Most Syria militants share ideology with Daesh: Report
Defeating the Daesh Takfiri terrorist group would not end terrorism in Syria since most of the militants fighting in the country are sympathetic to the group, a new report says, as some Western countries persist on their support for so-called "moderate" militant groups in the war-ravaged Middle Eastern country.
According to a study by the Center on Religion and Geopolitics, Daesh “represents a continuation of a way of thinking that started before it existed and will carry on if it is defeated.”
“The West risks making a strategic failure by focusing only on ISIS (Daesh),” read the report.
The think tank said about 60 percent of militants that are currently fighting in Syria have religious and political ideologies similar to that of Daesh. There are some 15 militant groups dedicated to the fight against the government of Bashar al-Assad in Syria that share the same ideology with Daesh, the report said.
“The greatest danger to the international community are the groups that share the ideology of ISIS, but are being ignored in the battle to defeat the group,” said the think tank.
The United States and its regional allies, including Turkey and Saudi Arabia, have been backing militants fighting against the Syrian government and people. Since the Syria conflict started in 2011, they have been providing military and financial aid to the militants who are accused of widespread war crimes and crimes against civilians.
Earlier this month, Assad denounced the West and its regional allies, including Turkey, Saudi Arabia and Qatar, for supporting the so-called "moderate" militants fighting against him inside Syria, saying “we do not accept the term of militant opposition or military opposition or moderate opposition having armaments.”
“This is not opposition, this is terrorism. Opposition for us is a political movement outside or inside Syria,” he said. “You cannot talk about opposition in the political sense while they are holding arms.”
Assad said terrorists are coming from more than 100 countries around the world to Syria and suggested that if one really wants to fight and defeat them, “must prevent the supplies of arms, finances and recruits, which mainly goes through Turkey with the support of Saudi Arabia and Qatar."
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