From fighters to policemen in post-Assad Damascus

Until recently, these people were at war with the Syrian government. They now maintain checkpoints across the capital. They are former fighters of Hayat Tahrir al-Sham, or HTS. The Islamist group, once linked to al-Qaeda, overthrew the government of Bashar al-Assad in early December. Restoring security after 13 years of civil war is one of the top priorities for HTS. The group has included ex-rebel Bazel al-Helal as the head of the police in Damascus. The militants have now turned the police into traffic control and are trying to recover property looted in the latest government overthrow. They also say their mission is to raid drug dealers, thieves and former government officials. Before ousting Assad, HTS ran a local government in a region it controlled in northern Syria. There, he was accused of rights violations, including the arrest of critics. This worries some people. They worry about how HTS will manage now that it controls a larger and more diverse part of the country. These HTS fighters say the concerns about them are misplaced.