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As questions abound regarding what is next for Syria following the sudden fall of Bashar al-Assad’s regime at the hands of an Islamist militia last weekend, experts say there are serious concerns that the Middle Eastern country could eventually devolve into a global terrorist threat despite assurances from the invading militia that it will not persecute religious minorities.

On Wednesday, Secretary of State Antony Blinken and National Security Advisor Jake Sullivan traveled to the region to meet with Israeli, Turkish, and other foreign ministers to discuss the situation in Syria. As of yet, the U.S. has not had any direct communication with Hayat Tahrir al-Sham (HTS), the militia that ousted Assad and took control of the Syrian capital of Damascus, which it officially considers a terrorist organization. Elizabeth Richard, the State Department’s top counterterrorism official, acknowledged on Wednesday that the U.S. will likely need to deal with the group, remarking, “We can’t wait till everyone is Mother Teresa and then talk to them.”

Meanwhile, experts in the region say threats that HTS has made in the past are cause for concern. Chris Mitchell, Middle East bureau chief for CBN News, spoke with Family Research Council President Tony Perkins via satellite from Jerusalem on Tuesday to give an update on the fragile situation in Syria.

“I know HTS is sort of presenting themselves as ‘moderate,’” he explained. “The leader has been on CNN already. But they are Islamists. … They’re saying quite openly they want to take over the Al-Aqsa Mosque here in Jerusalem. This is only a stepping stone to take over a greater part of the Middle East.”

Mitchell further noted that Turkey is supporting HTS, which has its own expansionist aspirations for the Middle East. “Turkey apparently has armed them [and] funded them, [which] is all part of President [Tayyip] Erdogan’s greater goal to restore the Islamic caliphate, the Ottoman Empire — he being the great sultan. But he’s using proxies to go ahead and do that — HTS and the Syrian National Army are two of those proxies.”

Democratic Principles Threatened

Mitchell went on to detail how forces aligned with democratic principles in the Kurdish northern region of Syria are also now being threatened.

“The other big issue is there has been for many years in northeast Syria a group in an administration area that [have] been self-governing and been one of the most democratic regions in the entire Middle East, and that region is now under attack, we understand, by members of the Syrian National Army [SNA]. This is the Syrian Democratic Forces … but these are the good guys. … [T]his is a group of Kurds, Christians, Yazidis, [and] Arabs working together. In fact, in their charter, they require that 40% of the representation in the government is by women. So that is under attack right now.”

As Mitchell additionally related, remnants of ISIS are reportedly still present in the country and are committing atrocities against Christians. “[A] [recent] report [indicates] some of these members of the SNA are … veterans of ISIS. … [P]eople that have escaped that region [have reported] women beheaded in front of their families and communities, mass shootings of civilians, dead bodies on the road, children kidnapped from their families.”

Mitchell further underscored that HTS is attempting to distinguish itself from SNA, which is likely unreliable. “[W]e’re going to see a deceptive facade right now on what’s happening in places like Aleppo. Mohammed al-Jawlani is the leader of HTS. He is a veteran of al-Nusra, which is an affiliate of al-Qaeda. He’s presenting himself as a moderate, and I believe he’s asking people not to put anything on social media like ISIS used to do. … [But] if you go back a few years when they were in charge of Idlib, … they implied employed Sharia law. So I think Sharia law is on its way to much of this area in Syria, but I think we might see a sort of interim period of what they call ‘moderation.’”

Why Should Christians Care?

As to why Christians should care about the events in Syria, Mitchell explained its historic roots to the early church and its prophetic place in Scripture.

“Two thousand years ago, this was the cradle of Christianity,” he emphasized. “The gospel spread to Aleppo and other places in Syria and in Lebanon and throughout this region. This is the ancestral homeland of our faith, and many of the believers right now are in harm’s way because of their faith in Jesus Christ. Prophetically and biblically, I think many people have been referring to Isaiah chapter 17:1, when the prophet said that one day Damascus would become a heap of ruins. Perhaps we’re one step closer to that unfolding. When and how I don’t know, but that will one day be fulfilled.”

Mitchell concluded by encouraging believers to keep Syria in prayer. “Pray for the Christians in this region [who] are under threat, as well as Kurds, Yazidis, and other ethnic minorities, that they would be protected. And also that [the] northeast Syria autonomous region would be protected and supplied so that this democratic good news story can be preserved and that they can be a refuge for many of these people that are seeking asylum and safety from some of these Islamist groups.”

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Republished with thanks to The Washington Stand. Image courtesy of Unsplash.