Hay'at Tahrir al-Sham vs. 'Fajr al-Hurriya' Operations Room

Splits between the insurgents amid the rapid advances

Although a wider insurgent offensive in northwest Syria has made dramatic advances in recent days, it would be a mistake to think of this offensive as marking a wholly new-found insurgent unity. Essentially, as the insurgents advance, they are divided into two operations rooms that will lead to the newly acquired territory being split between the two existing administrative systems for insurgent-held territory.

One of these operations rooms is the ‘Military Operations Administration’ led by Hay’at Tahrir al-Sham (HTS), with its operation code-named ‘Deterring the Aggression.’ Whatever this operations room acquires will be governed by the HTS-backed/controlled ‘Salvation Government’. We are already seeing this in Aleppo city with the operation of the bakeries by the Salvation Government, for example. If Hama city falls to the ‘Military Operations Administration’ (very much a real possibility), it too will be governed by the Salvation Government.

The other operations room is ‘Dawn of Freedom’ (Fajr al-Hurriya) that is led by factions of the Turkish-backed Syrian National Army (SNA). While it is true that personnel of some SNA factions (e.g. the Shami Front) have also participated in the ‘Military Operations Administration’, they are very much second fiddle to HTS and its closest insurgent allies of the 'al-Fath al-Mubin' operations room that was operating in Idlib and its environs prior to this latest insurgent offensive and was led by HTS. The 'Dawn of Freedom' operations room is pushing from north Aleppo countryside and took the town of Tel Refaat from the Kurdish-led Syrian Democratic Forces, for example. Whatever it acquires will be governed by institutions tied to the Syrian Interim Government. To an extent, therefore, there is competition between the two operations rooms for acquisition of territory and assets in Aleppo province, given the province’s economic importance.

Earlier today, a statement attributed to ‘Dawn of Freedom’ operations room emerged featuring a condemnation of Hay’at Tahrir al-Sham for its conduct. I have been asked about this statement’s authenticity. I can confirm that it is indeed authentic as it came from the operations room’s official social media channel on WhatsApp. What is the reason for the statement? The main reason, as I understand, is that the Sultan Murad Division (an insurgent group of the SNA that is particularly close to Turkey) advanced to the thermal power station east of Aleppo city, but subsequently Hay’at Tahrir al-Sham entered and seized the thermal power station. Below is the statement with my translation.