Dust and dirt fly off a black Jeep as it speeds over broken pavement in Eastern Ghouta, on the outskirts of Damascus. Inside, Hayat Tahrir Al Sham operative Abu Amro, seated in the front passenger seat, is in a hurry.
His mission is clear: recruit as many young men as possible for HTS, which overthrew the regime of former president Bashar Al Assad in December with just 20,000 fighters.
HTS, once linked with Al Qaeda and Al Nusra Front, is now in control of parts of Syria. After relocating from Damascus to Idlib, it has become a key player in managing the region.
The group urgently needs manpower, particularly in the more remote areas.
The Jeep pulls up at a public square in Ain Tarma, a district that once belonged to the rebels. Vegetable sellers with the new Syrian flag plastered over their vehicles pause to watch the gaunt man with an immaculately trimmed black beard step into a municipal building.
“Do you know suitable people to join us?” Abu Amro asks an Ain Tarma notable. He leaves a phone number and heads to a former regime barracks in the area where new HTS recruits will undergo three weeks of training.
The influx of new recruits will help HTS increase its control over Syria. In Ghouta and elsewhere over the last month, the group has been superimposing its own security structures on local governments it already runs, according to members of the organisation and other people working with it.
However, this tightening control risks undermining the hopes many Syrians had for an open society after HTS ended five decades of Assad family dictatorship. Under Bashar Al Assad and his father, Hafez, the states's pervasive security apparatus meant no decision could be made without the approval of the secret police.
While there have been no widespread crackdowns on dissent or secret detentions seen under the previous regime, HTS leader Ahmad Al Shara, now president of the country, has made no clear commitment to a democratic transformation.
Since the regime fell, thousands have joined HTS, Abu Amro says, with hundreds more expected soon at the barracks in Ghouta. There, he greets school-aged children who have volunteered to clean the compound.
They tear down posters of Mr Al Assad and throw away piles of deteriorating uniforms, broken helmets and other worn-out military gear – tangible signs of the former regime's decay.
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Abu Amro gives instructions to repair the toilets and showers in the barracks. Any other problems, even broken beds, are minor because the recruits will not be staying there for long, he tells the volunteers.
The area’s largely rural, poor and religiously conservative population plays to HTS's favour. Ghouta, once called the Gardens of Damascus, became a poverty-stricken belt around the capital as a result of economic and environmental decline.
Regime bombing obliterated vast areas of Ghouta. The Barada River, once a source of life, now flows as a foul-smelling stream through what is mostly barren farmland.
Still, local neighbourhood and clan allegiances remain strong.
Many former rebel fighters who have been bussed to north-west Syria under surrender deals in 2018, are now returning. These agreements followed a brutal three-year siege waged by the regime and its allies Russia and Iran.
Several days ago, hundreds of these fighters took to the streets of the Chabaa district, protesting against the arrest of one of their own by HTS personnel..
The situation was de-escalated after assurances that the man was only taken in for questioning about a drug case. However, he was not released, a clear sign of the new control HTS exerts in an area that once resisted the Assad regime.
“The HTS does not yet have the numbers to subdue Ghouta, but the people do not want a clash,” says Abu Tareq, a member of a newly formed local council in Ghouta who serves as a liaison with HTS.
Although Abu Tareq is wary of HTS's hardline religious ideology -- more extreme than the interpretations of Islam common in Damascus -- he acknowledges that any improvements to living conditions could win support for the group.
Even small changes, like doubling the power supply from one hour a day to two, would help endear HTS to the local population.
Abu Tareq was a fighter with Failaq Al Rahman, one of two main rebel brigades in Ghouta, whose members were deported to Idlib in 2018.
He now holds his position after securing local consensus and receiving approval from HTS commander Abu Ahmad Al Hilwani, known as the Emir of Ghouta.
HTS has maintained the Assad regime's eight-district administrative divisions, covering Ghouta and the rest of the countryside of Damascus, which continue to report to the Ministry of Interior.
However, the “emir” has appointed a local security chief in each district, called the mousaed al amni, or security assistant, who effectively “runs the show”, said Abu Tareq.
These local security heads are responsible to a parallel HTS command structure in each district, known as Amn Al Hayat, typically housed in one of the towering security compounds left behind by the regime.
Last week, in one of these compounds, people were lining up to register the cars they had seized after regime operatives abandoned them on December 8, the day the Assad regime was ousted.
“They told me that for now, I am allowed to keep it,” said a former Failaq Al Rahman fighter, sitting in a Hyundai SUV.
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Company profile
Company name: Suraasa
Started: 2018
Founders: Rishabh Khanna, Ankit Khanna and Sahil Makker
Based: India, UAE and the UK
Industry: EdTech
Initial investment: More than $200,000 in seed funding
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Living in...
This article is part of a guide on where to live in the UAE. Our reporters will profile some of the country’s most desirable districts, provide an estimate of rental prices and introduce you to some of the residents who call each area home.
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if you go
The flights
Etihad, Emirates and Singapore Airlines fly direct from the UAE to Singapore from Dh2,265 return including taxes. The flight takes about 7 hours.
The hotel
Rooms at the M Social Singapore cost from SG $179 (Dh488) per night including taxes.
The tour
Makan Makan Walking group tours costs from SG $90 (Dh245) per person for about three hours. Tailor-made tours can be arranged. For details go to www.woknstroll.com.sg
Killing of Qassem Suleimani
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Shakhtar Donetsk (2) v Wolfsburg (1) 8.55pm
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Manchester United (5) v LASK (0) 11pm
Thursday
Bayer Leverkusen (3) v Rangers (1) 8.55pm
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FC Basel (3) v Eintracht Frankfurt (0) 11pm
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Killing of Qassem Suleimani
Key recommendations
- Fewer criminals put behind bars and more to serve sentences in the community, with short sentences scrapped and many inmates released earlier.
- Greater use of curfews and exclusion zones to deliver tougher supervision than ever on criminals.
- Explore wider powers for judges to punish offenders by blocking them from attending football matches, banning them from driving or travelling abroad through an expansion of ‘ancillary orders’.
- More Intensive Supervision Courts to tackle the root causes of crime such as alcohol and drug abuse – forcing repeat offenders to take part in tough treatment programmes or face prison.
AIR
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VEZEETA PROFILE
Date started: 2012
Founder: Amir Barsoum
Based: Dubai, UAE
Sector: HealthTech / MedTech
Size: 300 employees
Funding: $22.6 million (as of September 2018)
Investors: Technology Development Fund, Silicon Badia, Beco Capital, Vostok New Ventures, Endeavour Catalyst, Crescent Enterprises’ CE-Ventures, Saudi Technology Ventures and IFC
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Key figures in the life of the fort
Sheikh Dhiyab bin Isa (ruled 1761-1793) Built Qasr Al Hosn as a watchtower to guard over the only freshwater well on Abu Dhabi island.
Sheikh Shakhbut bin Dhiyab (ruled 1793-1816) Expanded the tower into a small fort and transferred his ruling place of residence from Liwa Oasis to the fort on the island.
Sheikh Tahnoon bin Shakhbut (ruled 1818-1833) Expanded Qasr Al Hosn further as Abu Dhabi grew from a small village of palm huts to a town of more than 5,000 inhabitants.
Sheikh Khalifa bin Shakhbut (ruled 1833-1845) Repaired and fortified the fort.
Sheikh Saeed bin Tahnoon (ruled 1845-1855) Turned Qasr Al Hosn into a strong two-storied structure.
Sheikh Zayed bin Khalifa (ruled 1855-1909) Expanded Qasr Al Hosn further to reflect the emirate's increasing prominence.
Sheikh Shakhbut bin Sultan (ruled 1928-1966) Renovated and enlarged Qasr Al Hosn, adding a decorative arch and two new villas.
Sheikh Zayed bin Sultan (ruled 1966-2004) Moved the royal residence to Al Manhal palace and kept his diwan at Qasr Al Hosn.
Sources: Jayanti Maitra, www.adach.ae
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Torque: 790Nm from 2,000-3,600rpm
Transmission: 10-speed auto
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