Terrorist elements affiliated with al-Qaida are using the Obama administration’s dithering on the Syrian crisis as an opportunity to take over the stagnant rebellion.
The Obama administration’s unwillingness to properly support the rebel movement forced it to join forces with the al-Qaida-linked Jabhat Fateh al-Sham (JFS) in an attempt to break the siege of Aleppo in August. Now, it appears the group’s leader is taking an active role in directing opposition operations in the city. JFS, formerly known as the Nusra Front, released photos Sunday showing its leader Abu Muhammad al-Julani directing the ongoing fight for Aleppo.
#SYRIA#JFS Releases Pictures Shows Its Leader Abu Mohammad Al-Julani Inspection The #Aleppo Offensive Plane. #TerrorMonitor pic.twitter.com/zuYhnDg06A
— Terrormonitor.org (@Terror_Monitor) October 30, 2016
Julani’s new role is a cause of concern for the opposition movement, as it plays into Assad’s desire to paint the Syrian rebels as nothing but terrorists.
“At this point, it is less a question of which flag flies over what battered neighborhood than which rebel units are still independent from Jabhat Fateh al-Sham,” wrote the Soufan Group in a report on its website Thursday. “For the Assad regime, the increasingly blurred lines between the moderate opposition and al-Qaeda-linked groups is an ideal development; international support for the rebels will inevitably diminish as the rebellion appears to devolve further into an extremist project.”
The Syrian opposition originally maintained its distance from terrorist organizations in an attempt to promote a moderate government for the country when the rebellion began in 2011. Opposition leaders frequently reached out to the West and the Obama administration for help in their struggle, but their calls were met with half-hearted responses and failed initiatives. Assad’s encirclement of Aleppo over the summer, a key battleground in the civil war, forced the rebel groups to partner with JFS in order to break the siege.
JFS and the rebels initially broke the siege, reestablishing a key supply route into the city, but their success was short-lived. Assad’s forces cut off the city once again in early September. It is unlikely the rebels and JFS will be able to break the siege a second time, according to the Soufan Group.
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