US diplomats met with Ahmed al-Sharaa, the head of Hayat Tahrir al-Sham (HTS) and led the Syrian rebels against the regime of Bashar al-Assad. Barbara Leaf, the top US official in the Middle East, said that Washington is giving $10 million to al-Sharaa, also known as Abu Mohammed al-Jolani. Meanwhile, the US military announced the killing of the leader of the Islamic State (IS) “Abu Yusif” and another member in an airstrike on December 19 in the province of Deir Ezzor in Syria, which is part of the efforts to fight the radical IS following the fall of Bashar al-Assad. Turkish President Erdogan has vowed to fight terrorist groups, including IS and Kurdish forces. Syrians celebrate the end of Assad’s regime, removing his father’s name from the Umayyad Mosque. US diplomats met with Syrian rebel leaders, discussing sanctions and the possible removal of HTS from the terrorist list. n18oc_crux
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