Syria militants in their dying days: Analsyt

In recent months, due to gains made by the Syrian Army, the political and military front of foreign-backed opposition has been shattered to a great extent. Some observers even say militants in Syria are seeing their final days.

The opposition — backed financially, politically and militarily by foreign governments — failed to convince its supporters for a military intervention against the Syrian government.

Despite having conducted Saudi-backed chemical attacks on its own bases around Damascus and the ensuing deaths of a large number of innocent civilians, the opposite never managed to instigate the international community against the Syrian government.

Presently, even many supporters of militants in Syria have acknowledged that the armed groups are foundering. To that effect, Israel’s Strategic Affairs Minister Yuval Steinitz has recently said Syrian President Bashar al-Assad’s forces are emerging winner in the ongoing conflict.

US Secretary of State John Kerry also said during his visit to Jordan that Syria has undergone serious changes which will by no means be in the interest of the opposition.

In autumn 2012, based on reports, the opposition forces had managed to occupy half of Syria thanks to foreign military assistance and heavy weapons. But since January 2013, the Syrian troops have gradually taken back control of many cities from militants.

In June 2013, Lebanese and Syrian media even reported that a number of so-called Free Syrian Army (FSA) operatives had surrendered to the Syrian government. Britain’s Daily Telegraph reported that some militants had fled to the Syrian government-controlled regions for more safety.

Syria’s National Reconciliation Ministry has established a body to deal with militants willing to surrender. More than 200 armed rebels have so far surrendered and some of them have even returned to their previous posts.

Those who have managed to dissociate themselves from the militants say a large number of militants are ready to surrender themselves, but they fear to do so because they have seen some of their comrades having been executed for attempting to flee.

The failure of militants and opposition forces in Syria stems from the fact that the opposition groups are not homogenous.

According to a study conducted by British defense consultant IHS Jane’s in September, some 100,000 militants affiliated with 1,000 groups are fighting against the Syrian government and people. According to this study, whose findings are reportedly based on interviews with militants and intelligence reports, most armed groups are affiliated with extremist organizations like al-Qaeda.

All these groups are following a single objective; that is, overthrowing the government of President Assad. They share no other objectives and they are divided about their affiliation to foreign governments.

Some of these groups are affiliated with al-Qaeda and their members are trained by al-Qaeda across the globe.

Australia’s broadsheet newspaper The Australian recently revealed that nearly 80 al-Qaeda-linked Australians are fighting the Syrian government. For its part, Britain’sThe Times reported that some 150 Britons are fighting shoulder-to-shoulder with Takfiri groups in Syria.

The Saudi-funded Ash Sharq al-Awsat revealed in June that 6,000 militants from different nationalities are battling with the Syrian Army.

The notable point is that there are prominent secular figures in the political branch of the opposition in Syria and they do not have any commonalities with the Takfiri militants in Syria.

Over the past months, the military branch of the opposition has experienced escalation of infighting. This rift is more visible in the so-called FSA, dominated by seculars, and al-Qaeda-linked Takfiris.

The so-called FSA members are less indulged in the massacre of people and they get along with people in a better way.

Yet Takfiri groups which have no consanguinity nor national relationship with the Syrian people have committed war crimes against Syrian civilians. They massacre families just for being Shia. They do not even show mercy to their own co-combatants, killing them violently as well.

Given all these circumstances — particularly the dominance of mistrust among armed groups in Syria, the emergence of difference among their Western supporters, and public opinion’s suspicion vis-à-vis the nature of militants in Syria, one can predict that the end of Syria’s crisis is fast approaching.

The opponents of the Syrian government were in better position than now, but after al-Qaeda affiliated militants joined them from across the globe, they betrayed the Syrian nation.

As they saw they were losing public trust, they turned to their Western supporters, but the United States and other Western supporters of the Syrian opposition preferred a political solution to a military action.

The Syrian opposition is well aware that the Syrian people will never welcome them mainly because their military approaches have left hundreds of thousands dead and millions homeless.

Saudi Arabia, Turkey, Qatar and Israel have spared no efforts to topple the government of Bashar al-Assad. But they have realized that the Resistance Front in the region is so strong that their military and non-military alliances along with their supply of sophisticated weapons to the militants will not be able to break the link between the Syrian people and the Resistance Front and depose President Assad.

Under such circumstances, pro-opposition foreign governments have no other choice than to concede defeat and stop providing financial, political and military support to militants and al-Qaeda-affiliated Takfiri groups.