Sharaa and the heads of rebel factions agreed Tuesday to merge the groups under the Ministry of Defense, according to a statement from Hay’at Tahrir al-Sham (HTS), the Islamist rebel group that led the charge to topple dictator Bashar al-Assad.

Syria's de facto leader Ahmed al-Sharaa reached an agreement with former rebel faction chiefs to dissolve all groups and consolidate them under the defence ministry.

The fighters who ousted Bashar al-Assad are aiming to transform their revolutionary movement and assert control over the country.

Syria’s rebel factions have agreed to disband and become part of the interim government’s defence ministry as the new administration rushes to consolidate power within revamped government institutions.

All Syrian rebel groups are to be dissolved and united under the Defence Ministry, Syria's transitional government announced on Tuesday, while a car bomb killed two people in the northern city of Manbij.

Syria's new leaders announced Tuesday that they had reached an agreement with the country's rebel groups on their dissolution and integration under the defence ministry.