The Islamic group Hayat Tahrir al-Sham’s (HTS) rapid breakthroughs in Syria show that President Bashar al-Assad’s supporters are distracted, US Secretary of State Antony Blinken said on Wednesday.
Al-Assad’s key allies, especially Russia, Iran and the pro-Iranian Hezbollah militia in Lebanon, have all been distracted in “different ways,” Blinken said.
Russia, in turn, is preoccupied with the ongoing war in Ukraine, while Hezbollah is engaged in a war with Israel in Lebanon, which has only recently led to a ceasefire.
“It seems that HTS has taken advantage of that fact,” he added, calling for a de-escalation of the fighting and that civilians should not be harmed.
Blinken added that because al-Assad has refused to participate in the UN political process to end Syria’s civil war, this also “opened the door” to Hayat Tahrir al-Sham’s attacks.
