Syria rebels declare Damascus ‘free,’ claim Assad has fled the capital | CNN

Syria’s rebel coalition consists of Islamist and moderate factions who, despite their differences, are united in fighting the Assad regime, ISIS and Iran-backed militias.

Here are some of the groups forming the coalition:

Hayat Tahrir Al Sham (HTS): The most prominent and formidable of the groups is HTS, also known as the Organization for the Liberation of the Levant. HTS was founded by Abu Mohammad al-Jolani, a military commander who gained experience as a young fighter for al Qaeda against the United States in Iraq.

He created Jabhat al-Nusra, al Qaeda’s Syrian affiliate, and operated the group until a public split with in 2016 over ideological differences and opposition to ISIS. Jolani formed HTS in 2017.

Despite Jolani’s effort to distance HTS from al Qaeda and ISIS, the US and other Western countries designated it a terrorist organization in 2018 and placed a $10 million bounty on him.

The Syrian National Army (SNA): The “Syrian National Army” incorporates dozens of factions with various ideologies that receive funding and arms from Turkey.

That coalition includes the National Liberation Front, comprising factions like Ahrar al-Sham whose stated aims are to “overthrow the (Assad) regime” and “establish an Islamic state governed by Sharia law.”

Complicating matters is that some members of the rebel coalition are also fighting Kurdish forces.

The Turkish-backed Free Syrian Army said last week it had seized control of the city of Tal Rifaat and other towns and villages in the northern part of the Aleppo governorate.

Those territories were previously held not by Assad’s government but by another faction involved in the multi-front civil war: the Syrian Democratic Forces.

The SDF are largely made up of Kurdish fighters from a group known as the Peoples’ Protection Units (YPG), which is considered a terrorist organization by Turkey.

In Syria’s south, fighters from the country’s Druze religious minority have also joined the fight, a local activist group told CNN.

Druze are fighting in the southern city of as-Suwayda, which neighbors the Daraa province, where opposition forces claim to have taken control of Daraa city.