightning offensive spearheaded by the Islamist HTS group and its allies, which brought to a spectacular end five decades of rule by his clan.

Though uncertainty remains around how rigorously the new rulers in Syria will impose religious norms, its toppling of Assad’s regime was wholeheartedly welcomed.

Several branches of the Muslim Brotherhood, the veteran Islamist movement which aims to bring a government based on a strict interpretation of Islamic law to countries across the Muslim world, has issued jubilant statements celebrating the victory of HTS.

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The Lebanese branch of the Brotherhood congratulated and blessed “the Syrian people for overthrowing their tyrant and achieving the first goals of their revolution”.

In Jordan, the Islamic Action Front, the political party that represents the Muslim Brotherhood’s interests in the kingdom, also congratulated the people of Syria and some of its senior officials expressed support for the HTS as well as its campaign.

According to a report by The Guardian, the Islamic Action Front, in a Facebook post that was later deleted, said the success of the HTS was being “studied for its tactics, intelligence operations, technology, media handling, prisoner management, preparation, and surprise strategies”.

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Afghanistan’s Taliban were the first rulers of any state to congratulate HTS and recognise the faction as the new government of Syria.

The Taliban’s ministry of foreign affairs issued a statement on Sunday which said that it hoped for “a sovereign and service-oriented Islamic government in line with the aspirations of the Syrian people, that unifies the entire population without discrimination and retribution”.

Hamas and its ally Islamic Jihad, backed by Iran, had strong links with Assad’s regime and previously were critical of the rebels. However Hamas, whose ideological roots stem from the Muslim Brotherhood, distanced itself from Assad as he cracked down on the mainly Sunni Muslim protesters and rebels.

However, in recent days, Hamas congratulated the Syrian people for achieving their “aspirations for freedom and justice” and said it hoped that post-Assad Syria would continue “its historical and pivotal role in supporting the Palestinian people”.

An almost identical statement was issued by Palestinian Islamic Jihad.

The positive response from Hamas to the fall of Assad contrasted with that of Hezbollah, the Lebanon-based Shia Islamist movement which played a major part propping up Assad through years of war.

In its first first statement made by Lebanese parliamentarian Hassan Fadlallah, Hezbollah described development in Syria as a “major, dangerous and new transformation”.

Last year, the Iran-backed group brought its fighters back to Lebanon to fight Israel and this redeployment had weakened Syrian government lines.