By Farzon Muhammadi, Doruntina Baliu, Meliha Kesmer,
Farangis Najibullah and Frud Bezhan
Dec 13, 2024
Hundreds of foreign fighters are in the ranks of the Syrian militants who seized power and toppled longtime President Bashar al-Assad, RFE/RL has learned.
Videos posted on social media and verified by RFE/RL show Europeans and Central Asians fighting for Hayat Tahrir al-Sham (HTS) during the militant group’s lightening takeover of Syria this month.
Foreigners comprise only a fraction of the overall fighting force of the estimated 10,000-strong HTS and allied groups. But the presence of battle-hardened and radicalized foreign fighters is seen as a risk to Syria’s stability and a security threat in their homelands.
“This will be one of the biggest concerns from a U.S. perspective because they aren’t indigenous Syrians,” said Aaron Zelin, senior fellow at the Washington Institute. “The U.S. is likely less concerned with the Syrians within HTS.”
HTS is a U.S.- and EU-designated terrorist organization that was previously affiliated with Al-Qaeda. The militant Islamist group has pledged tolerance and inclusivity, although concerns remain over its alleged rights abuses and ties to terrorist groups.
‘It Was Suicide’
One video verified by RFE/RL shows an Albanian-speaking fighter standing in front of the Citadel of Aleppo in Syria’s second-largest city. The video was recorded on November 30, the day HTS captured the northwestern city.
In the video, the unidentified man said the militants were fighting to “remove oppression” in Syria, a reference to the brutal rule of Assad, and described the capture of Aleppo as a “great victory.”
The man is seen wearing the insignia of Albanian Tactical, a unit of Xhemati Alban, which is considered a subgroup of HTS and made up of ethnic Albanians mostly from Albania, Kosovo, and North Macedonia.
“It is a well-structured Islamist jihadist group operating under the HTS umbrella,” said Adrian Shtuni, a Washington-based security and radicalization expert.
Continue reading at www.rferl.org
Xhemati Alban: Albanian Snipers in Syria
By Edwin Taylor
Xhemati Alban is a Sunni jihadist militant group operating in the Idlib Governorate in Syria. Garnering attention for its formidable “sniper squad”, they have been active in spreading propaganda detailing the unit’s exploits. Linked to Hay’at Tahrir al-Sham (HTS) they have been involved in several operations together. Comprised of ethnic Albanians from Kosovo and North Macedonia, the group’s current membership numbers are unknown but believed to not exceed two dozen members. Despite claiming establishment in 2012, the group’s earliest piece of propaganda dates back to 2017. [Source, source, source]
The group lacks known mottos or phrases but often disseminates religious quotations through various channels. Upon the death of one of the group’s members Khalid Albani in February 2024, the group shared an image of him alongside a Quranic quote. [Source]
The group’s fighters are relatively unadorned when compared to contemporary modern fighting forces and their propaganda pieces are usually without patches of any kind. However, the group does have one patch of note which is that of Albanian Tactical which is a further subgroup within Xhemati Alban. Albanian Tactical offers tactical training in line with other mercenary or contract organisations in the region such as Yurtugh Tactical and Muhojir Tactical. This has allowed them to frame themselves as a contract enterprise and not simply a militia/terror group.
Continue reading at greydynamics.com
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