"Edmund Fitton-Brown, Senior Advisor to the Counter Extremism Project, told MailOnline that a best-case scenario could see HTS work with other factions to achieve stability.

'Will there be democracy? Probably not in the Western sense - but some kind of consultative system, possibly involving elections, could emerge,' he said.

'HTS seem clear that they want Islamic governance but also show awareness of minority rights. It is not clear that they will fall into the Taliban trap of ignoring domestic and international opinion, women's rights and other key issues.'"