A senior US official has stated that significant portions of Syria's rebel coalition Hayat Tahrir Al-Sham (HTS) maintain strong links to ISIS. The HTS has been designated as a Foreign Terrorist Organization by the US, Turkey, the United Nations, and several other Western nations. In 2018, the United States placed a $10 million bounty on its military leader Abu Mohammad al-Jolani.
In an exclusive interview, Jolani disputed the enduring terror designation of HTS, describing it as 'primarily political and, at the same time, inaccurate.' He argued that some extreme Islamist practices had 'created a divide' between HTS and jihadist groups. Jolani claimed to have distanced himself from other jihadi groups due to their brutal tactics and asserted that he was never personally involved in attacks on civilians.
