The joint offensive of the Syrian opposition, which led to the change of government in the country, was planned for more than a year. This was told to the British newspaper The Guardian by the head of the armed wing of the Hayat Tahrir al-Sham group, Abu Hassan al-Hamwi.
According to him, in 2019, after the opposition forces suffered significant territorial losses, the group came to the conclusion that “the main problem is the lack of unified command and control of military operations“. Then, over the course of five years, the group, “carefully studying the enemy and analyzing his tactics“, created disciplined and well-equipped units. Unmanned aerial vehicles were developed and units specializing in their use were formed.
A year before the November offensive, the group established contact with opposition forces in the south of the country, creating a center for coordinating joint operations. This made it possible to conduct a campaign against Damascus from the north and south simultaneously.
Al-Hamwi said that returning to normal life in Syria would not be an easy task, but the group was trying “to overcome ideological and religious differences as much as possible” between the groups.
On December 10, Mohammed al-Bashir, who heads the so-called salvation government in Idlib province, announced his appointment as head of the Syrian transitional cabinet, which will last until March 1, 2025.