As al-Shara consolidated power, Syria unleashed rebel groups.

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As the new administration rushes to consolidate power in reformed institutions, Syrian rebel factions have broken up and agreed to become part of the interim government’s Ministry of Defense.

The new government’s commander-in-chief, Ahmed al-Sharaa – a former leader of the Islamist rebel group Hayat Tahrir al-Sham, formerly known as Abu Mohammed al-Jolani – announced the deal on Tuesday after meeting with the group’s leaders. The Turkish-backed Syrian National Army and factions in northeastern and southern Syria.

The government stated that the meeting “broke all factions and agreed to merge under the Ministry of Defence.”

The Kurdish-led, US-backed Syrian Democratic Forces were absent following the collapse of a Washington-brokered ceasefire with Turkish-backed rebels in the northeast.

HTS-led rebels reached an agreement on an interim government two weeks after President Bashar al-Assad fell in a lightning strike after 13 years of brutal civil war. It comes as al-Shara seeks to consolidate his power over a fractured country.

He has a tough job ahead of him. His group, HTS, is training its forces at military academies and training facilities, unlike other splinter allied rebel groups.

Security is a key issue for the new administration, which faces threats including clashes between Turkish-backed rebels and the SDF. The threat of a resurgence of Isis, long-time enemies of HTS, who were not part of Tuesday’s deal; And loyalists to the ousted regime could rally after Assad dismantles his army before leaving the country.

Shara’s government is amassing institutions such as police departments, defense forces and security forces. In the last two weeks, he has opened applications for police jobs and “settlement centers” for former soldiers of the regime.

It has been trying to maintain the country’s security by deploying security forces and police personnel from Idlib in northwestern Syria, which has been under HTS control for years.

Security concerns have increased this week, particularly as unconfirmed reports of revenge killings in small villages and rampant banditry on highways across the country.

On Monday, a large Christmas tree was set on fire by unknown assailants at a roundabout in the northwestern Christian town of al-Suqalabiyyah, raising fears of attacks by hardline Islamist groups on Syria’s Christian minority.

Footage shared on social media shows an HTS member standing with two clerics assuring the crowd at Al-Suqaylabiyah that the tree will be repaired before dawn.

Hundreds of people protested across Syria on Tuesday. Protesters carrying crosses were seen marching through the streets of the Bab Touma area of ​​Damascus. Elsewhere in Damascus, people were shopping at a large Christmas market.

Incidents such as the burning of the Christmas tree have seen the new leadership trying to present itself as a moderate government for all Syrians despite its roots in Islam and jihadism.

But minority groups have enjoyed some degree of protection under Assad and are afraid to stand aside and attack despite widespread repression of the regime.