Tahrir al-Sham Hay'at Tahrir al-Sham ("Organization for the Liberation of the Levant" or "Levant Liberation Committee"), commonly referred to as Tahrir al-Sham and abbreviated HTS, also known as al-Qaeda in Syria, is an active Salafist jihadist militant group involved in the Syrian Civil War. The group was formed on 28 January 2017 as a merger between Jabhat Fateh al-Sham (formerly al-Nusra Front), the Ansar al-Din Front, Jaysh al-Sunna, Liwa al-Haqq, and the Nour al-Din al-Zenki Movement. Ideology: Abu Jaber, one of Tahrir al-Sham's leaders, has Salafist jihadist beliefs. This has resulted in him being arrested several times by the Syrian government. He was imprisoned at the Sednaya Prison in 2005 and released among several jihadist prisoners in 2011 who would form several Salafist rebel groups during the Syrian Civil War. Abu Jaber has also professed a belief in "Popular Jihad", a bottom-to-top approach in which jihadists would win the hearts and minds of the people, before setting out to establish jihadi governance, after receiving enough popular support, which is notably the opposite of ISIL's "elite Jihad" top-to-bottom approach. Analysts have also argued that the group continues to maintain many of al-Nusra Front's al-Qaeda ideologies. Syrian reporter Abdullah Suleiman Ali also said that many of the former Jabhat Fateh al-Sham fighters still answered to al-Qaeda, and held an increasing amount of sway over the new group, despite its public rebranding. Tahrir al-Sham continues to harbor the former al-Nusra Front's goal of turning Syria into an Islamic Emirate (run by al-Qaeda) if such a governing entity were declared, it would be similar to ISIL's declaration of a Caliphate, according to Kremlin diplomats. The Combating Terrorism Center also reported that despite public statements by some of Tahrir al-Sham's top figures, the group was still largely the same al-Qaeda-aligned group it was, back when it was known as al-Nusra. Lebanese researcher Muhammad Alloush said that the goal of forming Tahrir al-Sham was to unite all groups with al-Qaeda's extreme ideology under one banner, and to obtain as many weapons as possible. In July, 2017, according to a pro-government blog, the organization published an infographic showing some of its objectives. Among them were; "rejection of secularism and democracy", "establishment of an Islamic state", "rule by the Islamic scholars based on the sharia law" and "rejection of political rapprochement with the criminal regime (i.e. Syrian government)". Organization: After the announcement, additional groups and individuals joined. The merged group is currently led by Jabhat Fatah al-Sham and former Ahrar al-Sham leaders, although the High Command consists of leaders from other groups. Many groups and individuals defected from Ahrar al-Sham, representing their more conservative and Salafist elements. Currently, a number of analysts and media outlets still continue to refer to this group by its previous names, al-Nusra Front, or Jabhat Fateh al-Sham. The Ansar al-Din Front and Nour al-Din al-Zenki Movement have since split off from Tahrir al-Sham. Despite the merger, Tahrir al-Sham has been accused of working as al-Qaeda's Syrian branch on a covert level, and that many of the group's senior figures, particularly Abu Jaber, held similarly extreme views. However, Tahrir al-Sham has officially denied being part of al-Qaeda and said in a statement that the group is "an independent entity and not an extension of previous organizations or factions". Furthermore, some factions such as Nour al- Din al-Zenki, which was part of the merger, were once supported by the US. Russia claims that Tahrir al-Sham shares al-Nusra Front's goal of turning Syria into an Islamic emirate run by al-Qaeda. Abdullah al-Muhaysini, Abu Taher al-Hamawi, and Abd ar-Razzaq al-Mahdi worked on the formation of the group. Activities: On 28 January 2017, the same day that Tahrir al-Sham was formed, the group announced the formation of its elite units, the "Inghimasi", some of whom were deployed in Idlib city. They could also be used for suicide infiltration operations and as assault troops. On 30 January, there were reports of mobilizations by Tahrir al-Sham and Ahrar al-Sham at the Bab al-Hawa Border Crossing and other nearby areas, and that the two groups were preparing for another round of clashes. On 30 January, it was reported that there were around 31,000 fighters in Tahrir al-Sham, while in March analyst Charles Lister described is as "likely commanding 12,000 to 14,000 fighters". Soon after the group's formation, many local Syrians began referring to the group as Hetesh, which was an Arabic acronym meant as a pejorative, similar the "Daesh" label applied to ISIL by much of the Arab World. This labeling indicated that many Syrians saw Tahrir al-Sham, as no different than ISIL, especially given the similarities between Tahrir al-Sham's recent attacks and ISIL's massive offensive on rebel forces in 2014. HTS suffered losses from air attacks by Coalition forces. On 1 February 2017, it was reported that the US had conducted an airstrike on Carlton Hotel, in the city of Idlib, which was used by Tahrir al-Sham's former al-Nusra component for troop housing, and hosting meetings of prominent commanders. On the same day, the Elite Division of the FSA was attacked by Tahrir al-Sham. On 3 February, a US airstrike struck a Tahrir al-Sham headquarters in Sarmin, killing 12 members of HTS and Jund al-Aqsa. 10 of the killed militants were HTS members. The airstrike also killed militant commander Ibrahim al-Rihaal Abu Bakr. There has been resistance to HTS by civilians in rebel areas it controls. On 3 February, hundreds of Syrians demonstrated under the slogan "There is no place for al-Qaeda in Syria" in the towns of Atarib, Azaz, Maarat al- Nu'man to protest against HTS. In response, supporters of HTS organized counter-protests in al-Dana, Idlib, Atarib, and Khan Shaykhun. In Idlib pro- Hayyat Tahrir al-Sham protests were held waving pictures of its leader Abu Jaber on 3 February 2017. Attendance at a speech by HTS cleric Abdullah al-Muhaysini was manipulated by drawing internally displaced persons and impoverished people with promises of motorcycles and refrigerators through a raffle. On 4 February 2017, a US airstrike killed al-Qaeda commander Abu Hani al-Masri, who was a part of Ahrar al- Sham at the time of his death. It was reported that he was about to defect to Tahrir al-Sham before his death. On the same day, Tahrir al-Sham official Muslah al-Alyani criticized other groups for not joining Tahrir al-Sham, arguing that any group that "fought for Islam" would be bombed, regardless of terrorist designations. In his statement, he indicated that one of the reasons why most Ahrar al-Sham fighters refused to join Tahrir al-Sham was because the latter group contained terrorist-designated individuals. Around 8 February, Abu Muhammad al-Maqdisi confirmed that 2 senior Jabhat Fateh al-Sham leaders, including former al-Nusra deputy leader Sami al-Oraydi, left Tahrir al-Sham after its formation. A speech was released by Abu Jaber on 9 February. He emphasized his group being an "independent entity" and praised his "brothers" in the "Syrian Jihad". The statement included derogatory rhetoric on Shia Muslims. On 12 February, the Bunyan al-Marsous Operations Room, of which Tahrir al-Sham is a member of, launched an offensive against the Syrian Army in Daraa's Manshiyah district. Tahrir al-Sham forces reportedly began the attack with 2 suicide bombers and car bombs. On 13 February, clashes erupted between the previously-allied Tahrir al-Sham and Jund al-Aqsa, also called Liwa al-Aqsa, in northern Hama and southern Idlib. On 15 February, Ahrar al-Sham published an infographic on its recent defections, claiming that only 955 fighters had defected to Tahrir al-Sham. There were also reports that Ahrar al-Sham, the Sham Legion, Jaysh al-Izza, the Turkistan Islamic Party in Syria, and the Tamkin Brigade would soon merge to form a new organization called the "Syrian Liberation Front", with websites close to the organizations reportedly disclosing this. On 19 February, HTS arrested local FSA commander Anas Ibrahim in Atarib, and in response, an anti-HTS protest was held in the town. On 20 February, a Ma'arat al-Numan Shura Council was created by the Sham Legion, Ahrar al-Sham, and Tahrir al-Sham. On 22 February, Russian Foreign Ministry spokeswoman Maria Zakharova stated that Russia feared that Tahrir al-Sham would declare a new Islamic Emirate in northwestern Syria within a month, patterned after ISIL's self- styled "Caliphate" in Ar-Raqqah. On the same day, the Combating Terrorism Center reported that Jabhat Fateh al-Sham had formed the Tahrir al-Sham group due to its fear of being isolated, and to counter Ahrar al-Sham's recent expansion during the clashes in the Idlib Province. On 22 February, the last of Liwa al-Asqa's 2,100 militants left their final positions in Khan Shaykhun, with unconfirmed reports in pro-government media that they were to join ISIL in the Ar-Raqqah Province after a negotiated withdrawal deal with Tahrir al-Sham and the Turkistan Islamic Party. Afterward, Tahrir al-Sham declared terminating Liwa al-Aqsa, and promised to watch for any remaining cells. On 26 February, a US airstrike in Al-Mastoumeh, Idlib Province, killed Abu Khayr al-Masri, who was the deputy leader of al-Qaeda.