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Sharaa's HTS group - once the local affiliate of al-Qaeda and still designated as a terrorist organisation by the UN, US and UK - formed the backbone of his new army.

Turkish-backed militia and jihadist fighters who once fought alongside HTS to remove Bashar al-Assad are among those named by witnesses and human rights groups as carrying out summary executions.

HTS is a former al-Qaeda affiliate that is still designated as a terrorist organisation by the UN, the US, the EU and the UK.

HTS leader Ahmad al-Sharaa, who was named as Syria's interim president earlier this year, has called for western sanctions to be lifted, arguing they were a response to the crimes of the previous regime.

HTS is designated a terrorist group by the UK.