Islamist group running Syria has mixed record over governance in province, ruled with 'iron fist'

Following Bashar al-Assad's fall from power, a new government is taking shape in Syria that has many wondering if it will moderate its Islamist stance or, as some have predicted, function like the Taliban in Afghanistan.

The U.S.-designated terrorist group Hayat Tahrir Al-Sham (HTS) had been ruling the Idlib Governate in northwest Syria and set up its own regime known as the Syrian Salvation Government and said it had shed its global Jihadist aims for a focus on local governance. In Idlib, HTS created a bureaucratic system and various ministries to administer some public services, including public safety.

"By all accounts, it has ruled with an iron fist there," Natasha Hall, senior fellow with the Middle East Program at the Center for Strategic and International Studies, told Fox News Digital.

At its height, HTS ruled over approximatel...