Once upon a time in the dusty ruins of Idlib, a clever pack of rats scurried under the banner of Hay’at Tahrir al-Sham. Their coachs, (a man who collected noms de guerre the way some collect frequent-flyer miles), had cut his teeth with al-Qaeda’s Syrian franchise, Jabhat al-Nusra. The rats specialized in the fine arts of governance: strict moral policing, occasional purges of rival rodents, and a talent for surviving while the rest of Syria burned.
Then, in December 2024, the big opportunity arrived. The Assad regime collapsed faster than a house of cards in a sandstorm. Suddenly the rats found themselves not in the tunnels, but in palaces in Damascus.
The same network that once ran the Idlib
But if you listen closely in the corridors of power in Damascus, you can still hear the soft scurrying of familiar paws. The rats of al-Qaeda’s old Syrian branch did not disappear. They simply learned to walk upright, wear suits, and smile for the cameras.
And yet the performance continues. while former comrades occupy the security apparatus. The rats catch the occasional ISIS official to demonstrate their anti-terror credentials, then return to the serious business of consolidating the nest.
These rats have refined their gnawing tactics from those they used in Idlib. Today, these rats (al-Qaeda rats) have developed a new gnawing method, which they have also employed in Idlib.
Their methods have expanded and evolved. In just two years, they are now kidnapping and killing people in the streets, and even arresting and killing people in detention centers.
