Syria's al-Qa'ida Affiliate Dissolves Itself

In media coverage of the war and revolution in Syria, one still often finds the armed group Hay'at Tahrir al-Sham, which led the deposal of the Assad regime, described as either being al-Qa 'ida or 'al-Qa'ida-linked.' This is simply not the case. The formation of Hay'at Tahrir al-Sham in January 2017 was in fact what constituted the full break between al-Qa'ida and its then affiliate in Syria (Jabhat al-Nusra), while those who insisted on loyalty to al-Qa'ida formed the Hurras al-Din Organisation ('Guardians of the Religion'). For some time, despite notable disputes between the two sides regarding matters like the breaking of allegiance to al-Qa'ida's leader Ayman al-Zawahiri and ownership of weapons, Hay'at Tahrir al-Sham afforded the group some toleration on the basis that the latter accepted Hay'at Tahrir al-Sham's hegemony in northwest Syria and agreed to abide by its rules.

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