Syrian rebels to disband military wings and form army, leader says

British diplomat Stephen Hickey, left, director of the Middle East and North Africa department at the Foreign Office, meets Syria’s rebel leader Mohammed al-Jolani

The Syrian rebel groups that ousted Bashar al-Assad are to disband their military wings and form an army, the head of the most powerful faction said, as the new rulers seek to consolidate control over the country.

Abu Mohammed al-Jolani, leader of Hayat Tahrir al-Sham (HTS), said the fighters would join an army that falls under the Ministry of Defence. “We have to adopt a state mentality, not an opposition mentality,” Jolani, who recently began going by his birth name Ahmed al-Sharea, said.