fbpx
Wikipedia

Al-Nusra Front

November 17, 2023

Al-Nusra Front,[a] also known as Front for the Conquest of the Levant,[b] was a Salafi jihadist organization fighting against Syrian Ba'athist government forces in the Syrian Civil War. Its aim was to overthrow president Bashar al-Assad and establish an Islamic state in Syria.[36]

Al-Nusra Front
جبهة النصرة لأهل الشام
Flag of Jabhat al-Nusra
(January 2012 – July 2016)
Flag of Jabhat Fatah al-Sham
(July 2016 – January 2017)
LeadersAbu Mohammad al-Julani (top emir)[1]
Abu Abdullah al-Shami (senior member)
Ahmad Salama Mabruk † (senior member)
Abu Hajer al-Homsi † (top military commander)[2]
Abu Omar al-Turkistani † (top military commander)[3]
Dates of operation23 January 2012[4] – 28 January 2017[5]
Dissolved28 January 2017
Group(s)See al-Nusra member groups
Headquarters
Active regions Syria (Primarily in Northwest Syria, around the Idlib and Aleppo Provinces)
 Lebanon[11] (2013-2017)
IdeologySunni Islamism
Size10,000 (2017)
Part ofal-Qaeda (until 2016)
Mujahideen Shura Council (2014–2015)[17]
Army of Conquest (2015–2017)[18]
AlliesState allies

Non-state allies

OpponentsState opponents

Non-state opponents

Shi'ite groups

Islamic State and Islamic State affiliates

Battles and wars
Designated as a terrorist group bySee section
Preceded by
Islamic State of Iraq
Succeeded by
Tahrir al-Sham
Hurras al-Din (al-Qaeda loyalists)

Formed in 2012, in November of that year The Washington Post described al-Nusra as "the most aggressive and successful" of the rebel forces.[37] While secular and pro-democratic rebel groups of the Syrian Revolution such as the Free Syrian Army were focused on ending the decades-long reign of Assad family, al-Nusra Front also sought the unification of Islamist forces in a post-Assad Syria, anticipating a new stage of the civil war. It denounced the international assistance in support of the Syrian opposition as "imperialism"; viewing it as a long-term threat to its Islamist goals in Syria.[36]

In December 2012, US Department of State designated it as a "foreign terrorist organization".[38] In April 2013, Al-Nusra Front was publicly confirmed as the official Syrian affiliate of al-Qaeda,[39] after Emir Ayman al-Zawahiri rejected the forced merger attempted by Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi and ordered the dissolution of newly-formed Islamic State of Iraq and Levant.[40] In March 2015, the militia joined other Syrian Islamist groups to form a joint command center called the Army of Conquest.[41] In July 2016, al-Nusra formally re-designated itself from Jabhat al-Nusra to Jabhat Fatah al-Sham ("Front for the Conquest of the Levant") and officially announced that it was breaking ties with Al-Qaeda.[42][43]

The announcement caused defections of senior Al-Nusra commanders and criticism from al-Qaeda ranks, provoking a harsh rebuke from Ayman al-Zawahiri, who denounced it as an "act of disobedience".[44] On 28 January 2017, following violent clashes with Ahrar al-Sham and other rebel groups, Jabhat Fatah al-Sham (JFS) merged with four other groups to form Hayat Tahrir al-Sham, a new Sunni Islamist militant group.[45] Tahrir al-Sham denies any links to the al-Qaeda network and said in a statement that the group is "an independent entity and not an extension of previous organizations or factions".[46] Mutual hostilities eventually deteriorated into one of violent confrontations, with Al-Nusra commander Sami al-Oraydi accusing HTS of adopting nationalist doctrines. Sami al-Oraydi, alongside other Al-Qaeda loyalists like Abu Humam al-Shami, Abu Julaybib and others, mobilised Al-Qaeda personnel in northwestern Syria to establish an anti-HTS front in north-western Syria, eventually forming Hurras al-Din on 27 February 2018.[47][48][44]

Name edit

From 2012 to 2013, the al-Nusra Front's full name was the "Victory Front for the People of the Levant by the Mujahideen of the Levant on the Fields of Jihad" (Arabic: جبهة النصرة لأهل الشام من مجاهدي الشام في ساحات الجهاد, romanized: Jabhat an-Nuṣrah li-ahli ash-Shām min Mujahideen ash-Shām fi Sahat al-Jihad).[49]

Ideology edit

The al-Nusra Front is estimated to be primarily made up of Syrian jihadists.[50][51] Its goals were to overthrow Bashar al-Assad's government in Syria and to create an Islamic emirate under sharia law,[52][53] with an emphasis from an early stage on focusing on the "near enemy" of the Syrian regime rather than on global jihad.[16] Syrian members of the group claimed that they are fighting only the Assad regime and would not attack Western states;[54] while the official policy of the group was to regard the United States and Israel as enemies of Islam,[55] and to warn against Western intervention in Syria,[54] al-Nusra Front leader Julani stated that "We are only here to accomplish one mission, to fight the regime and its agents on the ground, including Hezbollah and others".[56] In early 2014, Sami al-Oraydi, a top sharia official in the group, acknowledged that it is influenced by the teachings of al-Qaeda member Abu Musab al-Suri. The strategies derived from Abu Musab's guidelines included providing services to people, avoiding being seen as extremists, maintaining strong relationships with local communities and other fighting groups, and putting the focus on fighting the government.[57]

The tactics of al-Nusra Front differed markedly from those of rival jihadist group ISIL; whereas ISIL has alienated local populations by demanding their allegiance and carrying out beheadings, al-Nusra Front cooperated with other militant groups and declined to impose sharia law where there has been opposition. Analysts have noted this could have given the al-Nusra Front a greater long-term advantage.[58]

In early 2015, al-Qaeda leader Ayman al-Zawahiri instructed al-Nusra Front leader Julani to pursue the following five goals:[59]

  1. Better integrate his movement within the Syrian revolution and its people
  2. Coordinate more closely with all Islamic groups on the ground
  3. Contribute towards the establishment of a Syria-wide sharia judicial court system
  4. Use strategic areas of the country to build a sustainable al-Qaeda power base
  5. Cease any activity linked to attacking the West[59]

Both al-Qaeda and al-Nusra tried to take advantage of ISIL's rise by presenting themselves as "moderate" in comparison. While they had the same aim of establishing sharia and a caliphate, they intended to implement it in a more gradual manner.[60][61][62][63][64] Al-Nusra criticized the way ISIL alienated people by precipitously instituting sharia, preferring the more gradual approach favored by al-Qaeda of preparing society through indoctrination and education before implementing the hudud (scripturally-mandated punishment) aspects of sharia. They particularly criticised ISIL's enthusiasm for punishments such as executing gay people, chopping limbs off, and public stoning. However, Al-Qaeda agrees that hudud punishments should be implemented in the long term.[65] The main criticism of defectors from ISIL is that the group is killing and fighting other Sunni Muslims, and that they are unhappy that other Sunnis like Jabhat al-Nusra are being attacked by ISIL.[66]

A video called The Heirs of Glory was issued by al-Nusra in 2015, which included old audio by Osama bin Laden (such as his 1998 announcement that "So we seek to incite the Islamic Nation so it may rise to liberate its lands and perform Jihad in the path of Allah, and to establish the law of Allah, so the Word of Allah may be supreme"). The video glorified the 11 September attacks and the Islamists Sayyid Qutb and Abdullah Azzam.[67] Its magazine, Al Risalah, was first issued in July 2015.

In 2015 Al-Qaeda leader al-Zawahiri urged ISIL fighters to unite with all other jihadists against their enemies and stop the infighting.[68][69] The Nusra Front praised the November 2015 Paris attacks, saying that even though they view ISIL as "dogs of hellfire", they applaud when "infidels" get attacked by ISIL.[70]

In an Amnesty International report in July 2016, the al-Nusra Front was accused of torture, child abduction, and summary execution. In December 2014, al-Nusra Front fighters shot dead a woman execution-style on accusations of adultery. They have also stoned to death women accused of extramarital relations.[71] Overall, they have "applied a strict interpretation of Shari'a and imposed punishments amounting to torture or other ill-treatment for perceived infractions."[72]

Sectarianism edit

Members of the group were accused of attacking the religious beliefs of non-Sunnis in Syria, including the Alawis.[55] The New York Times journalist C. J. Chivers cites "some analysts and diplomats" as noting that al-Nusra Front and the Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant "can appear less focused on toppling" the Assad government than on "establishing a zone of influence spanning Iraq's Anbar Province and the desert eastern areas of Syria, and eventually establishing an Islamic territory under their administration".[73]

On 10 June 2015, al-Nusra fighters shot dead at least 20 Druze civilians in a village after one of them, a supporter of the Assad regime, opposed the expropriation of his house by a Nusra commander. Al-Nusra's leadership issued an apology and claimed that the killings had been carried out against the group's guidelines. Foreign Affairs magazine, which contends that Al-Jazeera is engaged in actively whitewashing Al-Nusra, said that there is absolutely no reference to the Druze in Al-Nusra's "apology", since Al-Nusrah forced the Druze to renounce their religion, destroyed their shrines and now considers them Sunni.[74][75][76] Nusra and ISIL are both against the Druze, the difference being that Nusra was apparently satisfied with destroying Druze shrines and making them become Sunnis while ISIL wants to violently annihilate them as it does to Yazidis.[77]

Flags edit

Flags of the al-Nusra Front
  •  

    Variant flag of the al-Nusra Front, used 2012–2012

  •  

    Flag of the al-Nusra Front, most commonly used until July 2016

  •  

    Flag of Tanzim Qaidat al-Jihad fi Bilad al-Sham - Jabhat al-Nusra ("Organization of Jihad's Base in the Levant - Victory Front") used from April 2013 to July 2016

  •  

    Flag of Jabhat al-Nusra's branch in Lebanon used from 2013 to 2014

  •  

    Variant flag of the al-Nusra Front, used 2012–16

  •  

    Flag of Jabhat Fatah al-Sham, July 2016–January 2017

Structure edit

Leadership edit

The leader of al-Nusra, a self-proclaimed emir, goes by the name of Abu Mohammad al-Julani (also transliterated as Mohammed and al-Jawlani, or al-Golani), which implies that he is from the Golan Heights (al-Jawlan, in Arabic).[36] Prior to the formation of Jabhat al-Nusra, Abu Mohammad al-Julani was a senior member of Islamic State of Iraq, heading operations in Nineveh Governorate.[78] On 18 December 2013, he gave his first television interview, to Tayseer Allouni, a journalist originally from Syria, for Al Jazeera, and spoke classical Arabic with a Syrian accent.[79]

Name Position Situation
Abu Mohammad al-Julani Emir

Founder and Emir of al-Nusra Front[80]

Sami al-Oraydi Deputy Emir

Deputy leader and senior religious official in al-Nusra[80] Left the group after the formation of Tahrir al-Sham.[81]

Abu Maria Al-Qahtani Emir of the Eastern area

Held the position of general religious authority and Emir of the Eastern area until 30 July 2014[80]

Hierarchy edit

The structure of the group varied across Syria. In Damascus, the organisation operated in an underground clandestine cell system, while in Aleppo, the group was organised along semi-conventional military lines, with units divided into brigades, regiments, and platoons.[36] All potential recruits were required to undertake a ten-day religious training course, followed by a 15–20-day military training program.[4]

Al-Nusra contained a hierarchy of religious bodies, with a small Majlis-ash-Shura (Consultative Council) at the top, making national decisions on behalf of the group. Religious personnel also played an important role in the regional JN leadership, with each region having a commander and a sheikh. The sheikh supervised the commander from a religious perspective and is known as dabet al-shar'i (religious commissioner).[36]

Foreign fighters edit

A number of Americans have attempted to join the fighting in Syria, specifically with al-Nusra.[82] Sinh Vinh Ngo Nguyen, also known as Hasan Abu Omar Ghannoum, was arrested in California on 11 October 2013, on charges of attempting to travel to join al-Qaeda, after reportedly having fought in Syria.[82] As of November 2013, there had also been five additional publicly disclosed cases of Americans fighting in Syria, three of which were linked to al-Nusra.[83] In February 2015, charges of conspiracy to support terrorism were laid against six Bosnian-Americans who were alleged to have financially supported another Bosnian-American, the late Abdullah Ramo Pazara, who they alleged died fighting with al-Nusra in 2014.[84]

In September 2015 Nusra absorbed Katibat Imam al Bukhari, an Uzbek group which is a part of al-Qaeda.[citation needed] Child soldiers were used by Katibat Imam al-Bukhari.[85] al-Fu'ah and Kafriya were attacked by the group in September 2015.[citation needed] They also participated in the 2015 Jisr al-Shughur offensive.[86]

It was estimated that al-Nusra's fighting force was approximately 30% foreign fighters and 70% local Islamists in July 2016.[87]

Media edit

All statements and videos by al-Nusra Front have been released by its media outlet, al-Manarah al-Bayda (Arabic: المنارة البيضاء) (The White Minaret), via the leading jihadist webforum Shamoukh al-Islam (Arabic: شموخ الإسلام).[4]

Relations with al-Qaeda edit

In early 2015, there were reports that Qatar and other Gulf states were trying to get al-Nusra to split away from al-Qaeda, after which they would support al-Nusra with money.[88] Western observers[89] and a Syrian observer[59] considered such a split unlikely, and in March 2015, al-Nusra's leadership denied a break-up or that talks with Qatar had occurred.[89] Other Syrian observers considered such a split conceivable[59] or imminent.[90]

With members of al-Qaeda still enmeshed throughout the group's leadership, it can be considered that al-Qaeda was not "external" to the group. After the announcement, numerous senior al-Qaeda members still within the group were targeted by the US in airstrikes.[91] The group's leader Abu Mohammad al-Julani, in his first recorded video message, stated its new name would be Jabhat Fatah al-Sham ("Front for the Conquest of the Levant").[42] During the renaming announcement in July 2016, al-Julani thanked al-Qaeda leaders Ayman al-Zawahiri and Abu Khayr al-Masri. Ahmad Salama Mabruk, an associate of al-Zawahiri, sat alongside al-Julani during the announcement.[92]

Despite the group re-branding and announcing no external affiliations, the United States Central Command continued to consider it to be a branch of al-Qaeda and "an organization to be concerned about".[93] Al-Jazeera journalist Sharif Nashashibi noted that immediately after the rebranding, both the US and Russia called it "cosmetic" and promised that air strikes would continue" against al-Nusra.[94] Journalist Robin Wright described the rebranding as an "jihadi shell game" and "expedient fiction"—a tactic known as "marbling" by jihadi groups—and that as of December 2016 Al-Qaeda had embedded "two dozen senior personnel" in the group.[95]

Writing shortly after the rebranding, Nashashibi argued that it might help generate more "regional support", which the group needed in the face of Syrian government and Russian military success.[94] Wright wrote that the move was effective with many conservative Sunnis in the region, and that hundreds of them joined its ranks since the rebranding, believing the group to be "less extreme" than the rival Islamic State.[95]

Al-Qaeda and Khorasan group edit

Main article: Khorasan group

Khorasan, also known as the Khorasan Group, is an alleged group of senior al-Qaeda members who operate in Syria.[96] The group has been reported to consist of a small number of fighters who are all on terrorist watchlists, and to co-ordinate with al-Nusra Front. Al-Nusra Front leader Abu Mohammad al-Golani denied the existence of this alleged "Khorasan group" in an interview with Al-Jazeera on 28 May 2015.[97]

History edit

Origin edit

Upon the outbreak of the Syrian Civil War in 2011, Islamic State of Iraq's leader Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi and al-Qaeda's central command authorized the Syrian Abu Mohammad al-Golani to set up a Syrian offshoot of al Qaeda in August 2011, to bring down the Assad government and establish an Islamic state there. Golani and six colleagues crossed the border from Iraq into Syria, and reached out to Islamists released from Syria's Sednaya military prison in May–June 2011 who were already active in fighting against Assad's security forces. The six men who founded Nusra alongside Julani were Saleh al-Hamawi (Syrian), Abu Maria Al-Qahtani (Iraqi), Mustafa Abd al-Latif al-Saleh (kunya:Abu Anas al-Sahaba) (Jordanian/Palestinian), Iyad Tubasi (kunya: Abu Julaybib) (Jordanian/Palestinian), Abu Omar al-Filistini (Palestinian) and Anas Hassan Khattab (Syria).[49][36][98]

A number of meetings were held between October 2011 and January 2012 in Rif Dimashq and Homs, where the objectives of the group were determined.[36] Golani's group formally announced itself under the name "Jabhat al-Nusra l'Ahl as-Sham" (Support Front for the People of the Sham) on 23 January 2012.[36][98]

Iraq's deputy interior minister said in early February 2012 that weapons and Islamist militants were entering Syria from Iraq.[99] The Quilliam Foundation reported that many of Nusra's members were Syrians who were part of Abu Musab al-Zarqawi's Islamist network fighting the 2003 American invasion in Iraq;[36] Iraqi Foreign Minister Hoshyar Zebari agreed to that in 2012.[100] The British The Daily Telegraph stated in December 2012 that many foreign al-Nusra fighters were hardened veterans from conflicts in Iraq and Afghanistan.[54]

Strength in 2012 edit

By the second half of 2012, Jabhat al-Nusra stood out among the array of armed groups emerging in Syria as a disciplined and effective fighting force.[98] Nusra in October 2012 refused a call for a four-day ceasefire in Syria during Eid al-Adha feast.[101]

In November 2012, they were considered by The Huffington Post to be the best trained and most experienced fighters among the Syrian rebels.[102] According to spokesmen of a moderate wing of the Free Syrian Army (FSA), Nusra had in November 2012 between 6,000 and 10,000 fighters, accounting for 7–9% of the FSA's total fighters.[37] Commentator David Ignatius for The Washington Post described Nusra then as the most aggressive and successful arm of the FSA.[37] The United States Department of State stated likewise: "From the reports we get from the doctors, most of the injured and dead FSA are Jabhat al-Nusra, due to their courage and [the fact they are] always at the front line".[37]

On 10 December 2012, the U.S. designated Nusra a foreign terrorist organization and an alias of Al Qaeda in Iraq. That decision made it illegal for Americans to deal financially with Nusra. Days earlier, the American ambassador to Syria, R. Ford, had said: "Extremist groups like Jabhat al-Nusra are a problem, an obstacle to finding the political solution that Syria's going to need".[103]

Relations with other Syrian rebels in 2012 edit

 
Al-Nusra Front fighters during the Syrian Civil War.

In August 2012, there were signs of Nusra co-operating with other rebels. The group took part in military operations with the Free Syrian Army (FSA).[104] Abu Haidar, a Syrian FSA co-ordinator in Aleppo's Saif al-Dawla district said that al-Nusra Front "have experienced fighters who are like the revolution's elite commando troops."[105]

In October–December 2012 Nusra received words of praise and appreciation for their efforts in the "revolution" against Assad from non-specified 'rebels',[101] an FSA spokesman in the Aleppo region,[106] a group of 29 civilian and military groups,[107][108] and the leader of the Syrian National Coalition.[109] At the same time, two anonymous FSA leaders,[54][101] and a secular rebel in north Syria,[54] expressed disapproval of the Islamist 'religious prison' Nusra might be wanting to turn Syria into.

Attacks by Nusra (2012–2013) edit

The 6 January 2012 al-Midan bombing was claimed by al-Nusra, in a video seen by AFP on 29 February 2012.[110] It was allegedly carried out by Abu al-Baraa al-Shami. Footage of the destruction caused by the blast was released on a jihadist forum.[111] An al-Nusra-affiliated group announced the formation of the "Free Ones of the Levant Battalions", in a YouTube video statement that was released on 23 January 2012. In the statement, the group claimed that it attacked the headquarters of security in Idlib province.[112] "To all the free people of Syria, we announce the formation of the Free Ones of the Levant Battalions," the statement said, according to a translation obtained by The Long War Journal. "We promise Allah, and then we promise you, that we will be a firm shield and a striking hand to repel the attacks of this criminal Al Assad army with all the might we can muster. We promise to protect the lives of civilians and their possessions from security and the Shabiha [pro-government] militia. We are a people who will either gain victory or die."[112]

The March 2012 Damascus bombings were claimed by Nusra.[113]

The 10 May 2012 Damascus bombings were allegedly claimed by al-Nusra Front in an Internet video;[114] however, on 15 May 2012, someone claiming to be a spokesman for the group denied that the organisation was responsible for the attack, saying that it would only release information through jihadist forums.[115]

On 29 May 2012, a mass execution was discovered near the eastern city of Deir ez-Zor. The unidentified corpses of 13 men had been discovered shot to death execution-style.[116] On 5 June 2012, al-Nusra Front claimed responsibility for the killings, stating that they had captured and interrogated the soldiers in Deir ez-Zor and "justly" punished them with death, after they confessed to crimes.[117]

On 17 June 2012, Walid Ahmad al-Ayesh, described by Syrian authorities as the "right hand" of al-Nusra Front, was killed when Syrian authorities discovered his hiding place. He was reportedly responsible for the making of car bombs that were used to attack Damascus in the previous months.[118] The Syrian authorities reported the killing of another prominent member of the group, Wael Mohammad al-Majdalawi, killed on 12 August 2012 in an operation conducted in Damascus.[119]

On 27 June 2012, a group of Syrian rebels attacked a pro-government TV station in the town of Drousha, just south of the capital Damascus. The station's studios were destroyed with explosives. Seven people were killed in the attack on Al-Ikhbariya TV, including four guards and three journalists.[120] Al-Nusra claimed responsibility for the attack and published photos of 11 station employees they kidnapped following the raid.[121]

The murder in July 2012 of journalist Mohammed al-Saeed, a well-known government TV news presenter, was claimed by Nusra in a video released on 3 or 4 August, according to Syrian Observatory for Human Rights.[122][123]

 
The scene at Saadallah Al-Jabiri Square after the attacks on 3 October 2012

The 3 October 2012 Aleppo bombings were claimed by Al-Nusra.[124] Three suicide car bombs exploded at the eastern corner of the central Saadallah Al-Jabiri Square killing 48 people.[125] More than 122 people were reported to be heavily injured.[126] The bombs targeted the Officers' club and the nearby buildings of the Touristic Hotel and the historic "Jouha Café". The hotel received major damage while the café was entirely destroyed. A small building within the Officers' club was ruined as well.[127][128]

Al-Nusra Front also claimed responsibility for attacking numerous Syrian military bases, including:

  • Aleppo district: an air defence base, on: 12 October 2012
  • Aleppo city: the Hanano barracks
  • Raqqah: the Suluq barracks

In the air defence base assault they reportedly destroyed buildings and sabotaged radar and rockets after over-running the base in co-operation with the al-Fajr Islamic Movement and a group of Chechen fighters. During the storming of the Hanano barracks 11 soldiers were killed and they held the complex for six hours before retreating. They also claimed killing 32 soldiers during the raid on the Raqqah base.[129]

In October 2012, they joined other rebels in an attack on the Wadi Deif base around Maraat al Numan, in a prolonged fighting that turned into a siege of the base.[130] They also led an attack on the Taftanaz Air Base in November 2012, an important and strategic base for the Syrian army, containing up to 48 helicopters.[102]

The group seized three army checkpoints around Saraqeb at the end of October 2012, forcing the Syrian Army to withdraw from the area the next day. In the battle, 28 Syrian soldiers were killed as well as five Nusra fighters. Some of the captured soldiers were summarily executed after being called "Assad dogs". The video of these executions was widely condemned, with the United Nations referring to them as probable war crimes.[131][132]

Members of al-Nusra Front carried out two suicide attacks in early November 2012. One occurred in a rural development center in Sahl al-Ghab in Hama province, where a car bomb killed two people; while the other occurred in the Mezzeh neighbourhood of Damascus, where a suicide bomber killed 11 people.[133] The SOHR claimed a total of 50 soldiers were killed in the Sahl al-Ghab attack.[134]

Al Jazeera reported on 23 December 2012 that al-Nusra Front had declared a "no-fly-zone" over Aleppo, using 23 mm and 57 mm anti-aircraft guns to down planes. This would include commercial flights which al-Nusra believed transported military equipment and troops. In a video sent to Al Jazeera, they warned civilians against boarding commercial flights.[135]

In February 2013, Al Nusra fighters were involved in fighting in Safira with government reinforcements, preventing these forces from reaching their destination of the city of Aleppo. A monitoring group claims this resulted in more than two hundred casualties over a period of two weeks.[136]

Though it was initially reported that Syrian Catholic priest François Murad was beheaded by Nusra at a church in Gassanieh in June 2013, he was actually shot dead.[137]

As of June 2013, al-Nusra Front had claimed responsibility for 57 of the 70 suicide attacks in Syria during the conflict.[138]

In December 2013, al-Nusra abducted 13 nuns from a Christian monastery in Maaloula. They were held in the town of Yabroud until 9 March 2014, The nuns reported they had not been harassed and could keep religious symbols.[139]

Dispute with ISIL (2013) edit

By January 2013, Nusra was a formidable force alleged to have strong popular support in Syria,[98] and it continued to grow in strength during the following months.[140] In January 2013, the Quilliam counter-extremism thinktank estimated its membership at 5,000 fighters[141] with 2,000 trainees.[142] In May 2013, analysts Ken Sofer and Juliana Shafroth estimated 6,000 foreign and domestic fighters.[143] By July, The Economist estimated its strength at 7,000 fighters.[144] Other size estimates, however, were more conservative; a report in the Turkish daily Hurriyet in March 2013 said that the group had increased its membership from around 300–400 jihadists to 1,000 as Syrian fighters in Iraq have returned to their country in the wake of the US designation of al-Nusra as a terrorist organisation.[145]

On 8 April 2013, the leader of the then Islamic State of Iraq (ISI), Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi, released a recorded audio message on the Internet, in which he announced that Jabhat al-Nusra was part of his network,[146] and that he was merging Jabhat al-Nusra with ISI into one group, "Islamic State of Iraq and al-Sham" (ISIL), under his command.[98][147] Al-Baghdadi also claimed that Abu Mohammad al-Julani had been dispatched by the ISI to Syria to meet with pre-existing cells in the country and that the ISI had provided Jabhat al-Nusra with the plans and strategy needed for the Syrian Civil War, and had been funding their activities.[147]

The next day al-Julani rejected the proposed merger and affirmed the group's allegiance to al-Qaeda and its leader, Ayman al-Zawahiri.[98] Al-Julani was quoted as saying, "We inform you that neither the al-Nusra command nor its consultative council, nor its general manager were aware of this announcement. It reached them via the media and if the speech is authentic, we were not consulted."[148] Nusra then split, with some members, particularly foreign fighters, following Baghdadi's edict and joining ISIL, while others stayed loyal to Golani or left to join other Islamist brigades.[98][149][150]

In May 2013, Reuters reported that al-Baghdadi had travelled from Iraq to Syria's Aleppo Governorate province and begun recruiting members of al-Nusra.[151] In June 2013, Al Jazeera reported that it had obtained a letter written by al-Qaeda leader Ayman al-Zawahiri, addressed to both Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi and Abu Mohammad al-Julani, in which he ruled against the merger of the two organisations and appointed an emissary to oversee relations between them and put an end to tensions.[152] Later in the month, an audio message from al-Baghdadi was released in which he rejected al-Zawahiri's ruling and declared that the merger of the two organisations into the Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant was going ahead. This sequence of events caused much confusion and division amongst members of al-Nusra.[150]

In November 2013, al-Zawahiri ordered the disbandment of ISIL and said al-Nusra should be considered the (only) al-Qaeda branch in Syria,[40] and bestowed the title "Tanzim Qa'edat Al-Jihad fi Bilad Al-Sham" ("the Qae'dat Al-Jihad organization in the Levant") on them, officially integrating Nusra into al-Qaeda's global network.[39]

Open fights between Nusra–ISIL (2013–2015) edit

Some units of al-Nusra began taking part in clashes against the Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant in late 2013.[153]

In February 2014, after efforts to end the dispute between ISIL and Nusra had failed, al-Qaeda formally dissociated itself from its onetime affiliate ISIL, leaving Jabhat al-Nusra the sole representative of al-Qaeda in Syria.[154] In the same month, al-Julani threatened to go to war with ISIL over their suspected role in the killing of senior Ahrar ash-Sham commander Abu Khaled al-Souri. Al-Julani gave ISIL five days to submit evidence that they were innocent of the attack to three imprisoned Jihadist clerics, Abu Muhammad al-Maqdisi, Abu Qatada al-Falastini, and Suleiman al-Alwan.[155] On 16 April 2014, ISIL killed al-Nusra's Idlib chief Abu Mohammad al-Ansari together with his family, the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights reported.[156] In May 2014, open fighting broke out between ISIL and al-Nusra in Deir ez-Zor Governorate, leaving hundreds dead on both sides.[157]

By July 2014, al-Nusra had largely been expelled from Deir ez-Zor Governorate.[158] Also in July, an audio recording attributed to al-Julani appeared online, in which he said that al-Nusra planned to establish an Islamic emirate in the areas of Syria where they had a presence. A statement issued on 12 July 2014 by al-Nusra's media channel affirmed the authenticity of the recording, but stated that they had not yet declared the establishment of an emirate.[159][160][161][162]

In June 2015, al-Julani stated in regards to ISIL: "There is no solution between us and them in the meantime, or in the foreseeable future [...] We hope they repent to God and return to their senses ... if not, then there is nothing but fighting between us."[56]

Attacks by Nusra (2014–2015) edit

On 28 August 2014, militants from the group kidnapped 45 UN peacekeepers from Fiji from Golan Heights in the United Nations Disengagement Observer Force Zone.[163] The group demanded that it be removed from the UN's list of terrorist organisations in exchange for the lives of the peacekeepers. In addition to UN personnel, the group routinely captures UN vehicles to use as car bombs.[164] At the same time, two groups of UN peacekeepers from Philippines were trapped under fire in nearby Rwihinah.[165] On 31 August, one group of 32 Filipinos soldiers was rescued and the other group of 40 soldiers escaped.[166] The rescue operation was carried out by Irish peacekeepers.[167] Colonel Ezra Enriquez of the Philippines, who oversaw the operations, resigned over disagreements with Indian Lieutenant General Iqbal Singh Singha. Singha had allegedly ordered the Filipinos peacekeepers to surrender arms to ensure the safe release of the Fijian soldiers.[168] On 8 September, Rodrigo Duterte, the mayor of Davao City, called for Singha's death after he allegedly called the Filipinos soldiers cowards.[169] On 11 September, the kidnapped Fijian soldiers were released.[170]

 
Military situation in December 2015

In late October 2014, al-Nusra began attacking some FSA and moderate Islamist groups that it was formerly allied with, reportedly in a bid to eventually establish its own Islamic state in the cities it controlled in Idlib Governorate and other neighbouring Governorates.[171][172]

In June 2015, fighters of al-Nusra massacred 20 Druze villagers in Idlib province located in north-west Syria.[173] Al-Jazeera claimed that Al-Nusra's leadership apologized and blamed the incident on a few undisciplined fighters.[174]

In October 2015, al-Nusra offered bounties worth millions of dollars for the killing of Syrian President Bashar al-Assad and Hezbollah leader Sayyed Hassan Nasrallah.[175] Al-Julani said he would pay "three million euros ($3.4 million) for anyone who can kill Bashar al-Assad and end his story".[176]

In December 2015, two Army of Revolutionaries fighters were beheaded by Nusra, according to sources on social media.[177][178][better source needed] In December 2015, Nusra fighters celebrated the ransoming and exchange of Lebanese army prisoners in the town of Arsal in Lebanon, according to sources on social media.[179][180]

Relations with other Syrian rebels in 2015–2016 edit

 
An al-Nusra field commander outside a building jointly occupied by al-Nusra and Ahrar al-Sham in the city of Idlib, 30 March 2015

In 2015, rebel factions[which?] in southern Syria vowed to distance themselves from the 'extremists' of al-Nusra in April 2015, but were seen cooperating with them in Daraa only days later.[181] In May 2015, al-Nusra was estimated to have 10,000 fighters in Southern Syria, far fewer than the Free Syrian Army, but with superior weaponry on which the FSA depended in joint operations against the government.[182]

During successful Syrian opposition offensives in the northern Idlib Governorate from March until May 2015 (see also March–April offensive and April–June 2015 offensive), al-Nusra effectively coordinated its operations with the FSA, moderate and conservative Syrian Islamists, and some independent jihadist factions.[181]

On 24 January 2016, Ahrar ash-Sham expelled al-Nusra Front from the Syrian town of Harem, after tensions between the two groups boiled over. Subsequent clashes erupted in Salqin.[183]

On 17 February 2016, nearly half of Jund al-Aqsa, numbering 400 fighters, joined al-Nusra. Five days later, two Damascus-based jihadist groups swore allegiance to al-Nusra.[184][185] On 25 February, al-Nusra Front withdrew from the town of Sarmada, near the Turkish border in the Idlib Province, in an attempt to prevent Russian warplanes from bombing the town after the implementation of the Syria ceasefire.[186]

Jaysh al-Islam leader Zahran Alloush addressed Jabhat al-Nusra as "our brothers", saying that "The summary of this issue is that we in Jaish Al-Islam praise our brothers of the Nusrah Front and we don't consider them Khawarij as is propagated against us, We fight alongside them and they fight alongside us".[187][better source needed]

According to the BBC in 2016, "Jabhat Fateh al-Sham has a complex relationship with the more moderate Free Syrian Army (FSA), which is itself an alliance of allied groups, some of which were more willing to co-operate with Nusra than others."[188]

Russian air raids (2015–2016) edit

Russia sees al-Nusra as a terrorist organization.[189] Russian air strikes reportedly targeted positions held by al-Nusra from September 2015[190] and Al-Nusra set a reward for the seizure of Russian soldiers.[191]

In October 2015 Al-Nusra militant Abu Ubaid Al-Madani, who speaks Russian, released a video addressed to the Russians warning that they would massacre Russian soldiers.[192] Abu Mohammad al-Julani called for Russian civilians to be attacked by former Soviet Muslims and called for attacks on Alawite villages in Syria.[193][194][195] In November 2015, al-Nusra fighters and Turkish-supported Syrian Turkmen Brigades were engaged in heavy fighting in Syria's northwestern Latakia Governorate against the Syrian government forces supported by the Shiite militias and the Russian air force.[196]

Speculations on a split with al-Qaeda (2015–2016) edit

On 29 July 2016 Al-Nusra leader Abu Mohammad al-Julani announced the group changed its name to Jabhat Fath al Sham and had "no affiliation to any external entity".[197] While some analysts have interpreted this to mean breaking away from Al-Qaeda, the group and association with it were not specifically mentioned in the announcement, nor has it been said that Al-Nusra's oath of allegiance to Ayman al-Zawahiri have been renounced.[198] According to Sharif Nashashibi of Al-Jazeera, al-Qaeda had "given the split its blessing", and the separation "meant no change in the group's ideology".[94] With numerous senior members of Al-Qaeda enmeshed within Al-Nusra, it can be considered that Al-Qaeda are not "external" to the group.[198] To this extent, other analysts say that the announcement was cosmetic, a ruse to obfuscate their continued association and membership within Al-Qaeda.[94] In the time after the announcement, a number of senior Al-Qaeda members have been targeted and killed by US air strikes, while operating within Al-Nusra[91][199]

For over a year prior to this there had been speculation that the group would separate from Al-Qaeda and about what it would mean.

On 12 February 2015, SITE Intelligence Group cited rumours that Nusra leader al-Julani had plans to disassociate from al-Qaeda.[200]

On 4 March 2015, Reuters reported that "sources within and close to al-Nusra" said that in the past months Qatar and other Gulf states had talked with Nusra leader Abu Mohammad al-Julani and encouraged him to abandon al-Qaeda, promising funding to Nusra once that break-up was carried out. An official close to the Qatari government had confirmed to Reuters that Qatar wanted Nusra to become purely Syrian and disconnect from al-Qaeda, after which Qatar would start to support Nusra with money and supplies. Muzamjer al-Sham, reportedly a 'prominent jihadi close to Nusra' had said that Nusra would soon merge with Jaish al-Muhajireen wal-Ansar and other small jihadi brigades and disengage from al-Qaeda, but that not all Nusra emirs had yet agreed to that.[88]

On 9 March 2015, in a statement issued on Twitter, al-Nusra denied "completely all reports of a meeting with Qatari" and reports of a break-up with al-Qaeda. Expert Thomas Pierret at the University of Edinburgh assumed that Qatar was trying to force the hand of Al-Nusra with this "leak" about a split, and said a break with Al-Qaeda was very unlikely. French expert on jihadism Romain Caillet agreed: "The overwhelming majority of Al-Nusra members want to stay in al-Qaeda, particularly foreign fighters who represent at least one-third of the organisation".[89]

But in May 2015 Abu Maria al-Qahtani, the commander of al-Nusra in Deir ez-Zor province, still strongly advocated a split with al-Qaeda.[90] Muhamed Nabih Osman, leading a charitable organisation for former Assad prisoners, said to website The Daily Beast on 4 May 2015: "I think it will happen soon. You have to understand that al-Nusra consists of two very different parts and that one part, mostly local fighters, are not interested in global jihad".[90]

On 7 May 2015, a Turkish official said that Turkey and Saudi Arabia were bolstering Ahrar al-Sham at Nusra's expense, hoping that al-Sham's rise puts pressure on Nusra to renounce its ties to al-Qaeda and open itself to outside help.[201]

A "well-connected Syrian Islamist" cited in May 2015 by Charles Lister in The Huffington Post said: "There are now two main currents... the conservatives are keen on keeping ties to Al-Qaeda and the others are more inclined towards the new Syria-focused approach". Another "Islamist official from Damascus" is cited: "Nusra's disengagement from al Qaeda would be good for the revolution, but Jabhat al-Nusra will always be in dire need of al Qaeda's name to keep its foreign fighters away from IS. Most Jabhat foreign fighters will never accept to fight and die for what looks like an Islamic national project."[59]

In late July 2016, through various sources, the Middle East Eye claimed that an organizational split from al-Qaeda is "imminent", with the proposal reportedly been approved by AQ leaders and proposed a new name called "Jabhat Fatah al-Sham", or the "Conquest of the Levant Front". However, the sources claimed that the move would not affect al-Nusra's al-Qaeda ideology and its plan to commit attacks on the West.[202]

The organisation grew in early 2016. Charles Lister reported that "According to three Islamist sources based in the area, Jabhat al-Nusra successfully recruited at least 3,000 Syrians into its ranks between February and June 2016."[49] In mid-2016, reports suggested it was composed of around 5,000 to 10,000 fighters,[203][204] with the Russian ministry of defence estimating 7,000 fighters in Idlib province.[205]

As Jabhat Fatah al-Sham (July 2016 – January 2017) edit

 
Idlib Governorate clashes in January–March 2017

In August 2016, the BBC estimated Jabhat Fatah al-Sham as having 5,000–10,000 fighters, all Syrian.[206] Lister gave a figure of 10,000.[49] In a public statement issued by its spokesperson, JFS announced that it was officially splitting from Al-Qaeda:

"[Before this change, Jabhat al-Nusra] was an official branch of al-Qaeda. We reported to their central command and we worked within their framework; we adhered to their policies. With the formation of JFS, we are completely independent. That means we don't report to anyone, we don't receive directives from any external entity. If dissolving external organizational affiliations or ties will remove the obstacles in the way of unity, then this must be done. When we were part of al-Qaeda … our core policy was to focus all of our efforts on the Syrian issue. That was our policy before and it will be our policy today and tomorrow."[44]

In July Jabhat Fatah al-Sham kidnapped the American journalist Lindsey Snell in northern Syria. She escaped to Turkey's Hatay Province in August and was subsequently arrested by Turkish authorities for being in a military exclusion zone and imprisoned.[207] The mid-2016 rebel offensive in Aleppo was made by Jabhat Fatah al-Sham alongside the Turkistan Islamic Party and Ahrar al-Sham.[208] On 31 August, Hezbollah attacked a JFS outpost in the Qalamoun Mountains near the city of Arsal, Lebanon, on the Lebanon–Syria border, killing a number of their fighters.[209]

On 8 September an airstrike of unknown origin killed the top JFS military commander, Abu Hajer al-Homsi (nom de guerre Abu Omar Saraqeb), among several other Army of Conquest commanders in the countryside of the Aleppo Governorate,[2] the rebels accused the United States of conducting the strike, but this was denied by the Pentagon and subsequently Russia took responsibility.[2] On 3 October, Ahmad Salama Mabruk, an Egyptian JFS and al-Qaeda commander, was killed by a US airstrike against his vehicle in Jisr al-Shughur.[210]

On 9 October, Jund al-Aqsa, after infighting between them and numerous rebel groups including Ahrar al-Sham, merged with JFS. In early October, according to pro-government Al-Masdar News, a number of Mountain Hawks Brigade fighters defected to join Jabhat Fatah al-Sham due to several disagreements, mainly due to the established of the Free Idlib Army.[211][better source needed] On 25 January 2017, according to rebel social media, they returned, along with their leader Lt. Col. Nasha'at Haj Ahmad to the Mountain Hawks Brigade.[212]

 
Military situation in the Syrian Civil War in 9 September 2021[needs update].
  Controlled by Syrian Arab Republic
  Controlled by Syrian Interim Government (SNA) and Turkish Armed Forces
  Controlled by Syrian Salvation Government (HTS)
  Controlled by Autonomous Administration of North and East Syria (SDF)
  Controlled by Autonomous Administration of North and East Syria (AANES) with military presence of Syrian Arab Republic
  Controlled by Revolutionary Commando Army and United States Armed Forces
  Controlled by the Islamic State (IS)

(For a more detailed, interactive map, see Template:Syrian Civil War detailed map.)

As of late 2016, al-Nusra mainly controlled territory throughout Idlib Governorate, alongside other factions in the Army of Conquest.[213][214] It also held some areas in the Quneitra Governorate.

On 1 January 2017, a US drone strike killed Abu Omar al-Turkistani, a senior Al-Qaeda member and Jabhat Fatah al-Sham military commander, along with 3 other JFS members near the town of Sarmada in the northern Idlib Governorate.[215] The Uyghur Turkistan Islamic Party also counted him among their chiefs.[216] The next day, more than 25 JFS members were killed in an air raid by suspected US planes.[217] The Tora Bora battle saw Turkistani's participation.[218] The Islamic Jihad Union enlisted Turkistani as a member.[219][220] Jabhat Fath al Sham included Turkistani.[221][222][223] SOHR identified al-Turkestani from among the dead.[224] Before dying in Syria, al-Turkistani was in the Afghanistan war.[225][226][227] He was also the emir for the al-Qaeda-affiliated Ansar Jihad in Central Asia.[228] Europeans make up an amount while Central Asians make up the majority of foreigners in the Afghanistan-based Islamic Jihad Union which is allied to Al-Qaeda[229]

On 19 January 2017, US airstrikes by Boeing B-52 Stratofortress strategic bombers struck the former Syrian Army Sheikh Suleiman military base in western Aleppo, which was used by Jabhat Fatah al-Sham and the Nour al-Din al-Zenki Movement, killing at least 110 al-Qaeda fighters,[230] including Abu Hasan al-Taftanaz, an al-Qaeda senior leader, along with some al-Zenki fighters. Since 1 January 2017, more than 150 AQ members were killed by US airstrikes in 2017.[231] Condolences were issued to Jabhat Fatah al-Sham over the killings, by the Uyghur jihadist Turkistan Islamic Party.[citation needed] The training camp had been operated by al-Nusra Front and al-Zenki since 2013.[230] Outrage over the lack of condolences from other factions over an American bombing and killing of 100+ JFS members was voiced by Muhaysini.[232]

On 21 January 2017, five factions from Ahrar al-Sham left to join the al-Nusra Front;- Jaish al-Ahrar, al-Bara, Dhu Nurayn, al-Sawa'iq and Usud al-Har Battalion, accrodign to social media sources.[233][234] On the same day, 2 al-Nusra Shura Council members based in Aleppo announced that they left the group.[citation needed] Ahrar al-Sham, the Suqour al-Sham Brigade, Jabhat Ahl al-Sham, Jaysh al-Islam and Fastaqim Union then established a joint operations room to combat al-Nusra and its subfaction Jund al-Aqsa.[citation needed]

Abu Umar Saraqib and Abu Faraj's deaths received condolences from the Turkistan Islamic Party.[235]

Formation of Tahrir al-Sham (January 2017) edit

On 28 January 2017, several Salafist jihadist groups, including Jabhat Fatah al-Sham, agreed upon a merger agreement, resulting in the formation of a new group called Hay'at Tahrir al-Sham ("Organization for the Liberation of the Levant").[236] With Jabhat Fateh al-Sham being one of the most powerful/influential groups in the new formation, its leader Abu Mohammad al-Julani was appointed the high level position of overall military commander of the new group.[citation needed] The only other position of equal or greater authority in the new group is the Emir, to which role was appointed Abu Jaber, who defected from Ahrar al-Sham to join this new group.[236]

External support edit

At least one Arab government[237] accused Qatar of helping al-Nusra.[238][239][13][240] In October 2014, U.S. Vice President Joe Biden said that Turkey, Saudi Arabia, and the United Arab Emirates had "poured hundreds of millions of dollars and tens of thousands of tons of weapons into anyone who would fight against Al-Assad, except that the people who were being supplied were al-Nusra, and al Qaeda, and the extremist elements of jihadis coming from other parts of the world."[241] In 2015, The Independent reported that Saudi Arabia and Turkey were "focusing their backing for the Syrian rebels on the combined Jaish al-Fatah, or the Army of Conquest, a command structure for jihadist groups in Syria that [included] Jabhat al-Nusra."[242]

Al-Nusra was also materially supported by multiple foreign fighters. Most of these fighters were from Europe and the Middle East, as pipelines to Syria from those locations are better established and navigable.[243] However, as of November 2013, there were also 6 publicly disclosed cases of American citizens and permanent residents who joined or attempted to join al-Nusrah in 2013 alone.[83]

The US Government sent weapons to rebels in Syria from at least late 2013,[244] and perhaps as early as 2012,[245] during the beginning phases of the conflict (CIA's covert program Timber Sycamore). Some of these weapons reportedly fell into the hands of al-Nusra.[246] Weapons have been passed on to Nusra by Ahrar ash-Sham according to a Nusra member and rebels.[247] The Pentagon confirmed in September 2015 that a small group of US-trained New Syrian Forces rebels gave six pickup trucks and a portion of their ammunition to al-Nusra Front in exchange for safe passage.[248]

There were cases of al-Nusra combatants receiving medical aid in Israel and returning to fight. Former head of Mossad, Efraim Halevy, in an interview for al-Jazeera implicitly confirmed that such practices had taken place, as part of a general Israeli policy of treating wounded rebel fighters on the border.[249][250] Israel, however, denies formal ties of any sort between itself and al-Nusra[251] and Elizabeth Tsurkov reported that Nusra refused to cooperate with Israel, in fact kidnapping and assassinating suspected collaborators.[252]

Qatari involvement edit

The Emir of Qatar publicly admitted, in an interview with Christiane Amanpour, that he doesn't always see eye to eye with American terrorist designations: "I know that in America and some countries they look at some movements as terrorist movements. ... But there are differences. There are differences that some countries and some people that any group which comes from Islamic background are terrorists. And we don't accept that. It would be a "big mistake", to consider every Islamic movement to be "extremists".[253] It has been suggested[by whom?] that one of the designated groups that the Emir spoke of in this interview at CNN was Al-Nusra Front.[254]

According to the Consortium Against Terror Finance (CATF), Qatar was able to get away with funding Al Nusra, despite their terrorist designation, through Kidnapping for Ransom.[254][verification needed] Al Nusra has kidnapped a diverse group of people from nationalities that span the globe, including Turkey, Fiji, Lebanon, Syria and Italy. On each occasion, Qatar engaged in a substantial financial agreement with Al Nusra in exchange for hostages. CATF suggests that the U.S. turned a blind eye to Qatar's funding of Al Nusra because Al Nusra was one of the only groups posing a plausible threat to both ISIS and Assad.[254][verification needed] According to the one analyst, the reason why Al Nusra was the only plausible threat was because of Saudi and Qatari funding: "Jabhat al-Nusra has become the best-armed force among the opposition groups. It has been at the tip of the spear in operations in Eastern Syria, Aleppo, and Damascus. Its combat proficiency and relatively greater access to material and funding have led other opposition groups to tolerate its participation in military operations across the country."[255]

Qatar managed the negotiations with al-Nusra Front that ultimately led to American writer Peter Theo Curtis's release. Qatari Intelligence Chief Ghanim Khalifa al-Kubaisi sent a contact a text with the words "Done"—and a thumbs-up emoticon—after Curtis's release was completed.[256][257]

According to The Fiscal Times, Qatar had great influence over the group that goes beyond ransom payments. In many cases, Qatar acted as a political mediator between Al Nusra and other countries such as Lebanon:[258] "A prisoner swap between the Lebanese government and al-Qaeda's branch in Syria, Al-Nusra Front in early December showed how powerful the group has become on the ground. The deal released 16 Lebanese soldiers and police officers who were captured during a joint ISIS–al-Nusra operation along with 29 civilians, some of whom are known terrorists."[258] Indeed, Qatar's mediation between Al Nusra and Lebanon ultimately guaranteed al-Nusra freedom of movement inside what was once a safe haven in Lebanon's Hamid valley, bordering Syria, giving Al Nusra access to the Lebanese town of Arsal.[258]

But one diplomat went so far as to suggest that, beyond the scope of mediation and paying ransom, "They [Qatar] are partly responsible for Jabhat al-Nusra having money and weapons and everything they need." The diplomat went on to say that while Qatar hasn't directly funded ISIS, it is responsible for the fact that ISIS gained Al Nusra weapons as members of Al Nusra are known to defect to ISIS.[259]

Qatar's alleged support of Al Nusra was highly criticized in both U.S. and U.K media.[260]

According to a 2021 articles by The Times, Qatar has allegedly played a central role in a secret money laundering operation to send hundreds of millions of dollars to Al-Nusra Front terrorists in Syria.[261]

Weaponry and tactics edit

 
An al-Nusra Front battalion training during the Syrian Civil War.

The organisation is believed to have used, at various times and in various places, the following tactics: car-bombs, chemical weapons, suicide-attacks, targeting of checkpoints, conventional assault of military bases, assassination of political and military figures and members of the shabiha,[36] targeting (destruction/killing) of pro-government media stations and personnel.[262]

By June 2013, there had been apparently 70 suicide-attacks in Syria. Of these, the group denied responsibility for 13 but claimed responsibility for the other 57. In June 2012, the group attacked the pro-government TV station at Drousha, near Damascus. The following month the government-TV presenter Mohammed al-Saeed disappeared; the group later declared him dead.

In June 2014, Human Rights Watch reported that several rebel groups, including al-Nusra, have enlisted child soldiers into their ranks.[263]

In November 2014, al-Nusra claimed to have captured U.S.-made TOW anti-tank missiles supplied by the United States to moderate anti-Assad rebels.[264] The group allegedly captured tanks, machine guns, ammunition, vehicles and American anti-tank missiles from the U.S.-backed Syrian Rebel Front.[265]

Al-Nusra Front allegedly have an elite sniper unit known as the "Wolf Group". Training is conducted in Aleppo by veteran jihadists who belong to the Khorasan Group, a collection of veteran al-Qaeda operatives sent from al-Qaeda strongholds along the Afghan-Pakistan border.[266][better source needed]

In October 2015, al-Julani called for indiscriminate attacks on Alawite villages in Syria. He said "There is no choice but to escalate the battle and to target Alawite towns and villages in Latakia".[194]

Turkish arrests for alleged chemical weapon purchase edit

On 30 May 2013, Turkish newspapers reported that Turkish security forces had arrested al-Nusra fighters in the southern provinces of Mersin and Adana near the Syrian border and confiscated 2 kg of sarin gas.[267][268][verification needed] The governor of Adana claimed that the security forces had not found sarin gas but unknown chemicals.[269] The Turkish Ambassador to Moscow later said that tests showed the chemical seized was anti-freeze, not sarin.[270] In September, six of those arrested in May (one Syrian, Heysem Topalca, and five Turks, alleged to be members of al-Nusra and Ahrar ash-Sham) were charged with attempting to acquire chemicals which could be used to produce sarin; the indictment said that it was "possible to produce sarin gas by combining the materials in proper conditions."[271] The indictment said that "The suspects have pleaded not guilty saying that they had not been aware the materials they had tried to obtain could have been used to make sarin gas. Suspects have been consistently providing conflicting and incoherent facts on this matter." The indictment said the suspects working for al-Nusra and to Ahrar ash-Sham.[272][267] The prosecutors were dismissed and the men were freed in October 2013. A new arrest warrant was later issued, but the perpetrators were never tried. Topalca was tried and convicted in absentia for other terrorism crimes, but not apprehended; he died in 2021.[273][274][275]

War crimes edit

See also: Hatla massacre and Zara'a massacre

On 29 May 2012, a mass execution was discovered near the eastern city of Deir ez-Zor.[276] On 5 June 2012, the al-Nusra Front claimed responsibility for the 13 killings.[277]

During the 2013 Latakia offensive by rebel Islamist groups including al-Nusra Front in early August, according to Human Rights Watch, Salafist rebel forces led by al-Nusra systematically killed at least 190 civilians in several Alawite villages.[278]

On 10 September 2013, al-Nusra fighters attacked the Alawite village of Maksar al-Hesan, in Homs province.[279] Al-Nusra later admitted to the killing of 30 civilians overall in three Alawite villages, includes those in Maksar al-Hesan.[280]

On 11 December 2013, the rebel Islamic Front and al-Nusra Front groups[281] infiltrated the industrial area of the town of Adra, northeast of Damascus, attacking buildings housing workers and their families. The rebels targeted Alawites, Druze, Christians and Shiites, killing them on a sectarian basis. Some people were shot while others were beheaded.[282]

On 10 June 2015, the al-Nusra killed at least 20 Druze villagers in Qalb Lawzeh in Idlib province.[283]

On 12 May 2016, according to pro-government media, rebels led by al-Nusra Front and Ahrar ash-Sham massacred 42 civilians and seven NDF militiamen while kidnapping up to 70 people after taking control of the Alawite village of Zara'a in Southern Hama.[284][285][unreliable source?]

During the last days of the 17th Aleppo offensive in mid-December 2016, the al-Nusra Front arrested a media activist at a field hospital while he filmed the hospital operations. He was interrogated at al-Nusra's headquarters before the evacuation. During the evacuation of rebels from Aleppo, al-Nusra were the first to leave, along with prisoners whom they kidnapped.[286]

Designation as a terrorist organisation edit

Countries and organisations below have listed al-Nusra Front as a terrorist organisation:

Country Date References
  Iran 3 January 2012 [287]
  United States 10 December 2012 [103]
  United Nations Security Council May 2013 [288][289]
  France 30 May 2013 [290]
  Australia 28 June 2013 [291]
  United Kingdom 19 July 2013 [292][293]
  Canada 7 November 2013 [294]
  Malaysia 2013 [295]
  Saudi Arabia 7 March 2014 [296]
  New Zealand 14 May 2014 [297]
  United Arab Emirates 19 May 2014 [298]
  Turkey 2 June 2014 [289][299]
  Russia 29 December 2014 [189][300]
  Japan [301]
  Bahrain [302]
  Kyrgyzstan [303]
  Kazakhstan [304]
  Tajikistan [305]
  Syria [306]
  Kuwait [307]
  Lebanon [308]
  Iraq [309]

Notes edit

  1. ^ Arabic: جبهة النصرة لأهل الشام, romanized: Jabhat al-Nuṣrah li-Ahl ish-Sham, lit. 'Front of the Supporters of the People of the Levant'
  2. ^ Arabic: جبهة فتح الشام, romanized: Jabhat Fatḥ ash-Shām

See also edit

References edit

  1. ^ "Time Exclusive: Meet the Islamist Militants Fighting Alongside Syria's Rebels". Time. 26 July 2012. Retrieved 13 July 2021.
  2. ^ a b c "Air strike kills top commander of former Nusra group in Syria". Reuters. 9 September 2016.
  3. ^ Caleb Weiss (14 February 2017). "Uighur jihadist fought in Afghanistan, killed in Syria". Long War Journal. Retrieved 22 February 2017.
  4. ^ a b c "Interview with Official of Jabhat al-Nusra, Syria's Islamist Militia Group". Time. 25 December 2012. Retrieved 29 November 2013.
  5. ^ "Syria Islamist factions, including former al Qaeda branch, join forces - statement". Thomson Reuters Foundation. 28 January 2017. Retrieved 1 February 2017.
  6. ^ "Syria: ISIS tightens grip, Nusra takes losses". Al-Monitor. 2 May 2014. Retrieved 9 June 2015.
  7. ^ Abdallah Suleiman Ali (12 February 2014). . Al-Monitor. Archived from the original on 22 February 2014. Retrieved 14 February 2014.
  8. ^ Nick Paton Walsh and Laura Smith-Spark (6 November 2014). "Report: Airstrikes target another Islamist group in Syria". CNN. Retrieved 24 May 2018.
  9. ^ . ARA News. Archived from the original on 8 March 2015. Retrieved 6 March 2015.
  10. ^ a b "An internal struggle: Al Qaeda's Syrian affiliate is grappling with its identity". Brookings Institution. 31 May 2015. Retrieved 1 June 2015.
  11. ^ "Al Nusra Front claims Lebanon suicide attack". Al Jazeera. 11 January 2015. Retrieved 12 January 2015.
  12. ^ Ghanmi, Elyès; Punzet, Agnieszka (11 June 2013). "The involvement of Salafism/Wahhabism in the support and supply of arms to rebel groups around the world" (PDF). European Parliament.
  13. ^ a b Hudson, Valerie (30 June 2015). The Hillary Doctrine. Columbia University. p. 154. ISBN 9780231539104. Retrieved 15 January 2016.
  14. ^ . Australian National Security. 28 June 2013. Archived from the original on 21 September 2014. Retrieved 23 April 2015.
  15. ^ (PDF). Quilliam Foundation. Archived from the original (PDF) on 28 March 2015. Retrieved 23 April 2015.
  16. ^ a b "Al-Nusra Front". 2012. Retrieved 24 May 2018.
  17. ^ . Al Monitor. 28 May 2014. Archived from the original on 6 June 2014. Retrieved 3 June 2014.
  18. ^ a b . Syria Direct. Archived from the original on 2 April 2015. Retrieved 25 March 2015.
  19. ^ Nawaf Obaid (15 August 2018). "Trump Will Regret Changing His Mind About Qatar". Foreign Policy. Retrieved 25 August 2018.
  20. ^ "Qatar 'maybe' supported al-Qaeda in Syria, says former PM". Middle East Eye. 30 October 2017. Retrieved 25 August 2018.
  21. ^ . www.xinhuanet.com. Archived from the original on 20 July 2020. Retrieved 18 July 2020.
  22. ^ . 9 February 2016. Archived from the original on 5 June 2019. Retrieved 31 July 2016.
  23. ^ a b "Former Guantanamo detainee killed while leading jihadist group in Syria". Long War Journal. 4 April 2014. Retrieved 21 May 2014.
  24. ^ Aymenn Jawad Al-Tamimi (11 May 2014). "Key Updates on Iraq's Sunni Insurgent Groups". Brown Moses Blog. Retrieved 24 May 2018.
  25. ^ "Free Syrian Army commander praises Al Nusrah Front as 'brothers' | FDD's Long War Journal". www.longwarjournal.org. 30 March 2013.
  26. ^ "من هي جبهة النصرة الجهادية التي تقاتل مع الجيش السوري الحر؟". مراقبون - فرانس 24. 13 December 2012.
  27. ^ "Syria Update: January 6-12, 2015". Institute for the Study of War. 13 January 2015.
  28. ^ Mortada, Radwan (19 May 2014). . al-Akhbar English. Archived from the original on 7 July 2014. Retrieved 9 June 2014.
  29. ^ "Kata'ib Sayyid al-Shuhada | Mapping Militant Organizations". web.stanford.edu.
  30. ^ . www.alalamtv.net. Archived from the original on 18 May 2020. Retrieved 19 November 2019.
  31. ^ . CNN. 15 May 2015. Archived from the original on 14 May 2015. Retrieved 15 May 2015.
  32. ^ . 16 December 2014. Archived from the original on 26 January 2015. Retrieved 24 May 2018.
  33. ^ "Rebels fight ISIS-linked group near Israeli-occupied Golan". AFP. 28 April 2015. Retrieved 9 May 2015.
  34. ^ . ARA News. 2 November 2014. Archived from the original on 2 November 2014. Retrieved 12 November 2014.
  35. ^ . As-Safir. 29 March 2015. Archived from the original on 31 March 2015. Retrieved 29 March 2015.
  36. ^ a b c d e f g h i j (PDF). Quilliam Foundation. 8 January 2013. Archived from the original (PDF) on 22 July 2014. Retrieved 22 August 2014.
  37. ^ a b c d Ignatius, David (30 November 2012). . The Washington Post. Archived from the original on 9 June 2018. Retrieved 28 August 2015.
  38. ^ . U.S. Department of State. Archived from the original on 4 February 2017. Retrieved 8 June 2018.
  39. ^ a b R., Green (25 November 2013). . Middle East Media Research Institute. Archived from the original on 1 February 2017. Retrieved 24 August 2015.
  40. ^ a b . Agence France-Presse. 8 November 2013. Archived from the original on 9 November 2013.
  41. ^ Hubbard, Ben (1 October 2015). . The New York Times. Archived from the original on 4 October 2015. Retrieved 9 June 2018.
  42. ^ a b . BBC News. 28 July 2016. Archived from the original on 30 July 2016. Retrieved 28 July 2016.
  43. ^ . France24. 28 July 2016. Archived from the original on 14 August 2022.
  44. ^ a b c Lister, Charles (February 2018). . CTC Sentinel. 11 (2). Archived from the original on 4 May 2022 – via CTC.
  45. ^ Joscelyn, Thomas (28 January 2017). . Long War Journal. Archived from the original on 28 January 2017. Retrieved 9 June 2018.
  46. ^ Joscelyn, Thomas (10 February 2017). "Hay'at Tahrir al Sham leader calls for 'unity' in Syrian insurgency". Long War Journal. from the original on 16 February 2017. Retrieved 11 February 2017.
  47. ^ Joscelyn, Thomas (4 March 2018). . Long War Journal. Archived from the original on 1 February 2022.
  48. ^ "Rewards for Justice - Reward Offer for Information on Senior Leaders of Hurras al-Din". United States Department of State. Retrieved 17 December 2022.
  49. ^ a b c d Charles Lister (24 July 2016). "Profiling Jabhat al-Nusra" (PDF). The Brookings Project on U.S. Relations with the Islamic World.
  50. ^ "New enemies across Syrian border". Haaretz. August 2014. Retrieved 24 May 2018.
  51. ^ "The Syrian rebel groups pulling in foreign fighters". BBC News. 2013. Retrieved 24 May 2018.
  52. ^ al-Khatieb, Mohammed (July 2014). . Al-Monitor. Archived from the original on 19 October 2017. Retrieved 24 May 2018.
  53. ^ . al-akhbar. July 2014. Archived from the original on 22 July 2014. Retrieved 24 May 2018.
  54. ^ a b c d e Sherlock, Ruth (2 December 2012). "Inside Jabhat al Nusra - the most extreme wing of Syria's struggle". The Daily Telegraph. London. Archived from the original on 12 January 2022. Retrieved 2 December 2012.
  55. ^ a b "Profile: Syria's al-Nusra Front". BBC News. 15 May 2012. Retrieved 31 July 2012.
  56. ^ a b "Nusra leader: No end to conflict with ISIL in Syria". Al Jazeera. 4 June 2015. Retrieved 5 June 2015.
  57. ^ Hassan Hassan (4 March 2014). . The National. Archived from the original on 6 March 2014. Retrieved 5 March 2014.
  58. ^ Hubbard, Ben (9 June 2015). "Al Qaeda Tries a New Tactic to Keep Power: Sharing It". The New York Times. Retrieved 10 June 2015. Cooperating with others could also give Al Qaeda a long-term advantage in its competition with the extremists of the Islamic State, analysts said [...] Civilians living in Nusra Front areas, too, say the group has built local support, refraining from imposing Shariah when residents resisted.
  59. ^ a b c d e Lister, Charles (31 May 2015). "An Internal Struggle: Al Qaeda's Syrian Affiliate Is Grappling With Its Identity". Huffington Post. Retrieved 27 August 2015.
  60. ^ Joscelyn, Thomas (25 October 2015). "Al Qaeda appears 'moderate' compared to Islamic State, veteran jihadist says". Long War Journal.
  61. ^ Joscelyn, Thomas (26 October 2015). "A rare interview with an experienced Al Qaeda commander shows how the group is using ISIS to make itself look 'moderate'". Business Insider.
  62. ^ Joscelyn, Thomas (5 June 2015). "The Al Nusrah Front's 'inherited jihad'". Long War Journal.
  63. ^ Joscelyn, Thomas (20 July 2015). "Officials from Al Nusrah Front, Ahrar al Sham vow to continue fight against Islamic State". Long War Journal.
  64. ^ JOSCELYN, THOMAS (9 February 2015). "Al Qaeda Uses ISIS to Try to Present Itself as Respectable, Even Moderate". the weekly Standard.
  65. ^ Joscelyn, Thomas (29 September 2015). "US counterterrorism efforts in Syria: A winning strategy?". Long War Journal.
  66. ^ . The Straits Times. London. Agence France-Presse. 21 September 2015. Archived from the original on 25 September 2015.
  67. ^ Joscelyn, Thomas (29 June 2015). "Al Nusrah Front celebrates 9/11 attacks in new video". Long War Journal.
  68. ^ Joscelyn, Thomas (2 November 2015). "Al Qaeda chief calls for jihadist unity to 'liberate Jerusalem'". Long War Journal.
  69. ^ Joscelyn, Thomas (13 September 2015). "Zawahiri calls for jihadist unity, encourages attacks in West". Long War Journal.
  70. ^ "Syria's Nusra Front backs Paris attacks, despite opposition to Islamic State". Middle East Eye. Retrieved 28 November 2015.
  71. ^ . Kom News. 15 March 2017. Archived from the original on 17 March 2017. Retrieved 16 March 2017.
  72. ^ "Syria: Abductions, torture and summary killings at the hands of armed groups". Amnesty International. 5 July 2016.
  73. ^ Chivers, C. J. (5 September 2013). "Brutality of Syrian Rebels Posing Dilemma in West". The New York Times. Retrieved 5 September 2013.
  74. ^ Gartenstein-Ross, Daveed; Al-Tamimi, Aymenn Jawad (19 November 2015). "Al Nusra's Rebranding and What It Means for Syria". Foreign Affairs.
  75. ^ yalibnan. "Al Qaeda forces Druze of Idlib Syria to destroy their shrines and convert". yalibnan.com.
  76. ^ Aymenn Jawad Al-Tamimi (6 October 2015). "Additional Notes on the Druze of Jabal al-Summaq". Aymenn Jawad Al-Tamimi.
  77. ^ . Syria Comment. Archived from the original on 4 October 2015. Retrieved 16 October 2015.
  78. ^ "Elusive Al-Qaeda leader in Syria stays in shadows". The Times of Israel. Retrieved 13 January 2017.
  79. ^ "Al-Qaeda leader in Syria speaks to Al Jazeera". Al Jazeera. 19 December 2013. Retrieved 2 August 2014.
  80. ^ a b c "Who's who in the Nusra Front?". al-Araby. 15 December 2014. Retrieved 2 June 2015.
  81. ^ . Combating Terrorism Center at West Point. 22 February 2017. Archived from the original on 11 April 2017. Retrieved 23 February 2017.
  82. ^ a b . Access ADL. Anti-Defamation League. Archived from the original on 18 October 2013. Retrieved 16 October 2013.
  83. ^ a b . Access ADL. Anti-Defamation League. Archived from the original on 13 November 2013. Retrieved 13 November 2013.
  84. ^ Robert Patrick (9 April 2017). "funding case hope to prove St. Louis man was 'lawful combatant'". St Louis Post-Dispatch. Seamus Hughes, deputy director of George Washington University's Program on Extremism, has researched Pazara's activities and called the defense motion "a very novel but uphill battle."
  85. ^ Roggio, Bill; Weiss, Caleb (29 December 2015). "Uzbek group in Syria trains children for jihad". Long War Journal. Foundation for Defense of Democracies.
  86. ^ Weiss, Caleb (30 April 2015). "Turkistan Islamic Party had significant role in recent Idlib offensive". Long War Journal. Foundation for Defense of Democracies.
  87. ^ "Everything You Need To Know About the New Nusra Front". Time. 28 July 2016.
  88. ^ a b Karouny, Mariam (4 March 2015). "Insight - Syria's Nusra Front may leave Qaeda to form new entity". Reuters. Retrieved 30 August 2015.
  89. ^ a b c "Qaeda in Syria denies plan to break away". Yahoo! News. AFP. 9 March 2015. Retrieved 30 August 2015.
  90. ^ a b c Dettmer, Jamie (4 May 2015). "SYRIA'S REBELS ON WINNING STREAK—IN ALLIANCE WITH AL QAEDA". The Daily Beast. Retrieved 4 May 2015. "I think it will happen soon," says Muhamed Nabih Osman, who oversees a charitable association for former Assad prisoners. "You have to understand that al Nusra consists of two very different parts and that one part, mostly local fighters, are not interested in global jihad." [...] But local fighters—who likely make up 80 percent of al Nusra—have been opposed to deal-making with ISIS and have been critical of the harsh governance methods used by some of their pro-ISIS comrades in territory controlled by al Nusra.
  91. ^ a b "Egyptian al Qaeda leader killed by US drone strike in Idlib, Syria". Business Insider. Retrieved 13 January 2017.
  92. ^ "Analysis: Al Nusrah Front rebrands itself as Jabhat Fath Al Sham". The Long War Journal. 28 July 2016. Retrieved 29 July 2016.
  93. ^ "Syrian branch of Al Qaeda rebrands in effort to escape foreign air strikes". ABC News. 29 July 2016.
  94. ^ a b c d Nashashibi, Sharif (7 August 2016). "The ramifications of the Nusra's split from al-Qaeda". Al Jazeera. Retrieved 10 December 2016.
  95. ^ a b Wright, Robin (12 December 2016). "After the Islamic State". The New Yorker. Retrieved 9 December 2016.
  96. ^ Karouny, Mariam (26 September 2014). "Insight - U.S.-led strikes pressure al Qaeda's Syria group to join with Islamic State". Reuters. Retrieved 19 October 2014.
  97. ^ "Nusra leader: Our mission is to defeat Syrian regime". Al Jazeera. 28 May 2015. Retrieved 6 June 2015.
  98. ^ a b c d e f g Abouzeid, Rania (23 June 2014). "The Jihad Next Door". Politico. Retrieved 3 September 2018.
  99. ^ "Jihadists, weapons 'moving from Iraq to Syria'". Agence France-Presse. 11 February 2012. Retrieved 3 June 2015.
  100. ^ Karam, Zeina (6 July 2012). "Iraq: Al-Qaeda migrates to Syria". Associated Press.
  101. ^ a b c "With wary eye, Syrian rebels welcome Islamists into their ranks". The Times of Israel. 25 October 2012. Retrieved 28 November 2012.
  102. ^ a b . The Huffington Post. 3 November 2012. Archived from the original on 5 November 2012. Retrieved 7 May 2013.
  103. ^ a b "U.S. Places Militant Syrian Rebel Group on List of Terrorist Organizations". The New York Times. 10 December 2012. Retrieved 4 March 2015.
  104. ^ Bill Roggio (4 August 2012). "Al Nusrah Front conducts joint operation with Free Syrian Army". Longwarjournal.org. Retrieved 3 June 2015.
  105. ^ "Syria revolt attracts motley foreign jihadi corps". Agence France-Presse. 18 August 2012. Retrieved 3 June 2015.
  106. ^ "Islamist groups gaining prominence in Syria fight". USA Today. 14 December 2012. Retrieved 14 December 2012.
  107. ^ "Syrian rebels defy US and pledge allegiance to jihadi group". The Telegraph. London. 10 December 2012. Archived from the original on 12 January 2022. Retrieved 14 December 2012.
  108. ^ "Syrian protesters slam U.S. blacklisting of jihadist group". Daily Star. Agence France-Presse. 14 December 2012. Retrieved 26 August 2015.
  109. ^ "For newly recognized Syrian rebel coalition, a first dispute with US". The Christian Science Monitor. 12 December 2012. Retrieved 26 August 2015.
  110. ^ 'Islamist group post video claiming Syria attacks'. 19 October 2017 at the Wayback Machine NOW., 29 February 2012. Retrieved 27 August 2015.
  111. ^ . Al Arabiya. 29 February 2012. Archived from the original on 30 March 2012. Retrieved 25 March 2012.
  112. ^ a b Bill Roggio (26 February 2012). "Al Nusrah Front claims suicide attack in Syria". The Long War Journal. Retrieved 25 March 2012.
  113. ^ . Al Arabiya. 21 March 2012. Archived from the original on 23 March 2012. Retrieved 23 March 2012.
  114. ^ "Jihadist group claim responsibility for Damascus blasts". ITV News. 12 May 2012. Retrieved 12 May 2012.
  115. ^ . Dawn. Agence France-Presse. 15 May 2012. Archived from the original on 19 July 2012. Retrieved 7 May 2013.
  116. ^ Gladstone, Rick (30 May 2012). "U.S. Envoy Sees Grim Outcome for Syria". The New York Times. Retrieved 11 June 2013.
  117. ^ "Militant group claims killing of 13 in Syria". Reuters. 5 June 2012. Retrieved 11 June 2012.
  118. ^ . Archived from the original on 31 October 2012. Retrieved 24 October 2014.
  119. ^ "Authorities Clash with Terrorists in Aleppo, Kill Prominent Member of…". Archived from the original on 29 November 2012.
  120. ^ "Seven killed in attack on Syrian TV station". Mail & Guardian. 27 June 2012. Retrieved 7 May 2013.
  121. ^ . Associated Press. 4 July 2012. Archived from the original on 8 November 2013. Retrieved 15 November 2013.
  122. ^ "Syrian TV presenter executed - Doha Freedom Centre". dc4mf.org. 5 August 2012. Retrieved 27 August 2015.
  123. ^ . Al Jazeera. 4 August 2012. Archived from the original on 4 March 2016. Retrieved 7 May 2013.
  124. ^ "Militant group Al-Nusra claim suicide bombings in Aleppo". Reuters. 4 October 2012. Retrieved 8 October 2012.
  125. ^ "Militant group Al-Nusra claim suicide bombings in Aleppo". Reuters. 4 October 2012. Retrieved 3 June 2015.
  126. ^ . El-balad.com. 3 October 2012. Archived from the original on 29 November 2014. Retrieved 7 May 2013.
  127. ^ "ABC News:Dozens killed in Aleppo bomb blasts". Australian Broadcasting Corporation. 3 October 2012. Retrieved 7 May 2013.
  128. ^ Albert Aji; Zeina Karam (3 October 2012). "Syrian official: 27 killed in Aleppo bombings". Associated Press. Retrieved 5 January 2014.
  129. ^ "Militant group says was behind Aleppo air defense base assault". Reuters. 20 October 2012. Retrieved 7 May 2013.
  130. ^ "Syria, most rebels agree to four-day truce". Afr.com. 25 October 2012. Retrieved 7 May 2013.
  131. ^ . The Jordan Times. 1 November 2012. Archived from the original on 28 November 2012. Retrieved 7 May 2013.
  132. ^ Matthew Weaver (2 November 2012). "Syria conflict: rebel 'war crime' caught on video". The Guardian. London. Retrieved 7 May 2013.
  133. ^ "At least 50 pro-Assad forces killed in Syria suicide bombing, activists say". Haaretz. 5 November 2012. Retrieved 5 November 2012.
  134. ^ Karouny, Mariam (5 November 2012). "Suicide bomber kills 50 Syrian security men: opposition". Reuters. Retrieved 7 May 2013.
  135. ^ "Syria 'secures chemical weapons stockpile'". Al Jazeera. 23 December 2012. Retrieved 29 December 2012.
  136. ^ "Syrian rebels push offensive for major airport". Ynet. 18 February 2013. Retrieved 11 June 2013.
  137. ^ "Priest Beheaded on Video By Syrian Jihadists Bears 'No Relation' To Death of Father François Murad [Correction]". International Business Times. 2 July 2013. Retrieved 21 January 2014.
  138. ^ "Suicide bombers kill 14 in Damascus". 11 June 2013. Retrieved 3 June 2015.
  139. ^ Barnard, Anne; Saad, Hwaida (9 March 2014). "Nuns Released by Syrians After Three-Month Ordeal". The New York Times.
  140. ^ "Free Syrian Army rebels defect to Islamist group Jabhat al-Nusra". The Guardian. London. 8 May 2013.
  141. ^ Al Nusra Front: Syria's Top Islamist Militia, Wilson Centre, 9 January 2017
  142. ^ Tracey Shelton Syria: One on one with the leader of Jabhat al-Nusra GlobalPost 4 March 2013
  143. ^ "The Structure and Organization of the Syrian Opposition". Center for American Progress. 14 May 2013. Retrieved 5 January 2022.
  144. ^ Competition among Islamists, The Economist, 20 July 2013
  145. ^ Ariel Ben Solomon, AL-QAIDA LINKED GROUP DOUBLES SIZE IN SYRIA, Jerusalem Post, 28 March 2013
  146. ^ . Agence France-Presse. 9 April 2013. Archived from the original on 13 May 2013. Retrieved 9 April 2013.
  147. ^ a b . MEMRI. 8 April 2013. Archived from the original on 6 October 2014. Retrieved 10 April 2013.
  148. ^ "Al-Nusra Commits to al-Qaeda, Deny Iraq Branch 'Merger'". Agence France-Presse. 10 April 2013. Retrieved 18 May 2013.
  149. ^ Spencer, Richard (19 May 2013). "Syria: Jabhat al-Nusra split after leader's pledge of support for al-Qaeda". The Telegraph. London. Archived from the original on 12 January 2022. Retrieved 21 May 2013.
  150. ^ a b "Iraqi al-Qaeda chief rejects Zawahiri orders". Al Jazeera. 15 June 2013. Retrieved 15 June 2013.
  151. ^ "Insight: Syria's Nusra Front eclipsed by Iraq-based al Qaeda". Reuters. 17 May 2013. Retrieved 18 May 2013.
  152. ^ "Qaeda chief annuls Syrian-Iraqi jihad merger". Al Jazeera. 9 June 2013. Retrieved 10 June 2013.
  153. ^ "Factbox: Syria's rebel groups". Reuters. 9 January 2014. Retrieved 9 January 2014.
  154. ^ Liz Sly (3 February 2014). "Al-Qaeda disavows any ties with radical Islamist ISIS group in Syria, Iraq". The Washington Post. Retrieved 27 August 2015.
  155. ^ . Al Akhbar English. 26 February 2014. Archived from the original on 28 January 2015. Retrieved 18 August 2014.
  156. ^ . 16 April 2014. Archived from the original on 24 July 2015. Retrieved 3 June 2015.
  157. ^ "Hundreds killed as ISIL insurgents gain ground in east Syria". Reuters. 10 June 2014. Retrieved 12 July 2014.
  158. ^ "Al Qaeda leaves east Syria strongholds to Islamic State -monitor". Reuters. 3 July 2014. Retrieved 24 October 2014.
  159. ^ "Al Qaeda's rise in southern Syrian pushes moderate rebels to sideline". Retrieved 24 October 2014.
  160. ^ . Archived from the original on 13 November 2014. Retrieved 24 October 2014.
  161. ^ . Al-Monitor. 18 July 2014. Archived from the original on 19 October 2017. Retrieved 24 October 2014.
  162. ^ . Syrian National Coalition of Syrian Revolution and Opposition Forces. Archived from the original on 19 October 2017. Retrieved 24 October 2014.
  163. ^ "UN official defends Indian general in Syrian peacekeeping controversy". Zee News. IANS. 4 September 2014. Retrieved 13 September 2014.
  164. ^ Kais, Roi. "Qaeda-rebels: UN Peacekeepers to be judged according to God." Ynetnews. 5 September 2014. 5 September 2014.
  165. ^ "UN soldiers seized by rebels in Golan Heights". Al Jazeera. Retrieved 13 September 2014.
  166. ^ "UN soldiers escape siege by Syria rebels". Al Jazeera. 31 August 2014. Retrieved 13 September 2014.
  167. ^ "Irish troops evacuate Filipino peacekeepers in Syria". The Irish Times. 30 August 2014. Retrieved 13 September 2014.
  168. ^ "UN official defends Indian general in Syrian peacekeeping controversy". 4 September 2014. Retrieved 13 September 2014.
  169. ^ "Duterte: Shoot Undof chief in the head". Inquirer. Retrieved 13 September 2014.
  170. ^ "Syria conflict: Rebels release Fijian UN peacekeepers". BBC News. Retrieved 13 September 2014.
  171. ^ "Islamic State, rival Al Nusra Front each strengthen grip on Syria". Los Angeles Times. 28 November 2014. Retrieved 6 December 2014.
  172. ^ "U.S.-backed Syria rebels routed by fighters linked to al-Qaeda". The Washington Post. 1 November 2014. Retrieved 8 December 2014.
  173. ^ "Syrian civil war: Jabhat al-Nusra's massacre of Druze villagers shows they're just as nasty as Isis". Independent. from the original on 13 June 2015. Retrieved 7 July 2015.
  174. ^ "For Syria's Druze, survival hinges on choosing the right ally". Al Jazeera. Retrieved 7 July 2015.
  175. ^ "Bounty For Bashar Assad? Al Qaeda Nusra Front Offers $3.4M For Syrian President, $2.3M For Hezbollah's Hassan Nasrallah, Leader Says". International Business Times. 13 October 2015.
  176. ^ "Nusra Front issues bounties for Assad, Nasrallah". Al Arabiya. 13 October 2015.
  177. ^ Moussa, Jenan [@jenanmoussa] (1 December 2015). "2days ago masked men cut off heads of 2Syrian rebels in Jabal Zawiya, north-Syria. I'm not posting vid but @J_N_Violation has horror video >" (Tweet). Retrieved 24 December 2020 – via Twitter.
  178. ^ Moussa, Jenan [@jenanmoussa] (1 December 2015). "Acc to vid, 2beheaded men were accused of belonging to rebel group Jamal Marouf, which was destroyed by Nusra (Al-Qaeda) in 2014 > @akhbar" (Tweet). Retrieved 24 December 2020 – via Twitter.
  179. ^ الجزيرة مباشر [@ajmubasher] (1 December 2015). "#شاهد رد فعل مقاتلي #جبهة_النصرة مع بدء تنفيذ صفقة تبادل الأسرى #مباشر #لبنان #عرسال t.co/1Si8ZcjOwC" (Tweet) (in Arabic). Retrieved 24 December 2020 – via Twitter.
  180. ^ Moussa, Jenan [@jenanmoussa] (1 December 2015). "Watch video of AlQaeda fighters inside #Lebanon celebrating prisoner swap. AlJazeera is the exclusive broadcaster. t.co/zPKa2arjMu" (Tweet). Retrieved 24 December 2020 – via Twitter.
  181. ^ a b "Why Assad is losing". Foreign Policy. 5 May 2015. Retrieved 31 August 2015.
  182. ^ "Syria crisis: Spooked by rebel gains, Jordan doubles down on Islamic State". The Christian Science Monitor. 4 May 2015. Retrieved 4 May 2015.
  183. ^ . alnour.com.lb. Archived from the original on 30 January 2016. Retrieved 25 January 2016.
  184. ^ "Jund al Aqsa leaders join Al Nusrah Front". The Long War Journal. Retrieved 9 April 2016.
  185. ^ "2 Damascus-based jihadist groups swear allegiance to Al Nusrah Front". The Long War Journal. 22 February 2016.
  186. ^ khaled (25 February 2016). "جبهة النصرة تخلي مقارها في سرمدا الحدودية مع تركيا منعاً لاستخدامها كذريعة لقصف البلدة". المرصد السورى لحقوق الإنسان.
  187. ^ Islam Army Sheikh Zahran Alloush -- Jabhat al-Nusra are our Brothers. YouTube. 6 April 2015. Retrieved 19 August 2015.
  188. ^ "Syria war: Who are Jabhat Fateh al-Sham?". BBC News. 1 August 2016.
  189. ^ a b . Russian News Agency "TASS". Archived from the original on 29 May 2016. Retrieved 29 December 2014.
  190. ^ "Russia launches media offensive on Syria bombing". BBC News. 1 October 2015.
  191. ^ "Al-Qaeda Affiliate Issues Bounty for Capture of Russian Soldiers in Syria". Newsweek. 2 October 2015.
  192. ^ . vocativ.com. Archived from the original on 17 October 2015. Retrieved 26 October 2015.
  193. ^ . Yahoo News. 13 October 2015. Archived from the original on 19 October 2015. Retrieved 14 October 2015.
  194. ^ a b "Syria's Nusra Front leader urges wider attacks on Assad's Alawite areas to avenge Russian bombing". The Daily Telegraph. 13 October 2015. Archived from the original on 12 January 2022.
  195. ^ "Head of al Qaeda's Syrian branch threatens Russia in audio message". The Long War Journal. Retrieved 16 October 2015.
  196. ^ . Al-Monitor. 26 November 2015. Archived from the original on 31 December 2015. Retrieved 5 December 2015.
  197. ^ "Al-Nusra leader Jolani announces split from al-Qaeda". al Jazeera. 29 July 2016. Retrieved 10 December 2016.
  198. ^ a b "Analysis: Al Nusrah Front rebrands itself as Jabhat Fath Al Sham". FDD's Long War Journal. Retrieved 13 January 2017.
  199. ^ . ARA News. 3 November 2016. Archived from the original on 15 December 2017. Retrieved 13 January 2017.
  200. ^ "Al Nusra Front Has 'Dissociated' from Al Qaeda, Says Abu Muhammad al Julani". International Business Times. 12 February 2015. Retrieved 27 August 2015.
  201. ^ Butler, Desmond (7 May 2015). . Huffington Post. AP. Archived from the original on 8 May 2015. Retrieved 27 August 2015. Turkish officials say they distinguish between international jihadist groups and others with more localized aims. They place al-Sham in the latter category. Moreover, they hope to use al-Sham's rise to put pressure on Nusra to renounce its ties to al-Qaida and open itself to outside help.
  202. ^ "Nusra Front split from al-Qaeda 'imminent', sources claim". Middle East Eye. 25 July 2016.
  203. ^ Schmitt, Eric (15 May 2016). "Al Qaeda Turns to Syria, With a Plan to Challenge ISIS". The New York Times. from the original on 28 February 2017. Retrieved 19 December 2022.
  204. ^ By Cameron Glenn The Nusra Front: Al Qaeda's Affiliate in Syria, The Wilson Centre, 17 June 2016
  205. ^ Lidia Kelly Russia announces daily ceasefires in Syria's Aleppo to let in aid, Reuters, 10 August 2016
  206. ^ BBC Syria war: Who are Jabhat Fateh al-Sham? 1 August 2016
  207. ^ "US journalist who escaped Jabhat Fateh Al-Sham captivity, lands in Turkey jail for violating military zone". International Business Times. 1 September 2016.
  208. ^ Bilal Abdul-Kareem (29 January 2017). OGN – Tahreer Sham: Who won in this merger?. OGN TV. Archived from the original on 17 November 2021.
  209. ^ "Hezbollah kills Jabhat Fateh al Sham militants on Lebanese border". Al-Bawaba. 1 September 2016.
  210. ^ "Statement by Pentagon Press Secretary Peter Cook on Strike against al-Qaida Leader". US Department of Defense. 3 October 2016.
  211. ^ US-backed rebels defect to al-Qaeda branch in Syria 24 August 2017 at the Wayback Machine Al Masdar News, 5 October 2016
  212. ^ "جيش إدلب الحر (@free_idleb_army) – Twitter".
  213. ^ "Syria rebels capture key Idlib army bases". Al Jazeera English. 15 December 2014. Retrieved 31 August 2015.
  214. ^ "Syria conflict: Rebels seize key Idlib airbase". BBC News. 9 September 2015. Retrieved 19 September 2015.
  215. ^ "Monitors: Airstrike in Syria Kills Extremist Leaders Near Turkish Border". VOA News. 2 January 2017.
  216. ^ Orton, Kyle (20 January 2017). "The Coalition Strikes Down Al-Qaeda's Leaders in Syria". The Syrian Intifada.
  217. ^ "Ex-Qaeda affiliate leaders among 25 dead in Syria strike". AFP. 4 January 2017.
  218. ^ Weiss, Caleb [@Weissenberg7] (12 February 2017). "Ansar Jihad reports he fought in Afghanistan in Tora Bora before fleeing to Pakistan and being captured by Pakistani intel" (Tweet). Retrieved 24 December 2020 – via Twitter.
  219. ^ Weiss, Caleb (14 February 2017). "Uighur jihadist fought in Afghanistan, killed in Syria". Long War Journal. Foundation for Defense of Democracies.
  220. ^ Weiss, Caleb [@Weissenberg7] (12 February 2017). "In 2011, he was freed and returned to Afghanistan and fought with the AQ-linked Islamic Jihad Union before going to Syria" (Tweet). Retrieved 24 December 2020 – via Twitter.
  221. ^ Joscelyn, Thomas (5 January 2017). "Pentagon: Airstrikes kill 20 or more al Qaeda fighters in northern Syria". Long War Journal. Foundation for Defense of Democracies.
  222. ^ Weiss, Caleb [@Weissenberg7] (12 February 2017). "See this piece from @thomasjoscelyn for more information on Turkistani's JFS role: t.co/xYblBBNu0S" (Tweet). Retrieved 24 December 2020 – via Twitter.
  223. ^ Weiss, Caleb [@Weissenberg7] (12 February 2017). "When he was killed last month in a US drone strike, jihadis reported he was a senior figure of JFS (now Tahrir al Sham) #Syria" (Tweet). Retrieved 24 December 2020 – via Twitter.
  224. ^ "Two days after the killing of "jihadist" leaders… airstrikes by unknown warplanes again near Sarmada". Syrian Observatory for Human Rights. 3 January 2017.
  225. ^ Long War Journal [@LongWarJournal] (14 February 2017). "Uighur jihadist fought in Afghanistan, killed in Syria - t.co/tnbHsn2XL4 t.co/MsKmj7wll7" (Tweet). Retrieved 24 December 2020 – via Twitter.
  226. ^ Weiss, Caleb [@Weissenberg7] (14 February 2017). "Profile of Abu Omar al Turkistani, who was killed in a US drone strike in #Syria last month: t.co/w0yjkZCNsU" (Tweet). Retrieved 24 December 2020 – via Twitter.
  227. ^ Pantucci, Raffaello [@raffpantucci] (14 February 2017). "Uighur jihadist fought in Afghanistan, killed in Syria -a profile of Abu Umar al Turkistani t.co/pY5nu0ffsE" (Tweet). Retrieved 24 December 2020 – via Twitter.
  228. ^ Weiss, Caleb [@Weissenberg7] (12 February 2017). "Last month, Ansar Jihad, a largely Central Asian al Qaeda-linked group in #Syria, released a bio for its killed military emir t.co/3WmDErF6Lu" (Tweet). Retrieved 24 December 2020 – via Twitter.
  229. ^ Weiss, Caleb [@Weissenberg7] (16 February 2017). "Some foreign fighters within the al Qaeda-linked Islamic Jihad Union in #Afghanistan. Most are Central Asians, but likely some Europeans too t.co/ts9lsHAsjp" (Tweet). Retrieved 24 December 2020 – via Twitter.
  230. ^ a b "US air strikes kill more than 100 'al-Qaeda militants' at training camp in Syria". 22 January 2017.
  231. ^ "U.S. Airstrike Kills More Than 100 al-Qaida Fighters in Syria". US Department of Defense. 20 January 2017.
  232. ^ Al-Tamimi, Aymenn [@ajaltamimi] (21 January 2017). "Saudi jihadi cleric in Syria Sheikh Muheisseni is very upset re. lack of condolences from factions regarding latest U.S. strike on JFS camp t.co/DDkmRy03K9" (Tweet). Retrieved 24 December 2020 – via Twitter.
  233. ^ "Al Maqalaat Pubs on Twitter".
  234. ^ Al-Tamimi, Aymenn [@ajaltamimi] (21 January 2017). "#Syria: Four Ahrar al-Sham battalions reportedly defect to Jabhat Fatah al-Sham t.co/gbsbkI66gw" (Tweet). Retrieved 24 December 2020 – via Twitter.
  235. ^ "New statement from Ḥizb al-Islāmī al-Turkistānī in Bilād al-Shām: "Condolences on the Martyrdom of the Constellation of Heroes"". Jihadology. 22 January 2017.
  236. ^ a b "Al Qaeda and allies announce 'new entity' in Syria | FDD's Long War Journal". FDD's Long War Journal. 28 January 2017. Retrieved 29 January 2017.
  237. ^ David Blair and Richard Spencer (20 September 2014). "How Qatar is funding the rise of Islamist extremists". Telegraph. Retrieved 28 November 2015.
  238. ^ "How Qatar seized control of the Syrian revolution". Financial Times. 17 May 2013.
  239. ^ "Gulf allies and 'Army of Conquest". Al-Ahram Weekly. 28 May 2015.[permanent dead link]
  240. ^ "Gulf crisis seen widening split in Syria rebellion". Reuters.
  241. ^ "Joe Biden Is the Only Honest Man in Washington". Foreign Policy. 7 October 2014.
  242. ^ Kim Sengupta (12 May 2015). "Turkey and Saudi Arabia alarm the West by backing Islamist extremists the Americans had bombed in Syria". The Independent. Archived from the original on 6 May 2022.
  243. ^ "American and International Militants Drawn to Syria". Anti-Defamation League.
  244. ^ Ernesto Londoño and Greg Miller (11 September 2013). "CIA begins weapons delivery to Syrian rebels - The Washington Post". The Washington Post. Retrieved 18 August 2014.
  245. ^ "U.S. has secretly provided arms training to Syria rebels since 2012". Los Angeles Times. 21 June 2013.
  246. ^ Lisa Lundquist (27 April 2014). "The shadowy flow of US weapons into Syria". Longwarjournal.org. Retrieved 3 June 2015.
  247. ^ Karouny, Mariam (22 September 2015). "Resilient insurgent group Ahrar al-Sham to play bigger role in Syria". Reuters. BEIRUT.
  248. ^ "US-trained Syria fighters gave equipment to Nusra Front". Al Jazeera. Retrieved 28 November 2015.
  249. ^ "Report: Israel treating al-Qaida fighters wounded in Syria civil war". Jerusalem Post. 15 March 2015.
  250. ^ "Ex-Mossad head on Israel medical aid to al-Nusra Front". Al-Jazeera. 31 May 2016.
  251. ^ "IDF denies ties between Israel, Jabhat al-Nusra". Al Monitor. 24 June 2015. Retrieved 19 February 2018.
  252. ^ Tsurkov, Elizabeth [@Elizrael] (25 January 2018). "Rafeed is also home to Jabhat al-Nusra (which kidnapped & apparently assassinated collaborators with Israel) and ISIS cells. Anyone familiar with southern Syria would know this" (Tweet) – via Twitter.
  253. ^ Krever, Mick (25 September 2014). "Qatar's Emir: We don't fund terrorists". CNN.com. Retrieved 28 July 2016.
  254. ^ a b c CATF Reports. "Funding Al Nusra Through Ransom: Qatar and the Myth of "Humanitarian Principle" | Consortium Against Terrorist Finance". Stopterrorfinance.org. Archived from the original on 9 October 2017. Retrieved 28 July 2016.
  255. ^ Kimberly Kagan. "The Smart and Right Thing in Syria". Hoover Institute. Retrieved 20 December 2018.
  256. ^ "The Case Against Qatar". Foreign Policy. 30 September 2014.
  257. ^ Goldman, Adam; DeYoung, Karen (25 August 2014). "Qatar played now-familiar role in helping to broker U.S. hostage's release" – via www.washingtonpost.com.
  258. ^ a b c "How Qatar Is Funding al-Qaeda-and Why That Could Help the U.S." The Fiscal Times. 29 December 2015.
  259. ^ Blair, David (20 September 2014). "How Qatar is funding the rise of Islamist extremists". Telegraph.
  260. ^ "Qatar's Support of Islamists Alienates Allies Near and Far". The New York Times. 8 September 2014.
  261. ^ Andrew Norfolk (4 June 2021). "Qatar funnelled millions of dollars to Nusra Front terrorists in Syria". The Times.
  262. ^ Chapman, Geoffrey (2017). "Islamic State and Al-Nusra". Perspectives on Terrorism. 11 (6): 112–121. JSTOR 26295960.
  263. ^ Deborah E. Bloom. "Syria rebel groups recruit child soldiers, says rights watchdog". CNN. Retrieved 27 June 2014.
  264. ^ "Syria: Al-Nusra Jihadists 'Capture US TOW Anti-Tank Missiles' from Moderate Rebels". International Business Times. 3 November 2014.
  265. ^ "Mapping Militant Organizations: Hay'at Tahrir al-Sham (Formerly Jabhat al-Nusra)". Stanford University. 14 August 2017.
  266. ^ Paraszczuk, Joanna (2 October 2014). . Chechens in Syria. Archived from the original on 12 June 2018. Retrieved 10 October 2014.
  267. ^ a b McDonnell, Patrick J. (13 September 2013). "Syrian rebel groups sought sarin gas material, Turkish prosecutors say". Los Angeles Times. Retrieved 22 November 2013.
  268. ^ "Report: Police foil al-Nusra bomb attack planned for Adana". Today's Zaman. 30 May 2013. Retrieved 19 June 2013.
  269. ^ Burch, Jonathon (30 May 2013). "Turkey arrests 12 in raids on 'terrorist' organization". Reuters. Retrieved 8 August 2013.
  270. ^ "No Chemical Arms Seized from Syrian Militants, Turkish Envoy Says". Global Security Newswire. 5 July 2013. Retrieved 12 September 2013.
  271. ^ Aydınlık, 12 September 2013, Al-Nusra Linked to Chemical Production in Turkey 20 September 2013 at the Wayback Machine
  272. ^ Hurriyet Daily News, 12 September 2013, Syrian rebel groups sought to buy materials for chemical weapons, prosecutors say
  273. ^ "Elusive figure of Syrian war dies with secrets in Turkey". Al-Monitor: Independent, trusted coverage of the Middle East. 1 March 2021. Retrieved 18 October 2022.
  274. ^ "Turkey: Syrian jailed for being member of terror group". Anadolu Ajansı. 29 December 2015. Retrieved 18 October 2022.
  275. ^ "'Sarin gazı' davasına 29 Aralık'ta devam edilecek". Anadolu Ajansı (in Turkish). 16 December 2015. Retrieved 18 October 2022.
  276. ^ Gladstone, Rick (30 May 2012). "U.S. Envoy Sees Grim Outcome for Syria". The New York Times.
  277. ^ "Militant group claims killing of 13 in Syria". Reuters. 5 June 2012. Retrieved 27 October 2014.
  278. ^ ""You Can Still See Their Blood" - Executions, Unlawful Killings, and Hostage Taking by Opposition Forces in Latakia Countryside". Human Rights Watch. 11 October 2013.
  279. ^ "Syria Massacre? Nusra Front Fighters Reportedly Kill Women, Children, Elderly Men in Alawite Village". The Huffington Post. 12 September 2013. Retrieved 27 October 2014.
  280. ^ "Syria jihadists claim they killed Homs Alawites". 15 September 2013. Retrieved 27 October 2014.
  281. ^ "Islamists kill 15 Alawite and Druze civilians in Syria -activists". Reuters. 12 December 2013. Retrieved 27 October 2014.
  282. ^ . 13 December 2013. Archived from the original on 6 October 2014. Retrieved 27 October 2014.
  283. ^ . Fox News. Archived from the original on 14 June 2015. Retrieved 29 June 2015.
  284. ^ Leith Fadel (12 May 2016). "Syrian opposition forces massacre, kidnap 120 civilians in southern Hama". Al Masdar News. Retrieved 12 May 2016.
  285. ^ "Islamists agree to hand over corpses of civilians massacred in northern Homs". Al-Masdar News. 24 May 2016. Retrieved 1 June 2016.
  286. ^ . Aleppo 24. 17 December 2016. Archived from the original on 21 December 2016. Retrieved 17 December 2016.
  287. ^ . Nationalsecurity.gov.au. Archived from the original on 21 September 2014. Retrieved 18 August 2014.
  288. ^ "UN blacklists Syria's al-Nusra Front". Al Jazeera. 31 May 2013. Retrieved 2 September 2015.
  289. ^ a b "Turkey lists al-Nusra Front as terrorist organization". Hürriyet Daily News. 3 June 2014. Retrieved 3 September 2015.
  290. ^ 'Liste unique de gels' 4 July 2017 at the Wayback Machine. République Française, Trésor Direction Générale, Sanctions financières internationales. Published 28 August 2015. Retrieved 3 September 2015. (Click on 'liste consolidée de gel d'avoirs'; then click on 'liste unique':) "Nr. 314: Al-Nusrah Front. [translated:] Designated by the regulation (European Union) nr. 583/2014 of 28 May 2014. Previously, Al-Nusrah was inscribed on the list, between 30 May 2013 and 13 May 2014, in its quality of alias of Al-Qaida in Iraq. Category: terrorism. Rule: Resolution 1989."
  291. ^ "Australian Government lists anti-Assad Syrian group as terrorist organisation - ABC News (Australian Broadcasting Corporation)". Australian Broadcasting Corporation. 29 June 2013. Retrieved 15 November 2013.
  292. ^ UK government, 27 March 2015. Retrieved 2 September 2015. Page 6: "The Government laid an Order, in July 2013, which provided that the al-Nusrah Front (ANF) and Jabhat al-Nusrah li-ahl al Sham should be treated as alternative names for the organization which is already proscribed under the name Al Qa'ida."
  293. ^ "Britain bans Syria's al-Qaida-linked Nusra Front on terrorism grounds". Fox News Channel. 19 July 2013. Retrieved 15 November 2013.
  294. ^ "Public Safety Canada. Currently listed entities". Publicsafety.gc.ca. 20 November 2014. Retrieved 3 September 2015.
  295. ^ "Government document" (PDF). moha.gov.my. Retrieved 13 May 2023.
  296. ^ . Xinhua News Agency. 8 March 2014. Archived from the original on 11 August 2014. Retrieved 18 August 2014.
  297. ^ (List of) "Designated individuals and organisations" in New Zealand as "terrorist entities". police.govt.nz, (presumably) 26 November 2014. Retrieved 2 September 2015. See page 135: "associated with Al-Qaeda"; page 151: Al-Nusrah Front, "Listed on 14 May 2014".
  298. ^ "UAE to try nine for recruiting militants to fight in Syria: agency". Reuters. 19 May 2014. Retrieved 18 August 2014.
  299. ^ Dorian Jones (4 June 2014). . Voice of America. Archived from the original on 14 October 2015. Retrieved 18 August 2014.
  300. ^ "Russia seeks UN ban on oil trade with terrorists in Syria". En.alalam.ir. 2 July 2014. Retrieved 18 August 2014.
  301. ^ "ヌスラ戦線（現「タハリール・アル・シャーム機構」〈HTS〉） | 国際テロリズム要覧（Web版） | 公安調査庁". www.moj.go.jp.
  302. ^ "Bahrain Terrorist List (individuals – entities)". www.mofa.gov.bh.
  303. ^ KUDRYAVTSEVA, Tatyana (5 April 2017). "List of terrorist and extremist organizations banned in Kyrgyzstan". 24.kg.
  304. ^
November 17, 2023
nusra, front, also, known, front, conquest, levant, salafi, jihadist, organization, fighting, against, syrian, athist, government, forces, syrian, civil, overthrow, president, bashar, assad, establish, islamic, state, syria, جبهة, النصرة, لأهل, الشامflag, jabh. Al Nusra Front a also known as Front for the Conquest of the Levant b was a Salafi jihadist organization fighting against Syrian Ba athist government forces in the Syrian Civil War Its aim was to overthrow president Bashar al Assad and establish an Islamic state in Syria 36 Al Nusra Frontجبهة النصرة لأهل الشامFlag of Jabhat al Nusra January 2012 July 2016 Flag of Jabhat Fatah al Sham July 2016 January 2017 LeadersAbu Mohammad al Julani top emir 1 Abu Abdullah al Shami senior member Ahmad Salama Mabruk senior member Abu Hajer al Homsi top military commander 2 Abu Omar al Turkistani top military commander 3 Dates of operation23 January 2012 4 28 January 2017 5 Dissolved28 January 2017Group s See al Nusra member groupsHeadquartersDeir ez Zor Deir ez Zor Governorate 2012 2014 6 7 Harem Idlib Governorate February November 2014 8 Salqin Idlib Governorate November 2014 March 2015 9 Idlib Idlib Governorate Syria March 2015 January 2017 10 Active regions Syria Primarily in Northwest Syria around the Idlib and Aleppo Provinces Lebanon 11 2013 2017 IdeologySunni Islamism Qutbism 10 Wahhabism 12 13 Salafist jihadism 14 15 a form of Islamic fundamentalism 16 Size10 000 2017 Part ofal Qaeda until 2016 Mujahideen Shura Council 2014 2015 17 Army of Conquest 2015 2017 18 AlliesState allies Qatar alleged 19 20 denied 21 Non state allies Jund al Aqsa Caucasus Emirate Turkistan Islamic Party Ajnad al Kavkaz 22 better source needed Malhama Tactical citation needed Ashida a Mujahideen Brigade citation needed Ansar al Din Front 23 Ansar al Islam 24 Free Syrian Army occasionally 25 26 Ahrar al Sham until 2017 OpponentsState opponents Syria Lebanon Iran Russia IraqNon state opponents Certain Syrian rebel groups Free Syrian Army some groups Ahrar al Sham since 2017 Jabhat Ansar Al Sham Suqour al Sham Brigade since 2017 Palestine Liberation Army UNDOF Syrian Democratic Forces YPG 27 YPJ PKK Army of RevolutionariesShi ite groups Hezbollah 28 Kata ib Hezbollah Asa ib Ahl al Haq Al Abbas brigade Kata ib Sayyid al Shuhada 29 Harakat Hezbollah al Nujaba 30 Islamic State and Islamic State affiliates Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant 31 Yarmouk Martyrs Brigade 32 Jaysh al Jihad 33 Islamic Muthanna MovementBattles and warsSyrian Civil War Battle of Aleppo 2012 16 Siege of Nubl and Al ZahraaQuneitra Governorate clashes 2012 2014 Operation al Shabah2013 Latakia offensive 23 Inter rebel conflict during the Syrian Civil WarAl Otaiba ambush2014 Idlib offensiveal Nusra Front Syria Revolutionaries Front conflict 34 2015 Idlib offensive Second Battle of Idlib 18 Siege of al Fu ah and KafriyaBattle of Bosra 2015 35 2015 Jisr al Shughur offensiveBattle of Yarmouk Camp 2015 Qalamoun offensive May 2015 Battle of Zabadani 2015 2015 Hama OffensiveNorthern Aleppo offensive 2016 Idlib Governorate clashes 2017 Syrian Civil War spillover in LebanonBattle of Arsal 2014 Military intervention against ISILAmerican led intervention in SyriaRussian military intervention in SyriaDesignated as a terrorist group bySee sectionPreceded by Islamic State of IraqSucceeded by Tahrir al Sham Hurras al Din al Qaeda loyalists Formed in 2012 in November of that year The Washington Post described al Nusra as the most aggressive and successful of the rebel forces 37 While secular and pro democratic rebel groups of the Syrian Revolution such as the Free Syrian Army were focused on ending the decades long reign of Assad family al Nusra Front also sought the unification of Islamist forces in a post Assad Syria anticipating a new stage of the civil war It denounced the international assistance in support of the Syrian opposition as imperialism viewing it as a long term threat to its Islamist goals in Syria 36 In December 2012 US Department of State designated it as a foreign terrorist organization 38 In April 2013 Al Nusra Front was publicly confirmed as the official Syrian affiliate of al Qaeda 39 after Emir Ayman al Zawahiri rejected the forced merger attempted by Abu Bakr al Baghdadi and ordered the dissolution of newly formed Islamic State of Iraq and Levant 40 In March 2015 the militia joined other Syrian Islamist groups to form a joint command center called the Army of Conquest 41 In July 2016 al Nusra formally re designated itself from Jabhat al Nusra to Jabhat Fatah al Sham Front for the Conquest of the Levant and officially announced that it was breaking ties with Al Qaeda 42 43 The announcement caused defections of senior Al Nusra commanders and criticism from al Qaeda ranks provoking a harsh rebuke from Ayman al Zawahiri who denounced it as an act of disobedience 44 On 28 January 2017 following violent clashes with Ahrar al Sham and other rebel groups Jabhat Fatah al Sham JFS merged with four other groups to form Hayat Tahrir al Sham a new Sunni Islamist militant group 45 Tahrir al Sham denies any links to the al Qaeda network and said in a statement that the group is an independent entity and not an extension of previous organizations or factions 46 Mutual hostilities eventually deteriorated into one of violent confrontations with Al Nusra commander Sami al Oraydi accusing HTS of adopting nationalist doctrines Sami al Oraydi alongside other Al Qaeda loyalists like Abu Humam al Shami Abu Julaybib and others mobilised Al Qaeda personnel in northwestern Syria to establish an anti HTS front in north western Syria eventually forming Hurras al Din on 27 February 2018 47 48 44 Contents 1 Name 2 Ideology 2 1 Sectarianism 3 Flags 4 Structure 4 1 Leadership 4 2 Hierarchy 4 3 Foreign fighters 4 4 Media 5 Relations with al Qaeda 5 1 Al Qaeda and Khorasan group 6 History 6 1 Origin 6 2 Strength in 2012 6 3 Relations with other Syrian rebels in 2012 6 4 Attacks by Nusra 2012 2013 6 5 Dispute with ISIL 2013 6 6 Open fights between Nusra ISIL 2013 2015 6 7 Attacks by Nusra 2014 2015 6 8 Relations with other Syrian rebels in 2015 2016 6 9 Russian air raids 2015 2016 6 10 Speculations on a split with al Qaeda 2015 2016 6 11 As Jabhat Fatah al Sham July 2016 January 2017 6 12 Formation of Tahrir al Sham January 2017 7 External support 7 1 Qatari involvement 8 Weaponry and tactics 8 1 Turkish arrests for alleged chemical weapon purchase 9 War crimes 10 Designation as a terrorist organisation 11 Notes 12 See also 13 References 14 Further reading 15 External linksName editFrom 2012 to 2013 the al Nusra Front s full name was the Victory Front for the People of the Levant by the Mujahideen of the Levant on the Fields of Jihad Arabic جبهة النصرة لأهل الشام من مجاهدي الشام في ساحات الجهاد romanized Jabhat an Nuṣrah li ahli ash Sham min Mujahideen ash Sham fi Sahat al Jihad 49 Ideology editThe al Nusra Front is estimated to be primarily made up of Syrian jihadists 50 51 Its goals were to overthrow Bashar al Assad s government in Syria and to create an Islamic emirate under sharia law 52 53 with an emphasis from an early stage on focusing on the near enemy of the Syrian regime rather than on global jihad 16 Syrian members of the group claimed that they are fighting only the Assad regime and would not attack Western states 54 while the official policy of the group was to regard the United States and Israel as enemies of Islam 55 and to warn against Western intervention in Syria 54 al Nusra Front leader Julani stated that We are only here to accomplish one mission to fight the regime and its agents on the ground including Hezbollah and others 56 In early 2014 Sami al Oraydi a top sharia official in the group acknowledged that it is influenced by the teachings of al Qaeda member Abu Musab al Suri The strategies derived from Abu Musab s guidelines included providing services to people avoiding being seen as extremists maintaining strong relationships with local communities and other fighting groups and putting the focus on fighting the government 57 The tactics of al Nusra Front differed markedly from those of rival jihadist group ISIL whereas ISIL has alienated local populations by demanding their allegiance and carrying out beheadings al Nusra Front cooperated with other militant groups and declined to impose sharia law where there has been opposition Analysts have noted this could have given the al Nusra Front a greater long term advantage 58 In early 2015 al Qaeda leader Ayman al Zawahiri instructed al Nusra Front leader Julani to pursue the following five goals 59 Better integrate his movement within the Syrian revolution and its people Coordinate more closely with all Islamic groups on the ground Contribute towards the establishment of a Syria wide sharia judicial court system Use strategic areas of the country to build a sustainable al Qaeda power base Cease any activity linked to attacking the West 59 Both al Qaeda and al Nusra tried to take advantage of ISIL s rise by presenting themselves as moderate in comparison While they had the same aim of establishing sharia and a caliphate they intended to implement it in a more gradual manner 60 61 62 63 64 Al Nusra criticized the way ISIL alienated people by precipitously instituting sharia preferring the more gradual approach favored by al Qaeda of preparing society through indoctrination and education before implementing the hudud scripturally mandated punishment aspects of sharia They particularly criticised ISIL s enthusiasm for punishments such as executing gay people chopping limbs off and public stoning However Al Qaeda agrees that hudud punishments should be implemented in the long term 65 The main criticism of defectors from ISIL is that the group is killing and fighting other Sunni Muslims and that they are unhappy that other Sunnis like Jabhat al Nusra are being attacked by ISIL 66 A video called The Heirs of Glory was issued by al Nusra in 2015 which included old audio by Osama bin Laden such as his 1998 announcement that So we seek to incite the Islamic Nation so it may rise to liberate its lands and perform Jihad in the path of Allah and to establish the law of Allah so the Word of Allah may be supreme The video glorified the 11 September attacks and the Islamists Sayyid Qutb and Abdullah Azzam 67 Its magazine Al Risalah was first issued in July 2015 In 2015 Al Qaeda leader al Zawahiri urged ISIL fighters to unite with all other jihadists against their enemies and stop the infighting 68 69 The Nusra Front praised the November 2015 Paris attacks saying that even though they view ISIL as dogs of hellfire they applaud when infidels get attacked by ISIL 70 In an Amnesty International report in July 2016 the al Nusra Front was accused of torture child abduction and summary execution In December 2014 al Nusra Front fighters shot dead a woman execution style on accusations of adultery They have also stoned to death women accused of extramarital relations 71 Overall they have applied a strict interpretation of Shari a and imposed punishments amounting to torture or other ill treatment for perceived infractions 72 Sectarianism edit Members of the group were accused of attacking the religious beliefs of non Sunnis in Syria including the Alawis 55 The New York Times journalist C J Chivers cites some analysts and diplomats as noting that al Nusra Front and the Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant can appear less focused on toppling the Assad government than on establishing a zone of influence spanning Iraq s Anbar Province and the desert eastern areas of Syria and eventually establishing an Islamic territory under their administration 73 On 10 June 2015 al Nusra fighters shot dead at least 20 Druze civilians in a village after one of them a supporter of the Assad regime opposed the expropriation of his house by a Nusra commander Al Nusra s leadership issued an apology and claimed that the killings had been carried out against the group s guidelines Foreign Affairs magazine which contends that Al Jazeera is engaged in actively whitewashing Al Nusra said that there is absolutely no reference to the Druze in Al Nusra s apology since Al Nusrah forced the Druze to renounce their religion destroyed their shrines and now considers them Sunni 74 75 76 Nusra and ISIL are both against the Druze the difference being that Nusra was apparently satisfied with destroying Druze shrines and making them become Sunnis while ISIL wants to violently annihilate them as it does to Yazidis 77 Flags editFlags of the al Nusra Front nbsp Variant flag of the al Nusra Front used 2012 2012 nbsp Flag of the al Nusra Front most commonly used until July 2016 nbsp Flag of Tanzim Qaidat al Jihad fi Bilad al Sham Jabhat al Nusra Organization of Jihad s Base in the Levant Victory Front used from April 2013 to July 2016 nbsp Flag of Jabhat al Nusra s branch in Lebanon used from 2013 to 2014 nbsp Variant flag of the al Nusra Front used 2012 16 nbsp Flag of Jabhat Fatah al Sham July 2016 January 2017Structure editLeadership edit The leader of al Nusra a self proclaimed emir goes by the name of Abu Mohammad al Julani also transliterated asMohammedandal Jawlani oral Golani which implies that he is from the Golan Heights al Jawlan in Arabic 36 Prior to the formation of Jabhat al Nusra Abu Mohammad al Julani was a senior member of Islamic State of Iraq heading operations in Nineveh Governorate 78 On 18 December 2013 he gave his first television interview to Tayseer Allouni a journalist originally from Syria for Al Jazeera and spoke classical Arabic with a Syrian accent 79 Name Position SituationAbu Mohammad al Julani Emir Founder and Emir of al Nusra Front 80 Sami al Oraydi Deputy Emir Deputy leader and senior religious official in al Nusra 80 Left the group after the formation of Tahrir al Sham 81 Abu Maria Al Qahtani Emir of the Eastern area Held the position of general religious authority and Emir of the Eastern area until 30 July 2014 80 Hierarchy edit The structure of the group varied across Syria In Damascus the organisation operated in an underground clandestine cell system while in Aleppo the group was organised along semi conventional military lines with units divided into brigades regiments and platoons 36 All potential recruits were required to undertake a ten day religious training course followed by a 15 20 day military training program 4 Al Nusra contained a hierarchy of religious bodies with a small Majlis ash Shura Consultative Council at the top making national decisions on behalf of the group Religious personnel also played an important role in the regional JN leadership with each region having a commander and a sheikh The sheikh supervised the commander from a religious perspective and is known as dabet al shar i religious commissioner 36 Foreign fighters edit A number of Americans have attempted to join the fighting in Syria specifically with al Nusra 82 Sinh Vinh Ngo Nguyen also known as Hasan Abu Omar Ghannoum was arrested in California on 11 October 2013 on charges of attempting to travel to join al Qaeda after reportedly having fought in Syria 82 As of November 2013 there had also been five additional publicly disclosed cases of Americans fighting in Syria three of which were linked to al Nusra 83 In February 2015 charges of conspiracy to support terrorism were laid against six Bosnian Americans who were alleged to have financially supported another Bosnian American the late Abdullah Ramo Pazara who they alleged died fighting with al Nusra in 2014 84 In September 2015 Nusra absorbed Katibat Imam al Bukhari an Uzbek group which is a part of al Qaeda citation needed Child soldiers were used by Katibat Imam al Bukhari 85 al Fu ah and Kafriya were attacked by the group in September 2015 citation needed They also participated in the 2015 Jisr al Shughur offensive 86 It was estimated that al Nusra s fighting force was approximately 30 foreign fighters and 70 local Islamists in July 2016 87 Media edit All statements and videos by al Nusra Front have been released by its media outlet al Manarah al Bayda Arabic المنارة البيضاء The White Minaret via the leading jihadist webforum Shamoukh al Islam Arabic شموخ الإسلام 4 Relations with al Qaeda editIn early 2015 there were reports that Qatar and other Gulf states were trying to get al Nusra to split away from al Qaeda after which they would support al Nusra with money 88 Western observers 89 and a Syrian observer 59 considered such a split unlikely and in March 2015 al Nusra s leadership denied a break up or that talks with Qatar had occurred 89 Other Syrian observers considered such a split conceivable 59 or imminent 90 With members of al Qaeda still enmeshed throughout the group s leadership it can be considered that al Qaeda was not external to the group After the announcement numerous senior al Qaeda members still within the group were targeted by the US in airstrikes 91 The group s leader Abu Mohammad al Julani in his first recorded video message stated its new name would be Jabhat Fatah al Sham Front for the Conquest of the Levant 42 During the renaming announcement in July 2016 al Julani thanked al Qaeda leaders Ayman al Zawahiri and Abu Khayr al Masri Ahmad Salama Mabruk an associate of al Zawahiri sat alongside al Julani during the announcement 92 Despite the group re branding and announcing no external affiliations the United States Central Command continued to consider it to be a branch of al Qaeda and an organization to be concerned about 93 Al Jazeera journalist Sharif Nashashibi noted that immediately after the rebranding both the US and Russia called it cosmetic and promised that air strikes would continue against al Nusra 94 Journalist Robin Wright described the rebranding as an jihadi shell game and expedient fiction a tactic known as marbling by jihadi groups and that as of December 2016 Al Qaeda had embedded two dozen senior personnel in the group 95 Writing shortly after the rebranding Nashashibi argued that it might help generate more regional support which the group needed in the face of Syrian government and Russian military success 94 Wright wrote that the move was effective with many conservative Sunnis in the region and that hundreds of them joined its ranks since the rebranding believing the group to be less extreme than the rival Islamic State 95 Al Qaeda and Khorasan group edit Main article Khorasan group Khorasan also known as the Khorasan Group is an alleged group of senior al Qaeda members who operate in Syria 96 The group has been reported to consist of a small number of fighters who are all on terrorist watchlists and to co ordinate with al Nusra Front Al Nusra Front leader Abu Mohammad al Golani denied the existence of this alleged Khorasan group in an interview with Al Jazeera on 28 May 2015 97 History editOrigin edit Upon the outbreak of the Syrian Civil War in 2011 Islamic State of Iraq s leader Abu Bakr al Baghdadi and al Qaeda s central command authorized the Syrian Abu Mohammad al Golani to set up a Syrian offshoot of al Qaeda in August 2011 to bring down the Assad government and establish an Islamic state there Golani and six colleagues crossed the border from Iraq into Syria and reached out to Islamists released from Syria s Sednaya military prison in May June 2011 who were already active in fighting against Assad s security forces The six men who founded Nusra alongside Julani were Saleh al Hamawi Syrian Abu Maria Al Qahtani Iraqi Mustafa Abd al Latif al Saleh kunya Abu Anas al Sahaba Jordanian Palestinian Iyad Tubasi kunya Abu Julaybib Jordanian Palestinian Abu Omar al Filistini Palestinian and Anas Hassan Khattab Syria 49 36 98 A number of meetings were held between October 2011 and January 2012 in Rif Dimashq and Homs where the objectives of the group were determined 36 Golani s group formally announced itself under the name Jabhat al Nusra l Ahl as Sham Support Front for the People of the Sham on 23 January 2012 36 98 Iraq s deputy interior minister said in early February 2012 that weapons and Islamist militants were entering Syria from Iraq 99 The Quilliam Foundation reported that many of Nusra s members were Syrians who were part of Abu Musab al Zarqawi s Islamist network fighting the 2003 American invasion in Iraq 36 Iraqi Foreign Minister Hoshyar Zebari agreed to that in 2012 100 The British The Daily Telegraph stated in December 2012 that many foreign al Nusra fighters were hardened veterans from conflicts in Iraq and Afghanistan 54 Strength in 2012 edit By the second half of 2012 Jabhat al Nusra stood out among the array of armed groups emerging in Syria as a disciplined and effective fighting force 98 Nusra in October 2012 refused a call for a four day ceasefire in Syria during Eid al Adha feast 101 In November 2012 they were considered by The Huffington Post to be the best trained and most experienced fighters among the Syrian rebels 102 According to spokesmen of a moderate wing of the Free Syrian Army FSA Nusra had in November 2012 between 6 000 and 10 000 fighters accounting for 7 9 of the FSA s total fighters 37 Commentator David Ignatius for The Washington Post described Nusra then as the most aggressive and successful arm of the FSA 37 The United States Department of State stated likewise From the reports we get from the doctors most of the injured and dead FSA are Jabhat al Nusra due to their courage and the fact they are always at the front line 37 On 10 December 2012 the U S designated Nusra a foreign terrorist organization and an alias of Al Qaeda in Iraq That decision made it illegal for Americans to deal financially with Nusra Days earlier the American ambassador to Syria R Ford had said Extremist groups like Jabhat al Nusra are a problem an obstacle to finding the political solution that Syria s going to need 103 Relations with other Syrian rebels in 2012 edit nbsp Al Nusra Front fighters during the Syrian Civil War In August 2012 there were signs of Nusra co operating with other rebels The group took part in military operations with the Free Syrian Army FSA 104 Abu Haidar a Syrian FSA co ordinator in Aleppo s Saif al Dawla district said that al Nusra Front have experienced fighters who are like the revolution s elite commando troops 105 In October December 2012 Nusra received words of praise and appreciation for their efforts in the revolution against Assad from non specified rebels 101 an FSA spokesman in the Aleppo region 106 a group of 29 civilian and military groups 107 108 and the leader of the Syrian National Coalition 109 At the same time two anonymous FSA leaders 54 101 and a secular rebel in north Syria 54 expressed disapproval of the Islamist religious prison Nusra might be wanting to turn Syria into Attacks by Nusra 2012 2013 edit The 6 January 2012 al Midan bombing was claimed by al Nusra in a video seen by AFP on 29 February 2012 110 It was allegedly carried out by Abu al Baraa al Shami Footage of the destruction caused by the blast was released on a jihadist forum 111 An al Nusra affiliated group announced the formation of the Free Ones of the Levant Battalions in a YouTube video statement that was released on 23 January 2012 In the statement the group claimed that it attacked the headquarters of security in Idlib province 112 To all the free people of Syria we announce the formation of the Free Ones of the Levant Battalions the statement said according to a translation obtained by The Long War Journal We promise Allah and then we promise you that we will be a firm shield and a striking hand to repel the attacks of this criminal Al Assad army with all the might we can muster We promise to protect the lives of civilians and their possessions from security and the Shabiha pro government militia We are a people who will either gain victory or die 112 The March 2012 Damascus bombings were claimed by Nusra 113 The 10 May 2012 Damascus bombings were allegedly claimed by al Nusra Front in an Internet video 114 however on 15 May 2012 someone claiming to be a spokesman for the group denied that the organisation was responsible for the attack saying that it would only release information through jihadist forums 115 On 29 May 2012 a mass execution was discovered near the eastern city of Deir ez Zor The unidentified corpses of 13 men had been discovered shot to death execution style 116 On 5 June 2012 al Nusra Front claimed responsibility for the killings stating that they had captured and interrogated the soldiers in Deir ez Zor and justly punished them with death after they confessed to crimes 117 On 17 June 2012 Walid Ahmad al Ayesh described by Syrian authorities as the right hand of al Nusra Front was killed when Syrian authorities discovered his hiding place He was reportedly responsible for the making of car bombs that were used to attack Damascus in the previous months 118 The Syrian authorities reported the killing of another prominent member of the group Wael Mohammad al Majdalawi killed on 12 August 2012 in an operation conducted in Damascus 119 On 27 June 2012 a group of Syrian rebels attacked a pro government TV station in the town of Drousha just south of the capital Damascus The station s studios were destroyed with explosives Seven people were killed in the attack on Al Ikhbariya TV including four guards and three journalists 120 Al Nusra claimed responsibility for the attack and published photos of 11 station employees they kidnapped following the raid 121 The murder in July 2012 of journalist Mohammed al Saeed a well known government TV news presenter was claimed by Nusra in a video released on 3 or 4 August according to Syrian Observatory for Human Rights 122 123 nbsp The scene at Saadallah Al Jabiri Square after the attacks on 3 October 2012The 3 October 2012 Aleppo bombings were claimed by Al Nusra 124 Three suicide car bombs exploded at the eastern corner of the central Saadallah Al Jabiri Square killing 48 people 125 More than 122 people were reported to be heavily injured 126 The bombs targeted the Officers club and the nearby buildings of the Touristic Hotel and the historic Jouha Cafe The hotel received major damage while the cafe was entirely destroyed A small building within the Officers club was ruined as well 127 128 Al Nusra Front also claimed responsibility for attacking numerous Syrian military bases including Aleppo district an air defence base on 12 October 2012 Aleppo city the Hanano barracks Raqqah the Suluq barracksIn the air defence base assault they reportedly destroyed buildings and sabotaged radar and rockets after over running the base in co operation with the al Fajr Islamic Movement and a group of Chechen fighters During the storming of the Hanano barracks 11 soldiers were killed and they held the complex for six hours before retreating They also claimed killing 32 soldiers during the raid on the Raqqah base 129 In October 2012 they joined other rebels in an attack on the Wadi Deif base around Maraat al Numan in a prolonged fighting that turned into a siege of the base 130 They also led an attack on the Taftanaz Air Base in November 2012 an important and strategic base for the Syrian army containing up to 48 helicopters 102 The group seized three army checkpoints around Saraqeb at the end of October 2012 forcing the Syrian Army to withdraw from the area the next day In the battle 28 Syrian soldiers were killed as well as five Nusra fighters Some of the captured soldiers were summarily executed after being called Assad dogs The video of these executions was widely condemned with the United Nations referring to them as probable war crimes 131 132 Members of al Nusra Front carried out two suicide attacks in early November 2012 One occurred in a rural development center in Sahl al Ghab in Hama province where a car bomb killed two people while the other occurred in the Mezzeh neighbourhood of Damascus where a suicide bomber killed 11 people 133 The SOHR claimed a total of 50 soldiers were killed in the Sahl al Ghab attack 134 Al Jazeera reported on 23 December 2012 that al Nusra Front had declared a no fly zone over Aleppo using 23 mm and 57 mm anti aircraft guns to down planes This would include commercial flights which al Nusra believed transported military equipment and troops In a video sent to Al Jazeera they warned civilians against boarding commercial flights 135 In February 2013 Al Nusra fighters were involved in fighting in Safira with government reinforcements preventing these forces from reaching their destination of the city of Aleppo A monitoring group claims this resulted in more than two hundred casualties over a period of two weeks 136 Though it was initially reported that Syrian Catholic priest Francois Murad was beheaded by Nusra at a church in Gassanieh in June 2013 he was actually shot dead 137 As of June 2013 al Nusra Front had claimed responsibility for 57 of the 70 suicide attacks in Syria during the conflict 138 In December 2013 al Nusra abducted 13 nuns from a Christian monastery in Maaloula They were held in the town of Yabroud until 9 March 2014 The nuns reported they had not been harassed and could keep religious symbols 139 Dispute with ISIL 2013 edit By January 2013 Nusra was a formidable force alleged to have strong popular support in Syria 98 and it continued to grow in strength during the following months 140 In January 2013 the Quilliam counter extremism thinktank estimated its membership at 5 000 fighters 141 with 2 000 trainees 142 In May 2013 analysts Ken Sofer and Juliana Shafroth estimated 6 000 foreign and domestic fighters 143 By July The Economist estimated its strength at 7 000 fighters 144 Other size estimates however were more conservative a report in the Turkish daily Hurriyet in March 2013 said that the group had increased its membership from around 300 400 jihadists to 1 000 as Syrian fighters in Iraq have returned to their country in the wake of the US designation of al Nusra as a terrorist organisation 145 On 8 April 2013 the leader of the then Islamic State of Iraq ISI Abu Bakr al Baghdadi released a recorded audio message on the Internet in which he announced that Jabhat al Nusra was part of his network 146 and that he was merging Jabhat al Nusra with ISI into one group Islamic State of Iraq and al Sham ISIL under his command 98 147 Al Baghdadi also claimed that Abu Mohammad al Julani had been dispatched by the ISI to Syria to meet with pre existing cells in the country and that the ISI had provided Jabhat al Nusra with the plans and strategy needed for the Syrian Civil War and had been funding their activities 147 The next day al Julani rejected the proposed merger and affirmed the group s allegiance to al Qaeda and its leader Ayman al Zawahiri 98 Al Julani was quoted as saying We inform you that neither the al Nusra command nor its consultative council nor its general manager were aware of this announcement It reached them via the media and if the speech is authentic we were not consulted 148 Nusra then split with some members particularly foreign fighters following Baghdadi s edict and joining ISIL while others stayed loyal to Golani or left to join other Islamist brigades 98 149 150 In May 2013 Reuters reported that al Baghdadi had travelled from Iraq to Syria s Aleppo Governorate province and begun recruiting members of al Nusra 151 In June 2013 Al Jazeera reported that it had obtained a letter written by al Qaeda leader Ayman al Zawahiri addressed to both Abu Bakr al Baghdadi and Abu Mohammad al Julani in which he ruled against the merger of the two organisations and appointed an emissary to oversee relations between them and put an end to tensions 152 Later in the month an audio message from al Baghdadi was released in which he rejected al Zawahiri s ruling and declared that the merger of the two organisations into the Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant was going ahead This sequence of events caused much confusion and division amongst members of al Nusra 150 In November 2013 al Zawahiri ordered the disbandment of ISIL and said al Nusra should be considered the only al Qaeda branch in Syria 40 and bestowed the title Tanzim Qa edat Al Jihad fi Bilad Al Sham the Qae dat Al Jihad organization in the Levant on them officially integrating Nusra into al Qaeda s global network 39 Open fights between Nusra ISIL 2013 2015 edit Some units of al Nusra began taking part in clashes against the Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant in late 2013 153 In February 2014 after efforts to end the dispute between ISIL and Nusra had failed al Qaeda formally dissociated itself from its onetime affiliate ISIL leaving Jabhat al Nusra the sole representative of al Qaeda in Syria 154 In the same month al Julani threatened to go to war with ISIL over their suspected role in the killing of senior Ahrar ash Sham commander Abu Khaled al Souri Al Julani gave ISIL five days to submit evidence that they were innocent of the attack to three imprisoned Jihadist clerics Abu Muhammad al Maqdisi Abu Qatada al Falastini and Suleiman al Alwan 155 On 16 April 2014 ISIL killed al Nusra s Idlib chief Abu Mohammad al Ansari together with his family the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights reported 156 In May 2014 open fighting broke out between ISIL and al Nusra in Deir ez Zor Governorate leaving hundreds dead on both sides 157 By July 2014 al Nusra had largely been expelled from Deir ez Zor Governorate 158 Also in July an audio recording attributed to al Julani appeared online in which he said that al Nusra planned to establish an Islamic emirate in the areas of Syria where they had a presence A statement issued on 12 July 2014 by al Nusra s media channel affirmed the authenticity of the recording but stated that they had not yet declared the establishment of an emirate 159 160 161 162 In June 2015 al Julani stated in regards to ISIL There is no solution between us and them in the meantime or in the foreseeable future We hope they repent to God and return to their senses if not then there is nothing but fighting between us 56 Attacks by Nusra 2014 2015 edit On 28 August 2014 militants from the group kidnapped 45 UN peacekeepers from Fiji from Golan Heights in the United Nations Disengagement Observer Force Zone 163 The group demanded that it be removed from the UN s list of terrorist organisations in exchange for the lives of the peacekeepers In addition to UN personnel the group routinely captures UN vehicles to use as car bombs 164 At the same time two groups of UN peacekeepers from Philippines were trapped under fire in nearby Rwihinah 165 On 31 August one group of 32 Filipinos soldiers was rescued and the other group of 40 soldiers escaped 166 The rescue operation was carried out by Irish peacekeepers 167 Colonel Ezra Enriquez of the Philippines who oversaw the operations resigned over disagreements with Indian Lieutenant General Iqbal Singh Singha Singha had allegedly ordered the Filipinos peacekeepers to surrender arms to ensure the safe release of the Fijian soldiers 168 On 8 September Rodrigo Duterte the mayor of Davao City called for Singha s death after he allegedly called the Filipinos soldiers cowards 169 On 11 September the kidnapped Fijian soldiers were released 170 nbsp Military situation in December 2015In late October 2014 al Nusra began attacking some FSA and moderate Islamist groups that it was formerly allied with reportedly in a bid to eventually establish its own Islamic state in the cities it controlled in Idlib Governorate and other neighbouring Governorates 171 172 In June 2015 fighters of al Nusra massacred 20 Druze villagers in Idlib province located in north west Syria 173 Al Jazeera claimed that Al Nusra s leadership apologized and blamed the incident on a few undisciplined fighters 174 In October 2015 al Nusra offered bounties worth millions of dollars for the killing of Syrian President Bashar al Assad and Hezbollah leader Sayyed Hassan Nasrallah 175 Al Julani said he would pay three million euros 3 4 million for anyone who can kill Bashar al Assad and end his story 176 In December 2015 two Army of Revolutionaries fighters were beheaded by Nusra according to sources on social media 177 178 better source needed In December 2015 Nusra fighters celebrated the ransoming and exchange of Lebanese army prisoners in the town of Arsal in Lebanon according to sources on social media 179 180 Relations with other Syrian rebels in 2015 2016 edit nbsp An al Nusra field commander outside a building jointly occupied by al Nusra and Ahrar al Sham in the city of Idlib 30 March 2015In 2015 rebel factions which in southern Syria vowed to distance themselves from the extremists of al Nusra in April 2015 but were seen cooperating with them in Daraa only days later 181 In May 2015 al Nusra was estimated to have 10 000 fighters in Southern Syria far fewer than the Free Syrian Army but with superior weaponry on which the FSA depended in joint operations against the government 182 During successful Syrian opposition offensives in the northern Idlib Governorate from March until May 2015 see also March April offensive and April June 2015 offensive al Nusra effectively coordinated its operations with the FSA moderate and conservative Syrian Islamists and some independent jihadist factions 181 On 24 January 2016 Ahrar ash Sham expelled al Nusra Front from the Syrian town of Harem after tensions between the two groups boiled over Subsequent clashes erupted in Salqin 183 On 17 February 2016 nearly half of Jund al Aqsa numbering 400 fighters joined al Nusra Five days later two Damascus based jihadist groups swore allegiance to al Nusra 184 185 On 25 February al Nusra Front withdrew from the town of Sarmada near the Turkish border in the Idlib Province in an attempt to prevent Russian warplanes from bombing the town after the implementation of the Syria ceasefire 186 Jaysh al Islam leader Zahran Alloush addressed Jabhat al Nusra as our brothers saying that The summary of this issue is that we in Jaish Al Islam praise our brothers of the Nusrah Front and we don t consider them Khawarij as is propagated against us We fight alongside them and they fight alongside us 187 better source needed According to the BBC in 2016 Jabhat Fateh al Sham has a complex relationship with the more moderate Free Syrian Army FSA which is itself an alliance of allied groups some of which were more willing to co operate with Nusra than others 188 Russian air raids 2015 2016 edit Russia sees al Nusra as a terrorist organization 189 Russian air strikes reportedly targeted positions held by al Nusra from September 2015 190 and Al Nusra set a reward for the seizure of Russian soldiers 191 In October 2015 Al Nusra militant Abu Ubaid Al Madani who speaks Russian released a video addressed to the Russians warning that they would massacre Russian soldiers 192 Abu Mohammad al Julani called for Russian civilians to be attacked by former Soviet Muslims and called for attacks on Alawite villages in Syria 193 194 195 In November 2015 al Nusra fighters and Turkish supported Syrian Turkmen Brigades were engaged in heavy fighting in Syria s northwestern Latakia Governorate against the Syrian government forces supported by the Shiite militias and the Russian air force 196 Speculations on a split with al Qaeda 2015 2016 edit On 29 July 2016 Al Nusra leader Abu Mohammad al Julani announced the group changed its name to Jabhat Fath al Sham and had no affiliation to any external entity 197 While some analysts have interpreted this to mean breaking away from Al Qaeda the group and association with it were not specifically mentioned in the announcement nor has it been said that Al Nusra s oath of allegiance to Ayman al Zawahiri have been renounced 198 According to Sharif Nashashibi of Al Jazeera al Qaeda had given the split its blessing and the separation meant no change in the group s ideology 94 With numerous senior members of Al Qaeda enmeshed within Al Nusra it can be considered that Al Qaeda are not external to the group 198 To this extent other analysts say that the announcement was cosmetic a ruse to obfuscate their continued association and membership within Al Qaeda 94 In the time after the announcement a number of senior Al Qaeda members have been targeted and killed by US air strikes while operating within Al Nusra 91 199 For over a year prior to this there had been speculation that the group would separate from Al Qaeda and about what it would mean On 12 February 2015 SITE Intelligence Group cited rumours that Nusra leader al Julani had plans to disassociate from al Qaeda 200 On 4 March 2015 Reuters reported that sources within and close to al Nusra said that in the past months Qatar and other Gulf states had talked with Nusra leader Abu Mohammad al Julani and encouraged him to abandon al Qaeda promising funding to Nusra once that break up was carried out An official close to the Qatari government had confirmed to Reuters that Qatar wanted Nusra to become purely Syrian and disconnect from al Qaeda after which Qatar would start to support Nusra with money and supplies Muzamjer al Sham reportedly a prominent jihadi close to Nusra had said that Nusra would soon merge with Jaish al Muhajireen wal Ansar and other small jihadi brigades and disengage from al Qaeda but that not all Nusra emirs had yet agreed to that 88 On 9 March 2015 in a statement issued on Twitter al Nusra denied completely all reports of a meeting with Qatari and reports of a break up with al Qaeda Expert Thomas Pierret at the University of Edinburgh assumed that Qatar was trying to force the hand of Al Nusra with this leak about a split and said a break with Al Qaeda was very unlikely French expert on jihadism Romain Caillet agreed The overwhelming majority of Al Nusra members want to stay in al Qaeda particularly foreign fighters who represent at least one third of the organisation 89 But in May 2015 Abu Maria al Qahtani the commander of al Nusra in Deir ez Zor province still strongly advocated a split with al Qaeda 90 Muhamed Nabih Osman leading a charitable organisation for former Assad prisoners said to website The Daily Beast on 4 May 2015 I think it will happen soon You have to understand that al Nusra consists of two very different parts and that one part mostly local fighters are not interested in global jihad 90 On 7 May 2015 a Turkish official said that Turkey and Saudi Arabia were bolstering Ahrar al Sham at Nusra s expense hoping that al Sham s rise puts pressure on Nusra to renounce its ties to al Qaeda and open itself to outside help 201 A well connected Syrian Islamist cited in May 2015 by Charles Lister in The Huffington Post said There are now two main currents the conservatives are keen on keeping ties to Al Qaeda and the others are more inclined towards the new Syria focused approach Another Islamist official from Damascus is cited Nusra s disengagement from al Qaeda would be good for the revolution but Jabhat al Nusra will always be in dire need of al Qaeda s name to keep its foreign fighters away from IS Most Jabhat foreign fighters will never accept to fight and die for what looks like an Islamic national project 59 In late July 2016 through various sources the Middle East Eye claimed that an organizational split from al Qaeda is imminent with the proposal reportedly been approved by AQ leaders and proposed a new name called Jabhat Fatah al Sham or the Conquest of the Levant Front However the sources claimed that the move would not affect al Nusra s al Qaeda ideology and its plan to commit attacks on the West 202 The organisation grew in early 2016 Charles Lister reported that According to three Islamist sources based in the area Jabhat al Nusra successfully recruited at least 3 000 Syrians into its ranks between February and June 2016 49 In mid 2016 reports suggested it was composed of around 5 000 to 10 000 fighters 203 204 with the Russian ministry of defence estimating 7 000 fighters in Idlib province 205 As Jabhat Fatah al Sham July 2016 January 2017 edit nbsp Idlib Governorate clashes in January March 2017In August 2016 the BBC estimated Jabhat Fatah al Sham as having 5 000 10 000 fighters all Syrian 206 Lister gave a figure of 10 000 49 In a public statement issued by its spokesperson JFS announced that it was officially splitting from Al Qaeda Before this change Jabhat al Nusra was an official branch of al Qaeda We reported to their central command and we worked within their framework we adhered to their policies With the formation of JFS we are completely independent That means we don t report to anyone we don t receive directives from any external entity If dissolving external organizational affiliations or ties will remove the obstacles in the way of unity then this must be done When we were part of al Qaeda our core policy was to focus all of our efforts on the Syrian issue That was our policy before and it will be our policy today and tomorrow 44 In July Jabhat Fatah al Sham kidnapped the American journalist Lindsey Snell in northern Syria She escaped to Turkey s Hatay Province in August and was subsequently arrested by Turkish authorities for being in a military exclusion zone and imprisoned 207 The mid 2016 rebel offensive in Aleppo was made by Jabhat Fatah al Sham alongside the Turkistan Islamic Party and Ahrar al Sham 208 On 31 August Hezbollah attacked a JFS outpost in the Qalamoun Mountains near the city of Arsal Lebanon on the Lebanon Syria border killing a number of their fighters 209 On 8 September an airstrike of unknown origin killed the top JFS military commander Abu Hajer al Homsi nom de guerre Abu Omar Saraqeb among several other Army of Conquest commanders in the countryside of the Aleppo Governorate 2 the rebels accused the United States of conducting the strike but this was denied by the Pentagon and subsequently Russia took responsibility 2 On 3 October Ahmad Salama Mabruk an Egyptian JFS and al Qaeda commander was killed by a US airstrike against his vehicle in Jisr al Shughur 210 On 9 October Jund al Aqsa after infighting between them and numerous rebel groups including Ahrar al Sham merged with JFS In early October according to pro government Al Masdar News a number of Mountain Hawks Brigade fighters defected to join Jabhat Fatah al Sham due to several disagreements mainly due to the established of the Free Idlib Army 211 better source needed On 25 January 2017 according to rebel social media they returned along with their leader Lt Col Nasha at Haj Ahmad to the Mountain Hawks Brigade 212 nbsp Military situation in the Syrian Civil War in 9 September 2021 needs update Controlled by Syrian Arab Republic Controlled by Syrian Interim Government SNA and Turkish Armed Forces Controlled by Syrian Salvation Government HTS Controlled by Autonomous Administration of North and East Syria SDF Controlled by Autonomous Administration of North and East Syria AANES with military presence of Syrian Arab Republic Controlled by Revolutionary Commando Army and United States Armed Forces Controlled by the Islamic State IS For a more detailed interactive map see Template Syrian Civil War detailed map As of late 2016 al Nusra mainly controlled territory throughout Idlib Governorate alongside other factions in the Army of Conquest 213 214 It also held some areas in the Quneitra Governorate On 1 January 2017 a US drone strike killed Abu Omar al Turkistani a senior Al Qaeda member and Jabhat Fatah al Sham military commander along with 3 other JFS members near the town of Sarmada in the northern Idlib Governorate 215 The Uyghur Turkistan Islamic Party also counted him among their chiefs 216 The next day more than 25 JFS members were killed in an air raid by suspected US planes 217 The Tora Bora battle saw Turkistani s participation 218 The Islamic Jihad Union enlisted Turkistani as a member 219 220 Jabhat Fath al Sham included Turkistani 221 222 223 SOHR identified al Turkestani from among the dead 224 Before dying in Syria al Turkistani was in the Afghanistan war 225 226 227 He was also the emir for the al Qaeda affiliated Ansar Jihad in Central Asia 228 Europeans make up an amount while Central Asians make up the majority of foreigners in the Afghanistan based Islamic Jihad Union which is allied to Al Qaeda 229 On 19 January 2017 US airstrikes by Boeing B 52 Stratofortress strategic bombers struck the former Syrian Army Sheikh Suleiman military base in western Aleppo which was used by Jabhat Fatah al Sham and the Nour al Din al Zenki Movement killing at least 110 al Qaeda fighters 230 including Abu Hasan al Taftanaz an al Qaeda senior leader along with some al Zenki fighters Since 1 January 2017 more than 150 AQ members were killed by US airstrikes in 2017 231 Condolences were issued to Jabhat Fatah al Sham over the killings by the Uyghur jihadist Turkistan Islamic Party citation needed The training camp had been operated by al Nusra Front and al Zenki since 2013 230 Outrage over the lack of condolences from other factions over an American bombing and killing of 100 JFS members was voiced by Muhaysini 232 On 21 January 2017 five factions from Ahrar al Sham left to join the al Nusra Front Jaish al Ahrar al Bara Dhu Nurayn al Sawa iq and Usud al Har Battalion accrodign to social media sources 233 234 On the same day 2 al Nusra Shura Council members based in Aleppo announced that they left the group citation needed Ahrar al Sham the Suqour al Sham Brigade Jabhat Ahl al Sham Jaysh al Islam and Fastaqim Union then established a joint operations room to combat al Nusra and its subfaction Jund al Aqsa citation needed Abu Umar Saraqib and Abu Faraj s deaths received condolences from the Turkistan Islamic Party 235 Formation of Tahrir al Sham January 2017 edit On 28 January 2017 several Salafist jihadist groups including Jabhat Fatah al Sham agreed upon a merger agreement resulting in the formation of a new group called Hay at Tahrir al Sham Organization for the Liberation of the Levant 236 With Jabhat Fateh al Sham being one of the most powerful influential groups in the new formation its leader Abu Mohammad al Julani was appointed the high level position of overall military commander of the new group citation needed The only other position of equal or greater authority in the new group is the Emir to which role was appointed Abu Jaber who defected from Ahrar al Sham to join this new group 236 External support editAt least one Arab government 237 accused Qatar of helping al Nusra 238 239 13 240 In October 2014 U S Vice President Joe Biden said that Turkey Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates had poured hundreds of millions of dollars and tens of thousands of tons of weapons into anyone who would fight against Al Assad except that the people who were being supplied were al Nusra and al Qaeda and the extremist elements of jihadis coming from other parts of the world 241 In 2015 The Independent reported that Saudi Arabia and Turkey were focusing their backing for the Syrian rebels on the combined Jaish al Fatah or the Army of Conquest a command structure for jihadist groups in Syria that included Jabhat al Nusra 242 Al Nusra was also materially supported by multiple foreign fighters Most of these fighters were from Europe and the Middle East as pipelines to Syria from those locations are better established and navigable 243 However as of November 2013 there were also 6 publicly disclosed cases of American citizens and permanent residents who joined or attempted to join al Nusrah in 2013 alone 83 The US Government sent weapons to rebels in Syria from at least late 2013 244 and perhaps as early as 2012 245 during the beginning phases of the conflict CIA s covert program Timber Sycamore Some of these weapons reportedly fell into the hands of al Nusra 246 Weapons have been passed on to Nusra by Ahrar ash Sham according to a Nusra member and rebels 247 The Pentagon confirmed in September 2015 that a small group of US trained New Syrian Forces rebels gave six pickup trucks and a portion of their ammunition to al Nusra Front in exchange for safe passage 248 There were cases of al Nusra combatants receiving medical aid in Israel and returning to fight Former head of Mossad Efraim Halevy in an interview for al Jazeera implicitly confirmed that such practices had taken place as part of a general Israeli policy of treating wounded rebel fighters on the border 249 250 Israel however denies formal ties of any sort between itself and al Nusra 251 and Elizabeth Tsurkov reported that Nusra refused to cooperate with Israel in fact kidnapping and assassinating suspected collaborators 252 Qatari involvement edit The Emir of Qatar publicly admitted in an interview with Christiane Amanpour that he doesn t always see eye to eye with American terrorist designations I know that in America and some countries they look at some movements as terrorist movements But there are differences There are differences that some countries and some people that any group which comes from Islamic background are terrorists And we don t accept that It would be a big mistake to consider every Islamic movement to be extremists 253 It has been suggested by whom that one of the designated groups that the Emir spoke of in this interview at CNN was Al Nusra Front 254 According to the Consortium Against Terror Finance CATF Qatar was able to get away with funding Al Nusra despite their terrorist designation through Kidnapping for Ransom 254 verification needed Al Nusra has kidnapped a diverse group of people from nationalities that span the globe including Turkey Fiji Lebanon Syria and Italy On each occasion Qatar engaged in a substantial financial agreement with Al Nusra in exchange for hostages CATF suggests that the U S turned a blind eye to Qatar s funding of Al Nusra because Al Nusra was one of the only groups posing a plausible threat to both ISIS and Assad 254 verification needed According to the one analyst the reason why Al Nusra was the only plausible threat was because of Saudi and Qatari funding Jabhat al Nusra has become the best armed force among the opposition groups It has been at the tip of the spear in operations in Eastern Syria Aleppo and Damascus Its combat proficiency and relatively greater access to material and funding have led other opposition groups to tolerate its participation in military operations across the country 255 Qatar managed the negotiations with al Nusra Front that ultimately led to American writer Peter Theo Curtis s release Qatari Intelligence Chief Ghanim Khalifa al Kubaisi sent a contact a text with the words Done and a thumbs up emoticon after Curtis s release was completed 256 257 According to The Fiscal Times Qatar had great influence over the group that goes beyond ransom payments In many cases Qatar acted as a political mediator between Al Nusra and other countries such as Lebanon 258 A prisoner swap between the Lebanese government and al Qaeda s branch in Syria Al Nusra Front in early December showed how powerful the group has become on the ground The deal released 16 Lebanese soldiers and police officers who were captured during a joint ISIS al Nusra operation along with 29 civilians some of whom are known terrorists 258 Indeed Qatar s mediation between Al Nusra and Lebanon ultimately guaranteed al Nusra freedom of movement inside what was once a safe haven in Lebanon s Hamid valley bordering Syria giving Al Nusra access to the Lebanese town of Arsal 258 But one diplomat went so far as to suggest that beyond the scope of mediation and paying ransom They Qatar are partly responsible for Jabhat al Nusra having money and weapons and everything they need The diplomat went on to say that while Qatar hasn t directly funded ISIS it is responsible for the fact that ISIS gained Al Nusra weapons as members of Al Nusra are known to defect to ISIS 259 Qatar s alleged support of Al Nusra was highly criticized in both U S and U K media 260 According to a 2021 articles by The Times Qatar has allegedly played a central role in a secret money laundering operation to send hundreds of millions of dollars to Al Nusra Front terrorists in Syria 261 Weaponry and tactics edit nbsp An al Nusra Front battalion training during the Syrian Civil War The organisation is believed to have used at various times and in various places the following tactics car bombs chemical weapons suicide attacks targeting of checkpoints conventional assault of military bases assassination of political and military figures and members of the shabiha 36 targeting destruction killing of pro government media stations and personnel 262 By June 2013 there had been apparently 70 suicide attacks in Syria Of these the group denied responsibility for 13 but claimed responsibility for the other 57 In June 2012 the group attacked the pro government TV station at Drousha near Damascus The following month the government TV presenter Mohammed al Saeed disappeared the group later declared him dead In June 2014 Human Rights Watch reported that several rebel groups including al Nusra have enlisted child soldiers into their ranks 263 In November 2014 al Nusra claimed to have captured U S made TOW anti tank missiles supplied by the United States to moderate anti Assad rebels 264 The group allegedly captured tanks machine guns ammunition vehicles and American anti tank missiles from the U S backed Syrian Rebel Front 265 Al Nusra Front allegedly have an elite sniper unit known as the Wolf Group Training is conducted in Aleppo by veteran jihadists who belong to the Khorasan Group a collection of veteran al Qaeda operatives sent from al Qaeda strongholds along the Afghan Pakistan border 266 better source needed In October 2015 al Julani called for indiscriminate attacks on Alawite villages in Syria He said There is no choice but to escalate the battle and to target Alawite towns and villages in Latakia 194 Turkish arrests for alleged chemical weapon purchase edit On 30 May 2013 Turkish newspapers reported that Turkish security forces had arrested al Nusra fighters in the southern provinces of Mersin and Adana near the Syrian border and confiscated 2 kg of sarin gas 267 268 verification needed The governor of Adana claimed that the security forces had not found sarin gas but unknown chemicals 269 The Turkish Ambassador to Moscow later said that tests showed the chemical seized was anti freeze not sarin 270 In September six of those arrested in May one Syrian Heysem Topalca and five Turks alleged to be members of al Nusra and Ahrar ash Sham were charged with attempting to acquire chemicals which could be used to produce sarin the indictment said that it was possible to produce sarin gas by combining the materials in proper conditions 271 The indictment said that The suspects have pleaded not guilty saying that they had not been aware the materials they had tried to obtain could have been used to make sarin gas Suspects have been consistently providing conflicting and incoherent facts on this matter The indictment said the suspects working for al Nusra and to Ahrar ash Sham 272 267 The prosecutors were dismissed and the men were freed in October 2013 A new arrest warrant was later issued but the perpetrators were never tried Topalca was tried and convicted in absentia for other terrorism crimes but not apprehended he died in 2021 273 274 275 War crimes editSee also Hatla massacre and Zara a massacre On 29 May 2012 a mass execution was discovered near the eastern city of Deir ez Zor 276 On 5 June 2012 the al Nusra Front claimed responsibility for the 13 killings 277 During the 2013 Latakia offensive by rebel Islamist groups including al Nusra Front in early August according to Human Rights Watch Salafist rebel forces led by al Nusra systematically killed at least 190 civilians in several Alawite villages 278 On 10 September 2013 al Nusra fighters attacked the Alawite village of Maksar al Hesan in Homs province 279 Al Nusra later admitted to the killing of 30 civilians overall in three Alawite villages includes those in Maksar al Hesan 280 On 11 December 2013 the rebel Islamic Front and al Nusra Front groups 281 infiltrated the industrial area of the town of Adra northeast of Damascus attacking buildings housing workers and their families The rebels targeted Alawites Druze Christians and Shiites killing them on a sectarian basis Some people were shot while others were beheaded 282 On 10 June 2015 the al Nusra killed at least 20 Druze villagers in Qalb Lawzeh in Idlib province 283 On 12 May 2016 according to pro government media rebels led by al Nusra Front and Ahrar ash Sham massacred 42 civilians and seven NDF militiamen while kidnapping up to 70 people after taking control of the Alawite village of Zara a in Southern Hama 284 285 unreliable source During the last days of the 17th Aleppo offensive in mid December 2016 the al Nusra Front arrested a media activist at a field hospital while he filmed the hospital operations He was interrogated at al Nusra s headquarters before the evacuation During the evacuation of rebels from Aleppo al Nusra were the first to leave along with prisoners whom they kidnapped 286 Designation as a terrorist organisation editCountries and organisations below have listed al Nusra Front as a terrorist organisation Country Date References nbsp Iran 3 January 2012 287 nbsp United States 10 December 2012 103 nbsp United Nations Security Council May 2013 288 289 nbsp France 30 May 2013 290 nbsp Australia 28 June 2013 291 nbsp United Kingdom 19 July 2013 292 293 nbsp Canada 7 November 2013 294 nbsp Malaysia 2013 295 nbsp Saudi Arabia 7 March 2014 296 nbsp New Zealand 14 May 2014 297 nbsp United Arab Emirates 19 May 2014 298 nbsp Turkey 2 June 2014 289 299 nbsp Russia 29 December 2014 189 300 nbsp Japan 301 nbsp Bahrain 302 nbsp Kyrgyzstan 303 nbsp Kazakhstan 304 nbsp Tajikistan 305 nbsp Syria 306 nbsp Kuwait 307 nbsp Lebanon 308 nbsp Iraq 309 Notes edit Arabic جبهة النصرة لأهل الشام romanized Jabhat al Nuṣrah li Ahl ish Sham lit Front of the Supporters of the People of the Levant Arabic جبهة فتح الشام romanized Jabhat Fatḥ ash ShamSee also edit nbsp Asia portalList of armed groups in the Syrian Civil War List of terrorist incidents in Syria List of terrorist attacks in DamascusReferences edit Time Exclusive Meet the Islamist Militants Fighting Alongside Syria s Rebels Time 26 July 2012 Retrieved 13 July 2021 a b c Air strike kills top commander of former Nusra group in Syria Reuters 9 September 2016 Caleb Weiss 14 February 2017 Uighur jihadist fought in Afghanistan killed in Syria Long War Journal Retrieved 22 February 2017 a b c Interview with Official of Jabhat al Nusra Syria s Islamist Militia Group Time 25 December 2012 Retrieved 29 November 2013 Syria Islamist factions including former al Qaeda branch join forces statement Thomson Reuters Foundation 28 January 2017 Retrieved 1 February 2017 Syria ISIS tightens grip Nusra takes losses Al Monitor 2 May 2014 Retrieved 9 June 2015 Abdallah Suleiman Ali 12 February 2014 ISIS losing ground in Syria to Jabhat al Nusra Al Monitor Archived from the original on 22 February 2014 Retrieved 14 February 2014 Nick Paton Walsh and Laura Smith Spark 6 November 2014 Report Airstrikes target another Islamist group in Syria CNN Retrieved 24 May 2018 Syria s Qaeda leader killed in explosion ARA News Archived from the original on 8 March 2015 Retrieved 6 March 2015 a b An internal struggle Al Qaeda s Syrian affiliate is grappling with its identity Brookings Institution 31 May 2015 Retrieved 1 June 2015 Al Nusra Front claims Lebanon suicide attack Al Jazeera 11 January 2015 Retrieved 12 January 2015 Ghanmi Elyes Punzet Agnieszka 11 June 2013 The involvement of Salafism Wahhabism in the support and supply of arms to rebel groups around the world PDF European Parliament a b Hudson Valerie 30 June 2015 The Hillary Doctrine Columbia University p 154 ISBN 9780231539104 Retrieved 15 January 2016 Jabhat al Nusra Australian National Security 28 June 2013 Archived from the original on 21 September 2014 Retrieved 23 April 2015 Jabhat al Nusra A Strategic Briefing PDF Quilliam Foundation Archived from the original PDF on 28 March 2015 Retrieved 23 April 2015 a b Al Nusra Front 2012 Retrieved 24 May 2018 New Syrian jihadist body formed to fight ISIS Al Monitor 28 May 2014 Archived from the original on 6 June 2014 Retrieved 3 June 2014 a b Rebels launch full on assault of Idlib city Syria Direct Archived from the original on 2 April 2015 Retrieved 25 March 2015 Nawaf Obaid 15 August 2018 Trump Will Regret Changing His Mind About Qatar Foreign Policy Retrieved 25 August 2018 Qatar maybe supported al Qaeda in Syria says former PM Middle East Eye 30 October 2017 Retrieved 25 August 2018 Qatar denies support for Muslim Brotherhood Nusra Front Xinhua English news cn www xinhuanet com Archived from the original on 20 July 2020 Retrieved 18 July 2020 Abu Bakr Shishani Now Fighting Alongside Ajnad al Kavkaz in Latakia 9 February 2016 Archived from the original on 5 June 2019 Retrieved 31 July 2016 a b Former Guantanamo detainee killed while leading jihadist group in Syria Long War Journal 4 April 2014 Retrieved 21 May 2014 Aymenn Jawad Al Tamimi 11 May 2014 Key Updates on Iraq s Sunni Insurgent Groups Brown Moses Blog Retrieved 24 May 2018 Free Syrian Army commander praises Al Nusrah Front as brothers FDD s Long War Journal www longwarjournal org 30 March 2013 من هي جبهة النصرة الجهادية التي تقاتل مع الجيش السوري الحر مراقبون فرانس 24 13 December 2012 Syria Update January 6 12 2015 Institute for the Study of War 13 January 2015 Mortada Radwan 19 May 2014 Hezbollah fighters and the jihadis Mad drugged homicidal and hungry al Akhbar English Archived from the original on 7 July 2014 Retrieved 9 June 2014 Kata ib Sayyid al Shuhada Mapping Militant Organizations web stanford edu صفحه مورد نظر یافت نشد www alalamtv net Archived from the original on 18 May 2020 Retrieved 19 November 2019 Jabhat al Nusra launches war against IS in Qalamoun CNN 15 May 2015 Archived from the original on 14 May 2015 Retrieved 15 May 2015 Jabhat al Nusra IS clash in Daraa 16 December 2014 Archived from the original on 26 January 2015 Retrieved 24 May 2018 Rebels fight ISIS linked group near Israeli occupied Golan AFP 28 April 2015 Retrieved 9 May 2015 Al Qaeda defeats Syrian moderate rebels in Idlib ARA News 2 November 2014 Archived from the original on 2 November 2014 Retrieved 12 November 2014 Jabhat al Nusra looks for battlefield breakout As Safir 29 March 2015 Archived from the original on 31 March 2015 Retrieved 29 March 2015 a b c d e f g h i j Jabhat al Nusra A Strategic Briefing PDF Quilliam Foundation 8 January 2013 Archived from the original PDF on 22 July 2014 Retrieved 22 August 2014 a b c d Ignatius David 30 November 2012 Al Qaeda affiliate playing larger role in Syria rebellion The Washington Post Archived from the original on 9 June 2018 Retrieved 28 August 2015 Terrorist Designations of the al Nusrah Front as an Alias for al Qa ida in Iraq U S Department of State Archived from the original on 4 February 2017 Retrieved 8 June 2018 a b R Green 25 November 2013 Al Qaeda Upgrades Its Presence in Syria Middle East Media Research Institute Archived from the original on 1 February 2017 Retrieved 24 August 2015 a b Zawahiri disbands main Qaeda faction in Syria Agence France Presse 8 November 2013 Archived from the original on 9 November 2013 Hubbard Ben 1 October 2015 A Look at the Army of Conquest a Prominent Rebel Alliance in Syria The New York Times Archived from the original on 4 October 2015 Retrieved 9 June 2018 a b Syrian Nusra Front announces split from al Qaeda BBC News 28 July 2016 Archived from the original on 30 July 2016 Retrieved 28 July 2016 Al Nusra chief in Syria announces break with al Qaeda France24 28 July 2016 Archived from the original on 14 August 2022 a b c Lister Charles February 2018 How al Qa ida Lost Control of its Syrian Affiliate The Inside Story CTC Sentinel 11 2 Archived from the original on 4 May 2022 via CTC Joscelyn Thomas 28 January 2017 Al Qaeda and allies announce new entity in Syria Long War Journal Archived from the original on 28 January 2017 Retrieved 9 June 2018 Joscelyn Thomas 10 February 2017 Hay at Tahrir al Sham leader calls for unity in Syrian insurgency Long War Journal Archived from the original on 16 February 2017 Retrieved 11 February 2017 Joscelyn Thomas 4 March 2018 Jihadists form Guardians of the Religion organization in Syria Long War Journal Archived from the original on 1 February 2022 Rewards for Justice Reward Offer for Information on Senior Leaders of Hurras al Din United States Department of State Retrieved 17 December 2022 a b c d Charles Lister 24 July 2016 Profiling Jabhat al Nusra PDF The Brookings Project on U S Relations with the Islamic World New enemies across Syrian border Haaretz August 2014 Retrieved 24 May 2018 The Syrian rebel groups pulling in foreign fighters BBC News 2013 Retrieved 24 May 2018 al Khatieb Mohammed July 2014 Jabhat al Nusra IS compete for foreign fighters Al Monitor Archived from the original on 19 October 2017 Retrieved 24 May 2018 Al Nusra Front not yet dead as its emir devises Islamic Emirate of the Levant al akhbar July 2014 Archived from the original on 22 July 2014 Retrieved 24 May 2018 a b c d e Sherlock Ruth 2 December 2012 Inside Jabhat al Nusra the most extreme wing of Syria s struggle The Daily Telegraph London Archived from the original on 12 January 2022 Retrieved 2 December 2012 a b Profile Syria s al Nusra Front BBC News 15 May 2012 Retrieved 31 July 2012 a b Nusra leader No end to conflict with ISIL in Syria Al Jazeera 4 June 2015 Retrieved 5 June 2015 Hassan Hassan 4 March 2014 A jihadist blueprint for hearts and minds is gaining traction in Syria The National Archived from the original on 6 March 2014 Retrieved 5 March 2014 Hubbard Ben 9 June 2015 Al Qaeda Tries a New Tactic to Keep Power Sharing It The New York Times Retrieved 10 June 2015 Cooperating with others could also give Al Qaeda a long term advantage in its competition with the extremists of the Islamic State analysts said Civilians living in Nusra Front areas too say the group has built local support refraining from imposing Shariah when residents resisted a b c d e Lister Charles 31 May 2015 An Internal Struggle Al Qaeda s Syrian Affiliate Is Grappling With Its Identity Huffington Post Retrieved 27 August 2015 Joscelyn Thomas 25 October 2015 Al Qaeda appears moderate compared to Islamic State veteran jihadist says Long War Journal Joscelyn Thomas 26 October 2015 A rare interview with an experienced Al Qaeda commander shows how the group is using ISIS to make itself look moderate Business Insider Joscelyn Thomas 5 June 2015 The Al Nusrah Front s inherited jihad Long War Journal Joscelyn Thomas 20 July 2015 Officials from Al Nusrah Front Ahrar al Sham vow to continue fight against Islamic State Long War Journal JOSCELYN THOMAS 9 February 2015 Al Qaeda Uses ISIS to Try to Present Itself as Respectable Even Moderate the weekly Standard Joscelyn Thomas 29 September 2015 US counterterrorism efforts in Syria A winning strategy Long War Journal Number of ISIS defectors growing disillusioned with killing fellow Muslims Study The Straits Times London Agence France Presse 21 September 2015 Archived from the original on 25 September 2015 Joscelyn Thomas 29 June 2015 Al Nusrah Front celebrates 9 11 attacks in new video Long War Journal Joscelyn Thomas 2 November 2015 Al Qaeda chief calls for jihadist unity to liberate Jerusalem Long War Journal Joscelyn Thomas 13 September 2015 Zawahiri calls for jihadist unity encourages attacks in West Long War Journal Syria s Nusra Front backs Paris attacks despite opposition to Islamic State Middle East Eye Retrieved 28 November 2015 Syria and Islamist groups guilty of war crimes YPG cleared UN report Kom News 15 March 2017 Archived from the original on 17 March 2017 Retrieved 16 March 2017 Syria Abductions torture and summary killings at the hands of armed groups Amnesty International 5 July 2016 Chivers C J 5 September 2013 Brutality of Syrian Rebels Posing Dilemma in West The New York Times Retrieved 5 September 2013 Gartenstein Ross Daveed Al Tamimi Aymenn Jawad 19 November 2015 Al Nusra s Rebranding and What It Means for Syria Foreign Affairs yalibnan Al Qaeda forces Druze of Idlib Syria to destroy their shrines and convert yalibnan com Aymenn Jawad Al Tamimi 6 October 2015 Additional Notes on the Druze of Jabal al Summaq Aymenn Jawad Al Tamimi Syria Comment Archives The Plight of Syria s Druze Minority and U S Options Syria Comment Syria Comment Archived from the original on 4 October 2015 Retrieved 16 October 2015 Elusive Al Qaeda leader in Syria stays in shadows The Times of Israel Retrieved 13 January 2017 Al Qaeda leader in Syria speaks to Al Jazeera Al Jazeera 19 December 2013 Retrieved 2 August 2014 a b c Who s who in the Nusra Front al Araby 15 December 2014 Retrieved 2 June 2015 The Formation of Hay at Tahrir al Sham and Wider Tensions in the Syrian Insurgency Combating Terrorism Center at West Point 22 February 2017 Archived from the original on 11 April 2017 Retrieved 23 February 2017 a b California Arrest Underscores Ongoing Concern Over Americans Joining Al Qaeda Abroad Access ADL Anti Defamation League Archived from the original on 18 October 2013 Retrieved 16 October 2013 a b North Carolina Arrest Marks 6th American in 2013 Associated With Al Qaeda in Syria Access ADL Anti Defamation League Archived from the original on 13 November 2013 Retrieved 13 November 2013 Robert Patrick 9 April 2017 funding case hope to prove St Louis man was lawful combatant St Louis Post Dispatch Seamus Hughes deputy director of George Washington University s Program on Extremism has researched Pazara s activities and called the defense motion a very novel but uphill battle Roggio Bill Weiss Caleb 29 December 2015 Uzbek group in Syria trains children for jihad Long War Journal Foundation for Defense of Democracies Weiss Caleb 30 April 2015 Turkistan Islamic Party had significant role in recent Idlib offensive Long War Journal Foundation for Defense of Democracies Everything You Need To Know About the New Nusra Front Time 28 July 2016 a b Karouny Mariam 4 March 2015 Insight Syria s Nusra Front may leave Qaeda to form new entity Reuters Retrieved 30 August 2015 a b c Qaeda in Syria denies plan to break away Yahoo News AFP 9 March 2015 Retrieved 30 August 2015 a b c Dettmer Jamie 4 May 2015 SYRIA S REBELS ON WINNING STREAK IN ALLIANCE WITH AL QAEDA The Daily Beast Retrieved 4 May 2015 I think it will happen soon says Muhamed Nabih Osman who oversees a charitable association for former Assad prisoners You have to understand that al Nusra consists of two very different parts and that one part mostly local fighters are not interested in global jihad But local fighters who likely make up 80 percent of al Nusra have been opposed to deal making with ISIS and have been critical of the harsh governance methods used by some of their pro ISIS comrades in territory controlled by al Nusra a b Egyptian al Qaeda leader killed by US drone strike in Idlib Syria Business Insider Retrieved 13 January 2017 Analysis Al Nusrah Front rebrands itself as Jabhat Fath Al Sham The Long War Journal 28 July 2016 Retrieved 29 July 2016 Syrian branch of Al Qaeda rebrands in effort to escape foreign air strikes ABC News 29 July 2016 a b c d Nashashibi Sharif 7 August 2016 The ramifications of the Nusra s split from al Qaeda Al Jazeera Retrieved 10 December 2016 a b Wright Robin 12 December 2016 After the Islamic State The New Yorker Retrieved 9 December 2016 Karouny Mariam 26 September 2014 Insight U S led strikes pressure al Qaeda s Syria group to join with Islamic State Reuters Retrieved 19 October 2014 Nusra leader Our mission is to defeat Syrian regime Al Jazeera 28 May 2015 Retrieved 6 June 2015 a b c d e f g Abouzeid Rania 23 June 2014 The Jihad Next Door Politico Retrieved 3 September 2018 Jihadists weapons moving from Iraq to Syria Agence France Presse 11 February 2012 Retrieved 3 June 2015 Karam Zeina 6 July 2012 Iraq Al Qaeda migrates to Syria Associated Press a b c With wary eye Syrian rebels welcome Islamists into their ranks The Times of Israel 25 October 2012 Retrieved 28 November 2012 a b Syria Conflict Rebels Army Battle Over Taftanaz Airbase The Huffington Post 3 November 2012 Archived from the original on 5 November 2012 Retrieved 7 May 2013 a b U S Places Militant Syrian Rebel Group on List of Terrorist Organizations The New York Times 10 December 2012 Retrieved 4 March 2015 Bill Roggio 4 August 2012 Al Nusrah Front conducts joint operation with Free Syrian Army Longwarjournal org Retrieved 3 June 2015 Syria revolt attracts motley foreign jihadi corps Agence France Presse 18 August 2012 Retrieved 3 June 2015 Islamist groups gaining prominence in Syria fight USA Today 14 December 2012 Retrieved 14 December 2012 Syrian rebels defy US and pledge allegiance to jihadi group The Telegraph London 10 December 2012 Archived from the original on 12 January 2022 Retrieved 14 December 2012 Syrian protesters slam U S blacklisting of jihadist group Daily Star Agence France Presse 14 December 2012 Retrieved 26 August 2015 For newly recognized Syrian rebel coalition a first dispute with US The Christian Science Monitor 12 December 2012 Retrieved 26 August 2015 Islamist group post video claiming Syria attacks Archived 19 October 2017 at the Wayback Machine NOW 29 February 2012 Retrieved 27 August 2015 Unknown Islamist group claims suicide attacks in Syria Al Arabiya 29 February 2012 Archived from the original on 30 March 2012 Retrieved 25 March 2012 a b Bill Roggio 26 February 2012 Al Nusrah Front claims suicide attack in Syria The Long War Journal Retrieved 25 March 2012 Islamist group claims Syria bombs to avenge Sunnis Al Arabiya 21 March 2012 Archived from the original on 23 March 2012 Retrieved 23 March 2012 Jihadist group claim responsibility for Damascus blasts ITV News 12 May 2012 Retrieved 12 May 2012 Jihadist group denies claiming Damascus bombings Dawn Agence France Presse 15 May 2012 Archived from the original on 19 July 2012 Retrieved 7 May 2013 Gladstone Rick 30 May 2012 U S Envoy Sees Grim Outcome for Syria The New York Times Retrieved 11 June 2013 Militant group claims killing of 13 in Syria Reuters 5 June 2012 Retrieved 11 June 2012 Terrorist Al Ayesh Who Supervised Rigging Car Bombs Detonated in Damascus Killed Archived from the original on 31 October 2012 Retrieved 24 October 2014 Authorities Clash with Terrorists in Aleppo Kill Prominent Member of Archived from the original on 29 November 2012 Seven killed in attack on Syrian TV station Mail amp Guardian 27 June 2012 Retrieved 7 May 2013 Jihadists claim Syria attacks Associated Press 4 July 2012 Archived from the original on 8 November 2013 Retrieved 15 November 2013 Syrian TV presenter executed Doha Freedom Centre dc4mf org 5 August 2012 Retrieved 27 August 2015 Syrian TV presenter Mohammad al Saeed has been executed by Islamist armed group Al Nusra says rights group Al Jazeera 4 August 2012 Archived from the original on 4 March 2016 Retrieved 7 May 2013 Militant group Al Nusra claim suicide bombings in Aleppo Reuters 4 October 2012 Retrieved 8 October 2012 Militant group Al Nusra claim suicide bombings in Aleppo Reuters 4 October 2012 Retrieved 3 June 2015 Sada el Balad El balad com 3 October 2012 Archived from the original on 29 November 2014 Retrieved 7 May 2013 ABC News Dozens killed in Aleppo bomb blasts Australian Broadcasting Corporation 3 October 2012 Retrieved 7 May 2013 Albert Aji Zeina Karam 3 October 2012 Syrian official 27 killed in Aleppo bombings Associated Press Retrieved 5 January 2014 Militant group says was behind Aleppo air defense base assault Reuters 20 October 2012 Retrieved 7 May 2013 Syria most rebels agree to four day truce Afr com 25 October 2012 Retrieved 7 May 2013 Syrian rebels kill 28 soldiers as fighting continues The Jordan Times 1 November 2012 Archived from the original on 28 November 2012 Retrieved 7 May 2013 Matthew Weaver 2 November 2012 Syria conflict rebel war crime caught on video The Guardian London Retrieved 7 May 2013 At least 50 pro Assad forces killed in Syria suicide bombing activists say Haaretz 5 November 2012 Retrieved 5 November 2012 Karouny Mariam 5 November 2012 Suicide bomber kills 50 Syrian security men opposition Reuters Retrieved 7 May 2013 Syria secures chemical weapons stockpile Al Jazeera 23 December 2012 Retrieved 29 December 2012 Syrian rebels push offensive for major airport Ynet 18 February 2013 Retrieved 11 June 2013 Priest Beheaded on Video By Syrian Jihadists Bears No Relation To Death of Father Francois Murad Correction International Business Times 2 July 2013 Retrieved 21 January 2014 Suicide bombers kill 14 in Damascus 11 June 2013 Retrieved 3 June 2015 Barnard Anne Saad Hwaida 9 March 2014 Nuns Released by Syrians After Three Month Ordeal The New York Times Free Syrian Army rebels defect to Islamist group Jabhat al Nusra The Guardian London 8 May 2013 Al Nusra Front Syria s Top Islamist Militia Wilson Centre 9 January 2017 Tracey Shelton Syria One on one with the leader of Jabhat al Nusra GlobalPost 4 March 2013 The Structure and Organization of the Syrian Opposition Center for American Progress 14 May 2013 Retrieved 5 January 2022 Competition among Islamists The Economist 20 July 2013 Ariel Ben Solomon AL QAIDA LINKED GROUP DOUBLES SIZE IN SYRIA Jerusalem Post 28 March 2013 Qaeda in Iraq confirms Syria s Nusra is part of network Agence France Presse 9 April 2013 Archived from the original on 13 May 2013 Retrieved 9 April 2013 a b ISI Confirms That Jabhat Al Nusra Is Its Extension in Syria Declares Islamic State of Iraq And Al Sham As New Name of Merged Group MEMRI 8 April 2013 Archived from the original on 6 October 2014 Retrieved 10 April 2013 Al Nusra Commits to al Qaeda Deny Iraq Branch Merger Agence France Presse 10 April 2013 Retrieved 18 May 2013 Spencer Richard 19 May 2013 Syria Jabhat al Nusra split after leader s pledge of support for al Qaeda The Telegraph London Archived from the original on 12 January 2022 Retrieved 21 May 2013 a b Iraqi al Qaeda chief rejects Zawahiri orders Al Jazeera 15 June 2013 Retrieved 15 June 2013 Insight Syria s Nusra Front eclipsed by Iraq based al Qaeda Reuters 17 May 2013 Retrieved 18 May 2013 Qaeda chief annuls Syrian Iraqi jihad merger Al Jazeera 9 June 2013 Retrieved 10 June 2013 Factbox Syria s rebel groups Reuters 9 January 2014 Retrieved 9 January 2014 Liz Sly 3 February 2014 Al Qaeda disavows any ties with radical Islamist ISIS group in Syria Iraq The Washington Post Retrieved 27 August 2015 Syria al Nusra Front declares war on ISIS Al Akhbar English 26 February 2014 Archived from the original on 28 January 2015 Retrieved 18 August 2014 Al Nusra chief killed by rivals in Syria 16 April 2014 Archived from the original on 24 July 2015 Retrieved 3 June 2015 Hundreds killed as ISIL insurgents gain ground in east Syria Reuters 10 June 2014 Retrieved 12 July 2014 Al Qaeda leaves east Syria strongholds to Islamic State monitor Reuters 3 July 2014 Retrieved 24 October 2014 Al Qaeda s rise in southern Syrian pushes moderate rebels to sideline Retrieved 24 October 2014 Will the Emirate of the Levant be announced on Eid al Fitr Archived from the original on 13 November 2014 Retrieved 24 October 2014 Jabhat al Nusra IS compete for foreign fighters Al Monitor 18 July 2014 Archived from the original on 19 October 2017 Retrieved 24 October 2014 Rebels Call on Al Nusra Front to Rethink Establishing its Emirat Syrian National Coalition of Syrian Revolution and Opposition Forces Archived from the original on 19 October 2017 Retrieved 24 October 2014 UN official defends Indian general in Syrian peacekeeping controversy Zee News IANS 4 September 2014 Retrieved 13 September 2014 Kais Roi Qaeda rebels UN Peacekeepers to be judged according to God Ynetnews 5 September 2014 5 September 2014 UN soldiers seized by rebels in Golan Heights Al Jazeera Retrieved 13 September 2014 UN soldiers escape siege by Syria rebels Al Jazeera 31 August 2014 Retrieved 13 September 2014 Irish troops evacuate Filipino peacekeepers in Syria The Irish Times 30 August 2014 Retrieved 13 September 2014 UN official defends Indian general in Syrian peacekeeping controversy 4 September 2014 Retrieved 13 September 2014 Duterte Shoot Undof chief in the head Inquirer Retrieved 13 September 2014 Syria conflict Rebels release Fijian UN peacekeepers BBC News Retrieved 13 September 2014 Islamic State rival Al Nusra Front each strengthen grip on Syria Los Angeles Times 28 November 2014 Retrieved 6 December 2014 U S backed Syria rebels routed by fighters linked to al Qaeda The Washington Post 1 November 2014 Retrieved 8 December 2014 Syrian civil war Jabhat al Nusra s massacre of Druze villagers shows they re just as nasty as Isis Independent Archived from the original on 13 June 2015 Retrieved 7 July 2015 For Syria s Druze survival hinges on choosing the right ally Al Jazeera Retrieved 7 July 2015 Bounty For Bashar Assad Al Qaeda Nusra Front Offers 3 4M For Syrian President 2 3M For Hezbollah s Hassan Nasrallah Leader Says International Business Times 13 October 2015 Nusra Front issues bounties for Assad Nasrallah Al Arabiya 13 October 2015 Moussa Jenan jenanmoussa 1 December 2015 2days ago masked men cut off heads of 2Syrian rebels in Jabal Zawiya north Syria I m not posting vid but J N Violation has horror video gt Tweet Retrieved 24 December 2020 via Twitter Moussa Jenan jenanmoussa 1 December 2015 Acc to vid 2beheaded men were accused of belonging to rebel group Jamal Marouf which was destroyed by Nusra Al Qaeda in 2014 gt akhbar Tweet Retrieved 24 December 2020 via Twitter الجزيرة مباشر ajmubasher 1 December 2015 شاهد رد فعل مقاتلي جبهة النصرة مع بدء تنفيذ صفقة تبادل الأسرى مباشر لبنان عرسال t co 1Si8ZcjOwC Tweet in Arabic Retrieved 24 December 2020 via Twitter Moussa Jenan jenanmoussa 1 December 2015 Watch video of AlQaeda fighters inside Lebanon celebrating prisoner swap AlJazeera is the exclusive broadcaster t co zPKa2arjMu Tweet Retrieved 24 December 2020 via Twitter a b Why Assad is losing Foreign Policy 5 May 2015 Retrieved 31 August 2015 Syria crisis Spooked by rebel gains Jordan doubles down on Islamic State The Christian Science Monitor 4 May 2015 Retrieved 4 May 2015 إذاعة النور الأخبار أحرار الشام تطرد مسلحي النصرة من حارم واشتباكات بينهما في مدينة سلقين إذاعة النور alnour com lb Archived from the original on 30 January 2016 Retrieved 25 January 2016 Jund al Aqsa leaders join Al Nusrah Front The Long War Journal Retrieved 9 April 2016 2 Damascus based jihadist groups swear allegiance to Al Nusrah Front The Long War Journal 22 February 2016 khaled 25 February 2016 جبهة النصرة تخلي مقارها في سرمدا الحدودية مع تركيا منعا لاستخدامها كذريعة لقصف البلدة المرصد السورى لحقوق الإنسان Islam Army Sheikh Zahran Alloush Jabhat al Nusra are our Brothers YouTube 6 April 2015 Retrieved 19 August 2015 Syria war Who are Jabhat Fateh al Sham BBC News 1 August 2016 a b Russia calls on all states to put Islamic State Jabhat al Nusra on terrorist lists Russian News Agency TASS Archived from the original on 29 May 2016 Retrieved 29 December 2014 Russia launches media offensive on Syria bombing BBC News 1 October 2015 Al Qaeda Affiliate Issues Bounty for Capture of Russian Soldiers in Syria Newsweek 2 October 2015 Syria s Russian Jihadists Vow To Slaughter Putin s Invading Army vocativ com Archived from the original on 17 October 2015 Retrieved 26 October 2015 Russian Embassy shelled in Syria as insurgents hit back Yahoo News 13 October 2015 Archived from the original on 19 October 2015 Retrieved 14 October 2015 a b Syria s Nusra Front leader urges wider attacks on Assad s Alawite areas to avenge Russian bombing The Daily Telegraph 13 October 2015 Archived from the original on 12 January 2022 Head of al Qaeda s Syrian branch threatens Russia in audio message The Long War Journal Retrieved 16 October 2015 After shooting down Russian jet what s next for Turkey Al Monitor 26 November 2015 Archived from the original on 31 December 2015 Retrieved 5 December 2015 Al Nusra leader Jolani announces split from al Qaeda al Jazeera 29 July 2016 Retrieved 10 December 2016 a b Analysis Al Nusrah Front rebrands itself as Jabhat Fath Al Sham FDD s Long War Journal Retrieved 13 January 2017 US drone strike kills prominent Turkish al Qaeda leader ARA News 3 November 2016 Archived from the original on 15 December 2017 Retrieved 13 January 2017 Al Nusra Front Has Dissociated from Al Qaeda Says Abu Muhammad al Julani International Business Times 12 February 2015 Retrieved 27 August 2015 Butler Desmond 7 May 2015 Turkey Officials Confirm Pact With Saudi Arabia To Help Rebels Fighting Syria s Assad Huffington Post AP Archived from the original on 8 May 2015 Retrieved 27 August 2015 Turkish officials say they distinguish between international jihadist groups and others with more localized aims They place al Sham in the latter category Moreover they hope to use al Sham s rise to put pressure on Nusra to renounce its ties to al Qaida and open itself to outside help Nusra Front split from al Qaeda imminent sources claim Middle East Eye 25 July 2016 Schmitt Eric 15 May 2016 Al Qaeda Turns to Syria With a Plan to Challenge ISIS The New York Times Archived from the original on 28 February 2017 Retrieved 19 December 2022 By Cameron Glenn The Nusra Front Al Qaeda s Affiliate in Syria The Wilson Centre 17 June 2016 Lidia Kelly Russia announces daily ceasefires in Syria s Aleppo to let in aid Reuters 10 August 2016 BBC Syria war Who are Jabhat Fateh al Sham 1 August 2016 US journalist who escaped Jabhat Fateh Al Sham captivity lands in Turkey jail for violating military zone International Business Times 1 September 2016 Bilal Abdul Kareem 29 January 2017 OGN Tahreer Sham Who won in this merger OGN TV Archived from the original on 17 November 2021 Hezbollah kills Jabhat Fateh al Sham militants on Lebanese border Al Bawaba 1 September 2016 Statement by Pentagon Press Secretary Peter Cook on Strike against al Qaida Leader US Department of Defense 3 October 2016 US backed rebels defect to al Qaeda branch in Syria Archived 24 August 2017 at the Wayback Machine Al Masdar News 5 October 2016 جيش إدلب الحر free idleb army Twitter Syria rebels capture key Idlib army bases Al Jazeera English 15 December 2014 Retrieved 31 August 2015 Syria conflict Rebels seize key Idlib airbase BBC News 9 September 2015 Retrieved 19 September 2015 Monitors Airstrike in Syria Kills Extremist Leaders Near Turkish Border VOA News 2 January 2017 Orton Kyle 20 January 2017 The Coalition Strikes Down Al Qaeda s Leaders in Syria The Syrian Intifada Ex Qaeda affiliate leaders among 25 dead in Syria strike AFP 4 January 2017 Weiss Caleb Weissenberg7 12 February 2017 Ansar Jihad reports he fought in Afghanistan in Tora Bora before fleeing to Pakistan and being captured by Pakistani intel Tweet Retrieved 24 December 2020 via Twitter Weiss Caleb 14 February 2017 Uighur jihadist fought in Afghanistan killed in Syria Long War Journal Foundation for Defense of Democracies Weiss Caleb Weissenberg7 12 February 2017 In 2011 he was freed and returned to Afghanistan and fought with the AQ linked Islamic Jihad Union before going to Syria Tweet Retrieved 24 December 2020 via Twitter Joscelyn Thomas 5 January 2017 Pentagon Airstrikes kill 20 or more al Qaeda fighters in northern Syria Long War Journal Foundation for Defense of Democracies Weiss Caleb Weissenberg7 12 February 2017 See this piece from thomasjoscelyn for more information on Turkistani s JFS role t co xYblBBNu0S Tweet Retrieved 24 December 2020 via Twitter Weiss Caleb Weissenberg7 12 February 2017 When he was killed last month in a US drone strike jihadis reported he was a senior figure of JFS now Tahrir al Sham Syria Tweet Retrieved 24 December 2020 via Twitter Two days after the killing of jihadist leaders airstrikes by unknown warplanes again near Sarmada Syrian Observatory for Human Rights 3 January 2017 Long War Journal LongWarJournal 14 February 2017 Uighur jihadist fought in Afghanistan killed in Syria t co tnbHsn2XL4 t co MsKmj7wll7 Tweet Retrieved 24 December 2020 via Twitter Weiss Caleb Weissenberg7 14 February 2017 Profile of Abu Omar al Turkistani who was killed in a US drone strike in Syria last month t co w0yjkZCNsU Tweet Retrieved 24 December 2020 via Twitter Pantucci Raffaello raffpantucci 14 February 2017 Uighur jihadist fought in Afghanistan killed in Syria a profile of Abu Umar al Turkistani t co pY5nu0ffsE Tweet Retrieved 24 December 2020 via Twitter Weiss Caleb Weissenberg7 12 February 2017 Last month Ansar Jihad a largely Central Asian al Qaeda linked group in Syria released a bio for its killed military emir t co 3WmDErF6Lu Tweet Retrieved 24 December 2020 via Twitter Weiss Caleb Weissenberg7 16 February 2017 Some foreign fighters within the al Qaeda linked Islamic Jihad Union in Afghanistan Most are Central Asians but likely some Europeans too t co ts9lsHAsjp Tweet Retrieved 24 December 2020 via Twitter a b US air strikes kill more than 100 al Qaeda militants at training camp in Syria 22 January 2017 U S Airstrike Kills More Than 100 al Qaida Fighters in Syria US Department of Defense 20 January 2017 Al Tamimi Aymenn ajaltamimi 21 January 2017 Saudi jihadi cleric in Syria Sheikh Muheisseni is very upset re lack of condolences from factions regarding latest U S strike on JFS camp t co DDkmRy03K9 Tweet Retrieved 24 December 2020 via Twitter Al Maqalaat Pubs on Twitter Al Tamimi Aymenn ajaltamimi 21 January 2017 Syria Four Ahrar al Sham battalions reportedly defect to Jabhat Fatah al Sham t co gbsbkI66gw Tweet Retrieved 24 December 2020 via Twitter New statement from Ḥizb al Islami al Turkistani in Bilad al Sham Condolences on the Martyrdom of the Constellation of Heroes Jihadology 22 January 2017 a b Al Qaeda and allies announce new entity in Syria FDD s Long War Journal FDD s Long War Journal 28 January 2017 Retrieved 29 January 2017 David Blair and Richard Spencer 20 September 2014 How Qatar is funding the rise of Islamist extremists Telegraph Retrieved 28 November 2015 How Qatar seized control of the Syrian revolution Financial Times 17 May 2013 Gulf allies and Army of Conquest Al Ahram Weekly 28 May 2015 permanent dead link Gulf crisis seen widening split in Syria rebellion Reuters Joe Biden Is the Only Honest Man in Washington Foreign Policy 7 October 2014 Kim Sengupta 12 May 2015 Turkey and Saudi Arabia alarm the West by backing Islamist extremists the Americans had bombed in Syria The Independent Archived from the original on 6 May 2022 American and International Militants Drawn to Syria Anti Defamation League Ernesto Londono and Greg Miller 11 September 2013 CIA begins weapons delivery to Syrian rebels The Washington Post The Washington Post Retrieved 18 August 2014 U S has secretly provided arms training to Syria rebels since 2012 Los Angeles Times 21 June 2013 Lisa Lundquist 27 April 2014 The shadowy flow of US weapons into Syria Longwarjournal org Retrieved 3 June 2015 Karouny Mariam 22 September 2015 Resilient insurgent group Ahrar al Sham to play bigger role in Syria Reuters BEIRUT US trained Syria fighters gave equipment to Nusra Front Al Jazeera Retrieved 28 November 2015 Report Israel treating al Qaida fighters wounded in Syria civil war Jerusalem Post 15 March 2015 Ex Mossad head on Israel medical aid to al Nusra Front Al Jazeera 31 May 2016 IDF denies ties between Israel Jabhat al Nusra Al Monitor 24 June 2015 Retrieved 19 February 2018 Tsurkov Elizabeth Elizrael 25 January 2018 Rafeed is also home to Jabhat al Nusra which kidnapped amp apparently assassinated collaborators with Israel and ISIS cells Anyone familiar with southern Syria would know this Tweet via Twitter Krever Mick 25 September 2014 Qatar s Emir We don t fund terrorists CNN com Retrieved 28 July 2016 a b c CATF Reports Funding Al Nusra Through Ransom Qatar and the Myth of Humanitarian Principle Consortium Against Terrorist Finance Stopterrorfinance org Archived from the original on 9 October 2017 Retrieved 28 July 2016 Kimberly Kagan The Smart and Right Thing in Syria Hoover Institute Retrieved 20 December 2018 The Case Against Qatar Foreign Policy 30 September 2014 Goldman Adam DeYoung Karen 25 August 2014 Qatar played now familiar role in helping to broker U S hostage s release via www washingtonpost com a b c How Qatar Is Funding al Qaeda and Why That Could Help the U S The Fiscal Times 29 December 2015 Blair David 20 September 2014 How Qatar is funding the rise of Islamist extremists Telegraph Qatar s Support of Islamists Alienates Allies Near and Far The New York Times 8 September 2014 Andrew Norfolk 4 June 2021 Qatar funnelled millions of dollars to Nusra Front terrorists in Syria The Times Chapman Geoffrey 2017 Islamic State and Al Nusra Perspectives on Terrorism 11 6 112 121 JSTOR 26295960 Deborah E Bloom Syria rebel groups recruit child soldiers says rights watchdog CNN Retrieved 27 June 2014 Syria Al Nusra Jihadists Capture US TOW Anti Tank Missiles from Moderate Rebels International Business Times 3 November 2014 Mapping Militant Organizations Hay at Tahrir al Sham Formerly Jabhat al Nusra Stanford University 14 August 2017 Paraszczuk Joanna 2 October 2014 Wolf or Khorasan Who Was Jabhat al Nusra s Abu Yusuf al Turki Chechens in Syria Archived from the original on 12 June 2018 Retrieved 10 October 2014 a b McDonnell Patrick J 13 September 2013 Syrian rebel groups sought sarin gas material Turkish prosecutors say Los Angeles Times Retrieved 22 November 2013 Report Police foil al Nusra bomb attack planned for Adana Today s Zaman 30 May 2013 Retrieved 19 June 2013 Burch Jonathon 30 May 2013 Turkey arrests 12 in raids on terrorist organization Reuters Retrieved 8 August 2013 No Chemical Arms Seized from Syrian Militants Turkish Envoy Says Global Security Newswire 5 July 2013 Retrieved 12 September 2013 Aydinlik 12 September 2013 Al Nusra Linked to Chemical Production in Turkey Archived 20 September 2013 at the Wayback Machine Hurriyet Daily News 12 September 2013 Syrian rebel groups sought to buy materials for chemical weapons prosecutors say Elusive figure of Syrian war dies with secrets in Turkey Al Monitor Independent trusted coverage of the Middle East 1 March 2021 Retrieved 18 October 2022 Turkey Syrian jailed for being member of terror group Anadolu Ajansi 29 December 2015 Retrieved 18 October 2022 Sarin gazi davasina 29 Aralik ta devam edilecek Anadolu Ajansi in Turkish 16 December 2015 Retrieved 18 October 2022 Gladstone Rick 30 May 2012 U S Envoy Sees Grim Outcome for Syria The New York Times Militant group claims killing of 13 in Syria Reuters 5 June 2012 Retrieved 27 October 2014 You Can Still See Their Blood Executions Unlawful Killings and Hostage Taking by Opposition Forces in Latakia Countryside Human Rights Watch 11 October 2013 Syria Massacre Nusra Front Fighters Reportedly Kill Women Children Elderly Men in Alawite Village The Huffington Post 12 September 2013 Retrieved 27 October 2014 Syria jihadists claim they killed Homs Alawites 15 September 2013 Retrieved 27 October 2014 Islamists kill 15 Alawite and Druze civilians in Syria activists Reuters 12 December 2013 Retrieved 27 October 2014 Syrian troops launch offensive after dozens killed 13 December 2013 Archived from the original on 6 October 2014 Retrieved 27 October 2014 Activists Al Qaeda affiliate kills 20 members of minority sect in Syria Fox News Archived from the original on 14 June 2015 Retrieved 29 June 2015 Leith Fadel 12 May 2016 Syrian opposition forces massacre kidnap 120 civilians in southern Hama Al Masdar News Retrieved 12 May 2016 Islamists agree to hand over corpses of civilians massacred in northern Homs Al Masdar News 24 May 2016 Retrieved 1 June 2016 The Jabhat Fath Al Sham were among the first to leave besieged Aleppo and the fate of those they arrested remains unknown Aleppo 24 17 December 2016 Archived from the original on 21 December 2016 Retrieved 17 December 2016 Jabhat al Nusra Australian National Security Nationalsecurity gov au Archived from the original on 21 September 2014 Retrieved 18 August 2014 UN blacklists Syria s al Nusra Front Al Jazeera 31 May 2013 Retrieved 2 September 2015 a b Turkey lists al Nusra Front as terrorist organization Hurriyet Daily News 3 June 2014 Retrieved 3 September 2015 Liste unique de gels Archived 4 July 2017 at the Wayback Machine Republique Francaise Tresor Direction Generale Sanctions financieres internationales Published 28 August 2015 Retrieved 3 September 2015 Click on liste consolidee de gel d avoirs then click on liste unique Nr 314 Al Nusrah Front translated Designated by the regulation European Union nr 583 2014 of 28 May 2014 Previously Al Nusrah was inscribed on the list between 30 May 2013 and 13 May 2014 in its quality of alias of Al Qaida in Iraq Category terrorism Rule Resolution 1989 Australian Government lists anti Assad Syrian group as terrorist organisation ABC News Australian Broadcasting Corporation Australian Broadcasting Corporation 29 June 2013 Retrieved 15 November 2013 List of Proscribed organisations UK government 27 March 2015 Retrieved 2 September 2015 Page 6 The Government laid an Order in July 2013 which provided that the al Nusrah Front ANF and Jabhat al Nusrah li ahl al Sham should be treated as alternative names for the organization which is already proscribed under the name Al Qa ida Britain bans Syria s al Qaida linked Nusra Front on terrorism grounds Fox News Channel 19 July 2013 Retrieved 15 November 2013 Public Safety Canada Currently listed entities Publicsafety gc ca 20 November 2014 Retrieved 3 September 2015 Government document PDF moha gov my Retrieved 13 May 2023 Saudi Arabia lists terrorist groups Xinhua English news cn Xinhua News Agency 8 March 2014 Archived from the original on 11 August 2014 Retrieved 18 August 2014 List of Designated individuals and organisations in New Zealand as terrorist entities police govt nz presumably 26 November 2014 Retrieved 2 September 2015 See page 135 associated with Al Qaeda page 151 Al Nusrah Front Listed on 14 May 2014 UAE to try nine for recruiting militants to fight in Syria agency Reuters 19 May 2014 Retrieved 18 August 2014 Dorian Jones 4 June 2014 Turkey Designates Al Nusra Front as a Terrorist Organization Voice of America Archived from the original on 14 October 2015 Retrieved 18 August 2014 Russia seeks UN ban on oil trade with terrorists in Syria En alalam ir 2 July 2014 Retrieved 18 August 2014 ヌスラ戦線 現 タハリール アル シャーム機構 HTS 国際テロリズム要覧 Web版 公安調査庁 www moj go jp Bahrain Terrorist List individuals entities www mofa gov bh KUDRYAVTSEVA Tatyana 5 April 2017 List of terrorist and extremist organizations banned in Kyrgyzstan 24 kg link, wikipedia, wiki, book, books, library,

article

, read, download, free, free download, mp3, video, mp4, 3gp, jpg, jpeg, gif, png, picture, music, song, movie, book, game, games.