Syria's new authorities announced on Tuesday that the military chief of the Islamist group that spearheaded the offensive that toppled longtime ruler Bashar al-Assad had been appointed defence minister in the transitional government.
"The General Command announces the nomination of General Murhaf Abu Qasra as defence minister in the new government of the Syrian Arab Republic," said a statement carried by the official news agency SANA.
Abu Qasra, 41, a former agronomist, led the armed wing of Hayat Tahrir al-Sham (HTS) for five years.