Syrian rebels began planning the military offensive that toppled the Assad regime a year ago.

The operation was highly disciplined during which a new drone unit was deployed and there was close coordination between opposition groups across the country.

In his first interview with foreign media since the fall of Bashar al-Assad’s 54-year rule, Abu Hassan al-Hamoui, head of the military wing of Hayat Tahrir al-Sham (HTS), spoke of how his group, based in northwest of the country, contacted rebels in the south to create a single war room with the goal of eventually encircling the Damascus on both sides.

He said that although planning for the operation to topple Assad began a year ago, the group had been preparing for years.

“After the last campaign in August 2019, in which we lost significant territory, all rebel factions realized the critical danger and that the fundamental problem was the absence of unified leadership and control in the battle,” said al-Hamwi, 40, the who oversees the military wing for five years.

If it wanted to defeat the regime, HTS realized that it had to instill order in the alliance of opposition factions that had been pushed back in Idlib. She invited other groups to merge under her auspices, and when they refused, she brought them under her control. He fought against groups such as al-Qaeda affiliate Hurras al-Din, which had rejected HTS’s more pragmatic Islamist approach. Soon, Hayat Tahrir al-Sham became the dominant force in northwestern Syria.

With the civilian administration slowly coming together, al-Hamwi set to work on training the group’s fighters and developing a comprehensive military doctrine.
Al-Hamwi said: “We thoroughly studied the enemy, analyzing their tactics, both day and night, and used these gains to develop our own forces.”

The group, consisting of guerrillas, slowly became a disciplined fighting force. Military branches, units and security forces were created.

HTS also began producing its own weapons, vehicles and ammunition.

Outgunned by the Assad regime, which had an air force and the support of Russia and Iran, the group knew it had to be creative to make the most of limited resources.

A drone unit was created that brings together engineers and chemists. “We consolidated their knowledge and set clear goals: we needed reconnaissance drones, attack drones and suicide drones, with an emphasis on range and endurance,” al-Hamoui said, adding that drone production began in 2019.

The group sent messages to the rebels in the south a year ago and began advising them on how to create a unified war room. Southern Syria has been under regime control since 2018, and despite ongoing fighting, rebel groups have been forced to remain in hiding. Much of the military leadership of the southern opposition was in exile in Jordan, where they maintained contact with their respective groups.

With the help of HTS, an operations room was established, bringing together the commanders of about 25 rebel groups in the south, who would each coordinate the fighters’ movements with each other and with HTS in the north. The aim was for HTS and its allies to approach from the north and the southern group from the south with a rendezvous point in the capital.

In late November, the team decided the time was right.

The group first and foremost wanted to stop the trend of regional powers, led by countries such as the United Arab Emirates and Saudi Arabia, to normalize relations with the Assad regime after years of diplomatic isolation. He also wanted to stop escalating airstrikes on northwestern Syria and its people. Finally, HTS saw that Assad’s international allies were busy, creating a strategic opening.