By Sally Ahmed
Abu Mohammed al-Jolani, the head of the Hay’at Tahrir al-Sham (HTS)-led regime in Damascus, is a US-Israeli “intelligence tool” working to advance their interests, according to a Syrian political activist.
In an interview with the Press TV website, activist Mohammed al-Jajeh described the situation in Syria roughly six months after the collapse of the Assad government as “catastrophic by all measures” and said “no one” in the country, including ethnic and religious minorities, is safe.
The country, he said, has descended into “a dangerous slide into chaos,” marked by “ethnic and sectarian purges,” particularly targeting minorities such as Alawites, Christians, Ismailis, Shias, and even moderate Sunni Muslims.
Al-Jajeh noted that members of the former Syrian president’s Alawite sect have been subjected to a “fierce campaign of revenge,” citing reports of “horrific” massacres in Syria’s western coastal region.
Among the incidents he referenced was the killing of more than 70 civilians in the village of Ain al-Tinah, adding that thousands of Alawites have been forcibly displaced, with their homes and properties seized in the provinces of Tartus and Latakia.
‘Minorities as easy targets’
In reference to pledges made by the HTS regime to uphold the rights of religious and ethnic minorities, the Sweden-based Syrian political activist dismissed those promises as “empty.”
“Christians have become easy targets for militias and extremist Salafi groups,” he said, referring to the latest attack on Mar Elias church in Damascus.
On June 22, a man with a rifle entered the church and shot at worshippers, killing 25 people and wounding dozens of others, before blowing himself up.
The activist said Christians’ homes have been ransacked and monasteries have been looted, adding that cases of abductions among Christians and mass exodus from towns like Maaloula and Sednaya have been reported, due to the inaction of the Jolani regime.
Al-Jajeh noted that people from the Ismaili sect have also been a target for kidnappings and attacks since Assad’s fall, adding that a civil activist named Hilal Samaan was assassinated “just for calling for coexistence”.
Speaking about the violence targeting Shia Muslims, al-Jajeh said that sectarian killings have become routine. Individuals are often questioned about their religious affiliation at checkpoints, and in some cases, he noted, they are killed solely because of their names or how they pronounce certain words.
He added that even moderate Sunni Muslims, who make up the majority of Syria’s population, are not spared from violence and intimidation.
According to al-Jajeh, religious scholars and preachers who oppose extremism or foreign intervention have been either assassinated or forcibly removed from their mosques.
Stressing that the state “has collapsed”, al-Jajeh said “the institutions are absent, the law is not enforced, and power is divided among warring factions, some of which are loyal to Turkey and some others to the [Persian] Gulf [Arab] states and foreign militant groups of various nationalities.”
Since Assad’s fall, the activist said, rights groups have recorded “more than 1,200 sectarian violations”, “over 30,000 people” have been trapped in prisons with an unknown fate and “more than 5,000” abducted girls have been taken as captives.
“Syria after Assad: No one is safe,” he emphasized.
‘Jolani is a trained agent’
Amid Israel’s expansion of its occupation into Syrian territories beyond the already-occupied Golan Heights following the fall of the Assad government, al-Jajeh said this further proves Jolani is merely an American-Israeli intelligence asset, positioned in Syria to advance a broader agenda.
Referring to Jolani’s public statements expressing a willingness to normalize relations with Israel and declaring that his top priority is fighting the former Syrian government.
“This is the language of a trained agent who knows what the West wants to hear, and sends reassuring messages to Tel Aviv,” he stated.
Al-Jajeh emphasized that Jolani, who was previously affiliated with al-Qaeda and Daesh, is ultimately “just a tool” and “a minor detail” in what he described as the U.S.-led project for a “new Middle East.”
“Abu Mohamad al-Jolani is neither a revolutionary, a rebel, nor a warlord. He is a carefully trained American-Israeli intelligence tool, speaking in measured language and acting within defined boundaries,” he remarked.
Despite Jolani’s offer to normalize ties with Israel, the activist noted that the regime continues to attack Syria because it “knows its real size and continues to strike Syria because it simply despises the agents even if they serve it.”
‘It’s a gang, not an army’
Commenting on the Jolani regime’s plan to incorporate thousands of foreign Takfiri militants into the country’s new military, al-Jajeh said this move is aimed at tightening Jolani’s grip on power, slamming it as “the most dangerous, unannounced demographic change process”.
The activist said the decision comes as the new ruler “doesn’t trust the Syrian people” and seeks to recruit foreigners “who don’t speak Arabic, don’t know the geography [of the country] and have not any belonging to the territory” to just carry weapons and “obey his orders without question”.
He described those militants as “tools ready for killing, in exchange for salaries, housing and insurance”.
“This army is not built to protect Syria, but to protect the ruler from the Syrians themselves.”
To stay in power, the activist said Jolani aims to create “a personal army that owes him complete loyalty” and “does not hesitate to open fire at Syrians simply because they are not ‘one of them’.”
“Whoever brings in strangers to rule over their people does not run a state; rather, they run a gang, that’s waiting for the moment of explosion,” he added.
‘Syria as part of new regional deal’
Commenting on recent remarks by Turkey’s defense minister where he announced that Ankara has no immediate plans to withdraw from Syria, al-Jajeh said this is “a declaration of actual occupation and a direct message stating: ‘This land is no longer yours, but it has become part of the new regional deal’.”
The activist referred to the role played by Turkey in the foreign-backed militancy that erupted in Syria in 2011, saying Ankara “was not a ‘supporter of the revolution’ as it claimed, but rather one of its architects”. This was “tailored to its national interests”, he added.
Al-Jajeh noted that Turkey facilitated the passage of thousands of foreign militants into Syria in the very early days of the militancy, allowed the entry of weapons to the al-Nusra Front, trained the Takfiri militants in camps on its territory, and provided them with medical and logistical support.
“What is happening today is a clear implementation of a soft partition plan,” he stated.
Al-Jajeh also referred to “the imposition of Turkish education” in the schools of Idlib, Afrin and al-Bab, the raising of Turkish flags in institutions, the changing of streets names to Turkish names, the issuance of temporary identity cards to residents, the use of Turkish language in administrative dealings, and the establishment of large military bases in Aleppo.
“These are not emergency measures to protect ‘the borders’, but rather complete practices of political and administrative occupation,” he said.
The security situation in Syria remains tenuous after militant factions, led by HTS, toppled President Assad’s government and took control of Damascus on December 8, 2024.
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