The National Dialogue Conference in Damascus, which brought together hundreds of participants to discuss Syria’s political future, ended last week in a mix of optimism and criticism. The first national-level event since the fall of Bashar Al-Assad’s regime presented a long-awaited opportunity for Syrians to come together and deliberate on …

After more than a decade of brutal civil war, it took Islamist militants just 11 days to sweep through Syria and topple the regime of Bashar al-Assad. The offensive, which has been driven by the Turkish-backed Syrian National Army (SNA) and Hayat Tahrir al-Sham (HTS), has forced many residents in …

More than a month has passed since Abu Muhammad al-Jolani, the leader of the Hayat Tahrir al-Sham (HTS) militant group, became the de facto leader of Syria. Since then, he has dropped his nom de guerre in favour of his real name, Ahmed al-Shara, and has swapped his military attire …