The Patient Efforts Behind Hayat Tahrir al-Sham’s Success in Aleppo

“God willing,” the militant told his lieutenants, they would “be able to celebrate Eid al-Fitr in Aleppo and Damascus soon.” That militant was Abu Muhammad al-Jawlani, the leader of Hayat Tahrir al-Sham—the Islamist coalition that took Aleppo by storm last week. As it turns out, his remarks—delivered in April to the leaders of his group’s militant wing—were not mere whimsy. He had a plan. And Eid al-Fitr is still four months away...

Read the full article at the War on the Rocks website.