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On August 18, al-Qaeda-affiliated Hay’at Tahrir al-Sham (HTS), the de-facto ruler of the northwestern Syrian region of Greater Idlib, congratulated the Taliban on their successful “conquest” of Afghanistan.
Two days earlier, the Taliban solidified its grip over Afghanistan after entering the capital Kabul and taking over the Presidential Palace. Afghan President Ashraf Ghani resigned and fled the country to the UAE, where he is now taking shelter.
In a statement, HTS hoped that the victory of the Taliban will encourage the international community to support “the will of the Syrian people”.
“We, from Sham al-Ribat [‘Sham of Frontline Manning’], bless our brothers of the Taliban and our people in Afghanistan for this clear conquest, asking the Lord to bless the Syrian revolution with strengthened victory, by which the land should be liberated, and the bond broken, with rights returning to their people, and justice prevailing in the shade of the Shari’a of al-Rahman [i.e. Islamic law of God],” the statement reads.
The statement was not a surprise. HTS’ supporters and radicals within the Syrian opposition have been celebrating the victory of the Taliban as it was theirs.
HTS enjoys good relations with the Taliban. Recently, the Taliban condemned the killing of the group’s spokesman Abu Khalid al-Shami. The spokesman was killed in Russian and Syrian strikes that targeted Greater Idlib on June 10.
Furthermore, Imam Bukhari Jamaat, a Taliban-affiliated Uzbek terrorist group, have been fighting alongside HTS in Greater Idlib for years now. The Syrian and Afghan branches of the group have sworn allegiance to Mullah Akhundzada of the Taliban.
The MSM have been working hard to whitewash HTS and present it to the world as a moderate, reformed force. Nevertheless, the terrorist group itself have been promoting itself to radicals as “the Taliban of Syria”.
