A new group who appears to be presenting themselves as defectors from Hayat Tahrir al-Sham (HTS) claim to have conducted their first military action, targeting the Syrian military near Damascus. The statement was released on 11 January via Telegram. The claim did not include a date that the attack took place.
On 8 January 2025 “Katibat Sayf al-Bahr” (the Sayf al-Bahr Brigade), published a statement announcing the beginning of hostilities against Syria’s new authorities. The group’s spokesperson accused HTS leader Ahmed al-Sharaa (aka Abu Mohammed al-Jolani) of stripping HTS of its Islamic Character and failing to implement Sharia since HTS’ rebel forces seized power in Syria in December 2024.
The 11 January statement claimed Katibat Sayf al-Bahr had attacked two military vehicles with machine guns on the outskirts of Damascus. It claimed causing “several casualties “amongst “al-Jolani’s soldiers”.
Who are Katibat Sayf al-Bahr?
There has been very little online discussion about this new group, Katibat Sayf al-Bahr, and there are reasons to question the group’s claims to be HTS defectors.
For example, both statements were observed to be circulated by online supporters of the Islamic State, staunch rivals of HTS, and not by the usual Islamist critics of HTS. The language of the 8 January statement, particularly its declaration that the new Syrian army is “infidel and apostate”, is ultra-extreme and typical of the rhetoric and excessive takfir (excommunication of fellow Muslims) commonly used by IS and its supporters. Katibat Sayf al-Bahr’s Telegram account began on 3 January. This channel otherwise only contains two statements discussing the group’s aims and reasons for its hostility towards HTS leader Ahmed al-Sharaa. In the first statement on the channel, the group introduces itself as “Ahrar Hayat Tahrir al-Sham” (The Free Men of HTS), before changing its name to Katibat Sayf al-Bahr. The name “Sayf al-Bahr” appears to come from a Hadith related to the necessity of withstanding hardship without abandoning jihad.
The statement on 3 January 2025 was initially presented in green-and-white colors with branding resembling that of the former HTS style, but was later revised to a black-and-white format – possibly to avoid any confusion or perceived association with HTS, similar to the later name change. Black and white is also more commonly associated with IS flag.
There are numerous hard-line Islamist opponents of HTS, some of whom are nominally aligned with al-Qaeda but anti-IS. However, the statements were not observed to be widely promoted by accounts usually associated with criticizing al-Sharaa.
Regardless of their motivations the group are presenting themselves as defectors, should they follow through with their pledge of armed opposition, the group could encourage other hardline elements to defect from HTS to revolt against its rule, further complicating the terrorism picture in Syria.