They’re led by Abu Mohammad al-Jolani, the head of militant group HTS, a former al Qaeda affiliate in Syria that used to go by the name Al-Nusra Front. The leader of Syria's Islamist Hayat Tahrir al-Sham (HTS) group Abu Mohammed al-Jolani at the capital's landmark Umayyad Mosque on December 8, 2024. Assad is the second generation of an autocratic family dynasty that held power in Syria for more than five decades. Analysts told CNN the Syrian rebels used a vacuum left by the group to advance in Syria. Syrian rebel fighters and locals celebrate in the central city of Homs early on December 8, 2024, after entering Syria's third city overnight.

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Persons: CNN — Long, Assad, Damacus “, Bashar al, ”, Louai Beshara, ” It’s, They’re, Abu Mohammad al, al, Jolani, ” Jolani, Tahrir, Abu Mohammed al, Aref Tammawi, Hafez al, Sam Hariri, what’s, Joe Biden, Abdulaziz Ketaz, Syria Hossein Akbari Organizations: CNN, ISIS, Getty, Operations Command, Nusra, Syrian National Army, Syrian Democratic Forces, United Nations, Baath Party, UN, Amnesty, Saydnaya, Syria's, Ministry, AFP, Rebels, Hezbollah, Analysts Locations: Syria, ”, Russia, Aleppo, Idlib, Hama, Homs, Damascus, Moscow, AFP, Iran, Qaeda, al Qaeda, Turkey, Kurdish, United States, Umayyad, London, Ukraine, Israel, Assad Syria, Syrian, Syria's