section_path: Policies/Defense
section_name: Defense
paragraph_text: Defense
  
  Prime Minister Mohammed Al-Bashir has said the defense ministry would be restructured using former rebel factions and officers who defected from Assad's army. Murhaf Abu Qasra (nom de guerre; Abu Hassan al-Hamawi), the military commander of Tahrir al-Sham, said to The Economist, "All military units will naturally transition to the ministry of defense, forming a unified army tasked with protecting the nation on behalf of all Syrians." The Economist added that "he insists that there will be no place in the new Syria for jihadists eager to launch attacks". Abu Qasra, speaking with AFP, said that HTS would be "among the first to take the initiative" to dissolve its armed wing for a national army; on 21 December it was reported that Abu Qasra was appointed transitional Minister of Defense. Three days later the transitional government announced that a meeting between opposition groups and Ahmed al-Sharaa "ended in an agreement on the dissolution of all the groups and their integration under the supervision of the ministry of defense". The exact composition of groups to be dissolved is unclear, as groups such as the Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF) were not part of the agreement. Previously, the interim authority under HTS was reported by the Institute for the Study of War in mid-December to have joined Turkey in attempting to coerce the SDF to disarm and abandon their autonomy.
  
  On 29 December 2024, al-Sharaa announced the promotion of 42 individuals to the rank of Colonel, 5 to the rank of Brigadier general, and 2 to the rank of Major general in the Syrian Army to the Minister of Defence Murhaf Abu Qasra and Chief of the General Staff of the Syrian Armed Forces and Army Ali Noureddine al-Naasan, who were both elevated to the rank of Major general. Several foreign fighters were appointed to senior military roles. According to Reuters, the fighters were generally of Islamist Jihadist leanings, including a member of the Turkistan Islamic Party, a group listed by the UN as a terrorist organization. Reuters quoted an HTS source, according to which the promotions were a "small token of recognition for the sacrifices Islamic jihadists gave to our struggle for freedom".
  
  In an interview with A Haber, Ahmed al-Sharaa stated that the Kurdish forces are the only side that did not respond to the new administration's call to disarm and restrict arms to the authority, saying that the Kurdistan Workers Party (PKK) and the Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF) had not accepted the call to disarm yet, even though they were invited to join the new ministry of defense. Ahmed al-Sharaa also added that the new administration would not let the PKK conduct terrorist attacks against Turkey and that it would do its best to ensure the safety of the borders with Turkey. Al-Sharaa also added that the People's Defense Units (YPG) did not respond to the calls to disarm. He accused the PKK of exploiting the issue of the Islamic State prisons for its gain.