Their ranks torn by infighting, their U.S. support long gone, their leadership coopted by the Turks, fighters who once thought they’d overthrow Assad have no hope left.
Following weeks of battles and bombardment, the Syrian opposition forces in the city of Daraa and surrounding countryside agreed to withdraw and surrender their weapons to the Assad regime at the end of June. The birthplace of the Syrian war, Daraa was both symbolically and, because of its proximity to the Jordanian border, strategically important.
Indeed, the war is winding down, and some of the biggest losers are the rebels the Americans once thought of as, relatively speaking, the good guys. These were the men fighting the Assad regime while remaining hostile to the burgeoning local al Qaeda affiliate and the so-called Islamic State.
Raed is one of thousands of opposition fighters in northwestern Syria mulling his future as the Russian and Iranian-backed forces of Bashar al-Assad capture opposition-held territory piece by piece. He is currently with the Syrian Liberation Front, although he’s bounced around among several groups over the years.
Ziad watched many of his fellow fighters change their appearance and habits. Spiky hair and western clothing were traded for long beards and long robes. Many stopped smoking, a vice beloved by many FSA soldiers but outlawed by the strict brand of Sharia law enforced by HTS. Women were more likely to wear a niqab, the veil covering the entire face, rather than just a hijab, or headscarf, previously the norm in his town. Female-specific education centers sponsored by HTS appeared, which seemed to exist primarily to hand out niqabs to neighborhood women.
“They have had so much influence over our young people,” Ziad said. “But what’s worse is they harmed the opposition."
Adbullah’s Facebook pictures show his transformation from child to jihadi fighter. A 13-year-old Abdullah rides a horse in a t-shirt and jeans, while a 16-year-old Abdullah wields an AK-47, wears a long robe, and holds his index finger to the sky in the sign of the tawhid, the oneness of God.
Interviewed in late 2016, Abdullah vowed to never stop fighting and never leave Syria. “I will fight until my country and my people are free,” he said.
Among a long list of obstacles causing disillusionment among the remaining Syrian opposition, infighting is just one. In January of this year, Raed and Ziad were summoned by their FSA commanders to join “Operation Olive Branch.” That Turkish-led offensive targeted Afrin, a Syrian border city mostly inhabited by Kurds and controlled by the Syrian Democratic Forces, which are closely allied to the United States in anti-ISIS operations in other parts of the country. The Turkish government’s highest priority is the fight against Kurdish rebels inside and outside Turkey’s borders, not against Assad or ISIS.
Soon after the offensive was underway, reports of widespread looting by the Turkish-backed FSA rebels emerged.
To Raed and Ziad, the war’s end and the opposition's loss seem a foregone conclusion. Raed estimated that more than 30 percent of his fellow fighters have simply put down their guns. Some of them search for work in Syria, picking up odd jobs when they can to survive. Many who could afford to have gone to Turkey.
Abdullah found a job doing telephone marketing in Istanbul. His Instagram shows him transformed yet again, hair cropped close, posing in front of Istanbul’s monuments in a polo shirt and khaki pants.
Ziad, newly married with a child, feels the same way. “I want to stay, but I feel the war is over. I want my family to be safe."