Pro-Hay'at Tahrir Al-Sham (HTS) Media Group Claims Over 407 Sniper Attacks By HTS-Linked Operations Room During First Half Of 2024, Declares World Record For Longest Distance Shot At '3,920 Meters'

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On July 10, 2024, Al-Askari Media, an unofficial outlet supporting Syrian jihadi group Hay'at Tahrir Al-Sham (HTS), released a series of six infographic posters titled, "The Weapon of Terror and Nightmare of the Criminals," tallying sniper operations by the Al-Fath Al-Mubin operations room during the first half of 2024, from January 1 to June 30.[1] The Al-Fath Al-Mubin operations room, based in the rebel-controlled Idlib area of northwestern Syria, includes HTS and other factions, such as Ahrar Al-Sham, Suqour Al-Sham, Jaysh Al-Nasr, and the Turkestan Islamic Party (TIP).[2]

One poster describes sniper rifles as "the deadliest weapon" possessed by Al-Fath Al-Mubin, targeting regime officers, soldiers, and equipment and weapons on a near-daily basis, inducing "a state of fear and alarm."

Another poster credits the "intensive and harsh training and intensive experiments" by the operations room's snipers over the preceding months with their allegedly breaking a world record on June 25, by shooting a moving Assad regime soldier from a distance of 3,920 meters (about 2.4 miles). Al-Askari claims that "no one using this level of weapon in the world has previously achieved this."

Al-Askari tallies the operations room's sniper operations during the six-month period, claiming that more than 407 shots, killing or wounding regime soldiers and officers and destroying their equipment and weapons, were confirmed. One poster featuring a map of the Idlib area shows that the largest number of sniper operations took place at the fronts south of Idlib (more than 146), followed by the area west of Aleppo (over 101), east of Idlib (over 73), north of Latakia (over 60), and northwest of Hama (at least 27).

The final poster invites Al-Askari's followers to send messages to the account that will be read by one of the operations room's snipers.

Among the 28 messages of encouragement that were submitted, one user wrote from Morocco: "May Allah support you and make your feet steadfast." Another wrote: "What can we say to a sniper who hit the target from a distance of four kilometers? … Whatever we say is too little …" Another message tells the fighters: "Pay no attention to discouragement, condemnation, or chatter, for by Allah, you are at a great battlefront which millions of Muslims wish for." One user wrote: "May Allah bless you … you who have confounded the polytheist Rafidites and apostate Nusayris [pejorative terms for Shi'ites and Alawites, respectively] and put them on alert throughout their lives. I advise you, brothers, to … strike harshly, split open heads, and disturb their lives. Make their days into rubble and their nights into fire. May your strength not weaken, nor your resolve slacken." Another advised the snipers: "Make sure to follow the correct Salafi methodology, be sincere, and seek Allah's reward. May Allah direct your aim and make it into flames scorching Allah's enemies."[3]

On June 25, the pro-HTS "Darb Al-Ubat" [Path of the Proud] Telegram channel posted a 23-second videoclip showing a Syrian soldier walking through a clearing at a military camp being targeted by a sniper from HTS' Abu Bakr Al-Siddiq Brigade, and shot. Reporting that the Al-Fath Al-Mubin operations room confirmed the hit, the channel claimed the operation set a world record for the longest-distance confirmed sniper shot, at 3,920 meters.[4] A world sniping distance record of 3,800 meters (approximately two miles) was set by Ukrainian sniper Vyacheslav Kovalskiy on November 18, 2023.[5]

On July 2, Al-Askari Media released a photoset and a video showing HTS Special Forces conducting combat readiness drills at the front north of Latakia.[6] A senior Uyghur sniper affiliated with HTS and TIP was killed on the frontlines in April 2024.[7]