\n** [[Salafi jihadism]] (popular until 2014){{cite journal |author=Ali El Yassir |date=23 August 2016 |title=The Ahrar al Sham Movement:Syria's Local Salafists |url=https://www.wilsoncenter.org/article/the-ahrar-al-sham-movement-syrias-local-salafists-0 |journal=[[Woodrow Wilson International Center for Scholars]] |quote=The movement unambiguously espoused a Salafi and Jihadi discourse when it was created,but it has also sought to differentiate itself from al Qaeda and ISIS’s Salafi-Jihadism. The group continued to describe itself as independent and stated that it was not an extension of any organization,party or group. Unlike al Qaeda and ISIS,Ahrar al Sham consistently stated its fight was limited to Syria.}}{{cite journal |date=13 October 2020 |title=Syrian Ahrar Al-Sham rebel group faces major internal mutiny |url=https://www.newarab.com/news/syrian-ahrar-al-sham-rebel-group-faces-major-internal-mutiny|journal=The New Arab|quote=Ahrar Al-Sham started as a Syrian Salafi jihadist group in late 2011,but shifted towards a somewhat more moderate rebel position after 2017.}}{{sfn|O'Bagy|2012|pp=6,27}}{{cite news |last=Heller |first=Sam |date=30 September 2015 |title=Ahrar al-Sham's Revisionist Jihadism |url=https://warontherocks.com/2015/09/ahrar-al-shams-revisionist-jihadism/ |work=War on the Rocks |access-date=28 January 2023}}\n** \"Revolutionary Salafism\"{{cite journal |last=Awad|first=Mokhtar|date=29 April 2016|title=Revolutionary Salafism:The Case of Ahrar Movement|url=https://www.hudson.org/national-security-defense/revolutionary-salafism-the-case-of-ahrar-movement |journal=Current Trends in Islamist Ideology|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20221206234705/https://www.hudson.org/national-security-defense/revolutionary-salafism-the-case-of-ahrar-movement |archive-date=6 December 2022}}and \"revisionist jihadism\"and (since 2014)\n[[Syrian nationalism]]{{small|(officially since 21 June 2017,unofficially before)}}{{cite web|url=http://aletihadpress.com/2017/06/21/%D8%A3%D8%AD%D8%Bsh1%D8%A7%D8%B1-%D8%A7%D9%84%D8%B4%D8%A7%D9%85-%D8%AA%D8%AD%D9%84%D9%84-%D8%AA%D8%A8%D9%86%D9%8A-%D8%B9%D9%84%D9%85-%D8%A7%D9%84%D8%AB%D9%88%D8%B1%D8%A9-%D9%83%D8%B1%D9%85%D8%B2-%D9%88/|title=أحرارالشامتحللتبنيعلمالثورةكرمزوتوقعاتبتبديلرايتهاإليهo|work=Al Etihad Press|date=21 June 2017}}{{Dead link|date=May 2019 |bot=InternetArchiveBot |fix-attempted=yes}}"},"clans":{"wt":""},"leaders":{"wt":"*[[Hassan Aboud]],[[nom de guerre]] ''Abu Abdullah al-Hamawi''{{cite magazine|url=https://foreignpolicy.com/articles/2012/10/15/holy_warriors |title=Holy Warriors |last=Lund|first=Aron|magazine=[[Foreign Policy]]|date=5 October 2012|access-date=26 December 2012}}{{cite magazine|url=http://mideast.foreignpolicy.com/posts/2013/06/24/the_crowning_of_the_syrian_islamic_front|title=The crowning of the Syrian Islamic Front|magazine=Foreign Policy|date=24 June 2013|access-date=27 June 2013|archive-date=7 December 2013|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20131207083011/http://mideast.foreignpolicy.com/posts/2013/06/24/the_crowning_of_the_syrian_islamic_front|url-status=dead}}{{KIA}}{{small|(leader,2011–2014)}}{{cite journal|url=http://dailystar.com.lb/News/Middle-East/2014/Sep-09/270137-blast-hits-top-meeting-of-islamist-group-in-syria-monitor.ashx#axzz3C64l1vY1|title=Suicide bombing kills head of Syrian rebel group|journal=The Daily Star|date=9 September 2014|access-date=9 September 2014|archive-date=9 April 2019|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190409143349/http://www.dailystar.com.lb/News/Middle-East/2014/Sep-09/270137-blast-hits-top-meeting-of-islamist-group-in-syria-monitor.ashx#axzz3C64l1vY1|url-status=dead}}{{cite news |url=https://www.economist.com/news/middle-east-and-africa/21582037-one-islamist-rebel-group-seems-have-overtaken-all-others-competition-among|title=Competition among Islamists|newspaper=[[The Economist]]|date=20 July 2013 |access-date=9 September 2014}}\n* [[Hashim al-Sheikh]],nom de guerre ''Abu Jaber Shaykh''{{small|(leader,2014–2015)}}{{cite web |url=http://www.aljazeera.com/news/middleeast/2014/09/syria-rebel-leader-killed-suicide-blast-201499181811320610.html |title=Syria rebels name slain leader's replacement|publisher=Al Jazeera English |date=10 September 2014|access-date=10 September 2014}}\n* [[Abu Yahia al-Hamawi]]{{small|(leader,2015–2016)}}{{cite web |url=http://www.joshualandis.com/blog/abu-yahia-al-hamawi-ahrar-al-shams-new-leader/ |title=Abu Yahia al-Hamawi,Ahrar al-Sham's New Leader |first=Aron |last=Lund |publisher=Syria Comment |date=12 September 2015 |access-date=17 September 2015 |archive-date=5 October 2018 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20181005104304/https://www.joshualandis.com/blog/abu-yahia-al-hamawi-ahrar-al-shams-new-leader/ |url-status=dead}}\n* Ali al-Omar,nom de guerre ''Abu Ammar al-Omar''{{small|(leader,2016–July 2017)}}{{cite web|url=https://www.zamanalwsl.net/news/76626.html|title=Commander-in-Chief of Ahrar Al-Sham appoints his deputies and a new leader for the northern sector|work=Zaman al-Wasl|date=4 February 2017}}\n* [[Hassan Soufan]],nom de guerre ''Abu al-Bara''{{small|(overall leader,31 July 2017–August 2018)}}{{cite web |url=https://www.newsdeeply.com/syria/articles/2017/08/03/why-one-of-syrias-biggest-rebel-groups-reordered-its-leadership |title=Why One of Syria's Biggest Rebel Groups Reordered Its Leadership|work=Syria Deeply|author=Hashem Osseiran|date=3 August 2017}}\n* Jaber Ali Basha{{small|(leader,August 2018–present;deputy leader,2017–2018)}}\n* Anas Abu Malek{{small|(deputy leader,2017–present)}}\n* Jamil Abu Abdul Rahman{{small|(northern sector commander,2017–present)}}"},"spokesman":{"wt":"Abu Yousef al-Mujajir{{small|(by 2016)}}{{cite news |url=http://en.zamanalwsl.net/news/article/16534 |title=Rebels,regime made prisoner swap in Aleppo:source |work=Zaman al-Wasl |date=21 June 2016 |access-date=21 November 2018}}"},"headquarters":{"wt":"Babsaqa,[[Idlib Governorate]],[[Syria]]"},"area":{"wt":"[[Syria]]"},"size":{"wt":"10,000–20,000 {{small|(July 2013)}} 16,000{{cite web |title=List of armed formations,which joined the ceasefire in the Syrian Arab Republic on 30 December 2016 |url=http://eng.mil.ru/en/news_page/country/more.htm?id=12107227|publisher=Ministry of Defence of the Russian Federation|access-date=30 December 2016}}{{small|(December 2016)}} 18,000–20,000 {{small|(March–June 2017)}}{{cite web|url=https://asiatimes.com/article/syrias-idlib-groomed-islamist-killing-ground/|title=Is Syria's Idlib being groomed as Islamist killing ground?|author=Sami Moubayed|work=[[Asia Times]]|date=29 January 2017}}\"''Last January,Idlib sank into a \"rebel civil war\"as fighting broke out between Jabhat al-Nusra and the Turkish-backed Ahrar al-Sham,a militia in the Syrian north that boasts of a powerbase of at least 20,000 fighters.''\"{{cite magazine|url=https://foreignpolicy.com/2017/03/15/al-qaeda-is-swallowing-the-syrian-opposition/|title=Al Qaeda Is Starting to Swallow the Syrian Opposition|author=Charles Lister|magazine=Foreign Policy|date=15 March 2017}}\"''HTS and Ahrar al-Sham are the most militarily powerful,with the former likely commanding 12,000 to 14,000 fighters and the latter closer to 18,000 to 20,000.\"''{{cite web|url=http://www.washingtoninstitute.org/uploads/Documents/pubs/PolicyFocus153-Zelin.pdf|title=How Al Qaeda survived drones,uprisings and the Islamic State|author=Aaron Y Zelin|publisher=Washington Institute for Near East Policy|date=June 2017|access-date=22 September 2017|archive-date=7 October 2020|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20201007172250/https://www.washingtoninstitute.org/uploads/Documents/pubs/PolicyFocus153-Zelin.pdf|url-status=dead}}''\"Overnight [after its January 2017 expansion],Ahrar al-Sham had gained approximately 8,000 additional fighters to supplement its already large membership of 12,000.\"''"},"partof":{"wt":"{{flagicon image|Logo of the Syrian Islamic Front.svg}}[[Syrian Islamic Front]]{{small|(2012–2013)}}{{cite web|url=http://www.washingtoninstitute.org/policy-analysis/view/the-syrian-islamic-front-a-new-extremist-force|title=The Syrian Islamic Front:A New Extremist Force|publisher=Washington Institute for Near East Policy|date=4 February 2013|access-date=23 March 2018}} {{flagicon image|Flag of the Islamic Front (Syria) (Black).svg}}[[Islamic Front (Syria)|Islamic Front]]{{small|(2013–2016)}}{{cite web|url=http://www.joshualandis.com/blog/profile-tajammu-alwiya-fajr-al-hurriya|title=Syria Comment »Archives The Dawn of Freedom Brigades:Analysis and Interview - Syria Comment|work=Syria Comment|access-date=23 May 2016|archive-date=10 June 2016|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160610044744/http://www.joshualandis.com/blog/profile-tajammu-alwiya-fajr-al-hurriya/|url-status=dead}}{{cite web |url=http://carnegieendowment.org/syriaincrisis/?fa=59471|title=Islamist Mergers in Syria:Ahrar al-Sham Swallows Suqour al-Sham|author=Aron Lund|publisher=Carnegie Endowment for International Peace |date=23 March 2015 |access-date=23 May 2016}}{{cite news|url=https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-middle-east-25053525 |title=Leading Syrian rebel groups form new Islamic Front|publisher=BBC|date=22 November 2013 |access-date=22 November 2013}} {{flagicon image|Flag of Mujahideen Shura Council (Syria).svg}}[[Mujahideen Shura Council (Syria)|Mujahideen Shura Council]] (2014–2015) {{flagicon image|Insignia of the Syrian Revolutionary Command Council.svg}}[[Syrian Revolutionary Command Council]] (2014–2015){{cite web |title=Syria's Ahrar al-Sham Leadership Wiped Out in Bombing |url=http://carnegieendowment.org/syriaincrisis/?fa=56581|publisher=Carnegie Endowment of International Peace |date=9 September 2014|access-date=10 September 2014}} {{flagicon image|Flag of the Unified Military Command of Eastern Ghouta.svg|border=no}}[[Unified Military Command of Eastern Ghouta]]{{small|(2014–2015)}}{{cite web |url=https://malcolmxtreme.files.wordpress.com/2014/08/ghouta-command-8-27-2014.png |format=PNG |title=Unified Military Command for Ghotta |website=Malcolmxtreme.files.wordpress.com |access-date=29 March 2016}}{{cite web|url=http://www.dailystar.com.lb/News/Middle-East/2014/Sep-30/272448-the-wars-of-the-eastern-ghouta-grind-on.ashx|title=The wars of the Eastern Ghouta grind on|work=The Daily Star Newspaper|access-date=12 June 2015|archive-date=4 August 2018|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180804063652/http://www.dailystar.com.lb/News/Middle-East/2014/Sep-30/272448-the-wars-of-the-eastern-ghouta-grind-on.ashx|url-status=dead}} {{flagicon image|Emblem of the Jaish al-Fatah.svg|border=no}}[[Army of Conquest]]{{small|(2015–2017)}}{{cite web|url=http://syriadirect.org/main/30-reports/1942-rebels-launch-full-on-assault-of-idlib-city|publisher=Syria Direct|access-date=25 March 2015|title=Rebels launch full-on assault of Idlib city|archive-date=2 April 2015|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150402160708/http://syriadirect.org/main/30-reports/1942-rebels-launch-full-on-assault-of-idlib-city|url-status=dead}} [[Fatah Halab]]{{small|(2015–2017)}} {{flagicon image|Ansar-al-Sharia-Aleppo.jpg|border=no}}[[Ansar al-Sharia (Syria)|Ansar al-Sharia]]{{small|(2015–early 2016)}} [[Jaysh Halab]]{{small|(2016)}} \n{{flagdeco|Syrian Opposition}}[[Syrian National Army]]\n* 3rd Legion\n** Levant Bloc\n*** [[Levant Front]]{{small|(northern Aleppo branch,2017–present)}}\n[[File:WataniaTahrirFlag.svg|border|23px]] [[National Front for Liberation]]{{small|(2018–present)}}\n* [[Syrian Liberation Front]]{{small|(2018–present)}}{{cite web|url=https://www.brecorder.com/2018/02/19/399757/hardline-syria-rebels-announce-merger/|title=Hardline Syria rebels announce merger|work=[[Agence France-Presse]]|date=19 February 2018}}\n[[File:Islamic Front in Aleppo.jpg|20px|Logo of the IFIA]] [[Islamic front in aleppo]] 2016-2017"},"allies":{"wt":"*{{flagicon|KSA}}[[Saudi Arabia]] (2012—2018)\n*{{flagicon|Turkey}}[[Turkey]]\n*{{flagicon|Qatar}}[[Qatar]]{{cite web|url=https://foreignpolicy.com/2013/10/01/the-army-of-islam-is-winning-in-syria/|title=The Army of Islam Is Winning in Syria|work=Foreign Policy|date=October 2013}}\n*{{flagdeco|Syrian Opposition}}[[Free Syrian Army]]\n*[[File:Jaysh Al Islam white flag.svg|26px|border]] [[Jaysh al-Islam]]{{cite news|title=New Islamist Bloc Declares Opposition to National Coalition and US Strategy|url=http://www.joshualandis.com/blog/major-rebel-factions-drop-exiles-go-full-islamist/|author=Aron Lund|publisher=Syria Comment|date=24 September 2013|access-date=25 September 2013|archive-date=20 November 2013|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20131120001737/http://www.joshualandis.com/blog/major-rebel-factions-drop-exiles-go-full-islamist/|url-status=dead}}\n*{{flagicon image|Flag of the Syrian revolution.svg}}{{flagicon image|Shahadah Flag.svg}}[[Alwiya al-Furqan]]\n*{{flagicon image|Al-Liwaa.svg}}[[Ajnad al-Sham Islamic Union]]\n*{{flagicon image|Flag of the Sham Legion.svg}}[[Sham Legion]]{{cite news|url=http://notgeorgesabra.wordpress.com/2014/05/17/freedom-human-rights-rule-of-law-the-goals-and-guiding-principles-of-the-islamic-front-and-its-allies/|title=Freedom,Human Rights,Rule of Law:The Goals and Guiding Principles of the Islamic Front and Its Allies|date=17 May 2014|access-date=17 May 2014|work=Democratic Revolution,Syrian Style}}\n*[[File:Flag of Harakat Sham al-Islam.svg|24px]] [[Harakat Sham al-Islam]]\n*{{flagicon image|Flag of Ansar al-Islam.svg}}[[Ansar al-Islam in Kurdistan|Ansar al-Islam]]\n*{{flagicon image|Flag of the Al-Nusra Front.svg}}{{flagicon image|InfoboxHTS.svg}}[[Al-Nusra Front]]/[[Tahrir al-Sham]] ({{small|sometimes}}){{cite news|url=https://www.bbc.com/news/world-middle-east-48353751 |title=Syria group Hayat Tahrir al-Sham and al-Qaeda legacy |work=BBC |date=22 May 2019 |access-date=9 April 2024 |quote=In July 2017 HTS captured large parts of Idlib Province following battles against rebel groups,including its former ally Ahrar al-Sham.}}\n*{{flagicon|Hamas}}[[Aknaf Bait al-Maqdis]] (2015){{cite web|title=\"How did Hamas's military expertise end up with Syria's rebels?\"|url=https://www.middleeasteye.net/news/how-did-hamass-military-expertise-end-syrias-rebels|date=23 May 2015|publisher=Middle East Eye}}"},"opponents":{"wt":"*{{Flagicon|Syria|1980}}[[Ba'athist Syria]]\n*{{flagicon|Iran}}[[Iranian support for Syria in the Syrian Civil War|Iran]]{{cite news|url=https://www.reuters.com/article/us-mideast-crisis-syria-rebels-idUSKCN0RZ18F20151005|title=Syrian rebels call for regional alliance against Russia and Iran|work=Reuters}}\n*{{flagicon|Russia}}[[Russian military intervention in the Syrian Civil War|Russia]]\n*{{flagicon image|InfoboxHez.PNG}}[[Hezbollah]]\n*{{flagdeco|Iraq}}[[Harakat Hezbollah al-Nujaba]]http://alnujaba.com/3597-اخر%20عمليات%20%20ابطال%20النجباء%20في%20سوريا.html{{Dead link|date=March 2023 |bot=InternetArchiveBot |fix-attempted=yes}}\n*{{flagicon image|Flag of Syrian Democratic Forces.svg}}[[Syrian Democratic Forces]]\n*{{flagicon image|Liwa Fatemiyoun infobox flag.png}}[[Liwa Fatemiyoun]]\n*{{flagicon image|Liwa Zainebiyoun infobox flag.png}}[[Liwa Zainebiyoun]]\n*[[Kata'ib Sayyid al-Shuhada]]\n*[[Asa'ib Ahl al-Haq]]\n*[[Popular Mobilization Forces]]\n*{{flagicon image|InfoboxHTS.svg}}[[Tahrir al-Sham]] ({{small|sometimes}}){{cite web|url=https://skylightsyria.wordpress.com/2017/05/12/update-rebel-infighting-in-east-ghouta/|title=Update:Rebel Infighting in East Ghouta|date=12 May 2017}}\n*{{flagdeco|ISIL}}[[Islamic State]]{{cite news|url=http://english.alarabiya.net/en/News/middle-east/2014/01/11/NGO-Syria-jihadists-kill-rebels-in-bombing.html|title=NGO:Syria jihadists kill rebels in bombing|publisher=Al Arabiya|date=11 January 2014|access-date=12 January 2014}}{{cite news|url=http://www.longwarjournal.org/archives/2014/02/zawahiris_chief_repr.php|title=Al Qaeda's chief representative in Syria killed in suicide attack|date=23 February 2014|access-date=9 September 2014|work=Long War Journal}}\n*{{flagicon image|Flag of Jund al-Aqsa.svg}}[[Jund al-Aqsa]] ({{small|since October 2016}})\n*{{flagdeco|Syrian Opposition}}[[Ahrar al-Sharqiya]]\n*[[Al-Rahman Legion]]"},"battles":{"wt":"{{Collapsible list\n|bullets = yes\n|title = [[Syrian Civil War]]\n|[[Battle of Idlib (2012)|First Battle of Idlib (2012)]]\n|[[Battle of Aleppo (2012–2016)|Battle of Aleppo]]\n|[[Battle of Raqqa (2013)]]\n|[[2013 Latakia offensive]]{{cite news|url=http://www.longwarjournal.org/archives/2014/04/former_guantanamo_de_2.php#|title=Former Guantanamo detainee killed while leading jihadist group in Syria|date=4 April 2014|access-date=19 May 2014|work=Long War Journal}}\n|[[Inter-rebel conflict during the Syrian Civil War]]\n* [[Al-Nusra Front–SRF/Hazzm Movement conflict]]\n* [[Idlib Governorate clashes (2017)|2nd Idlib inter-rebel conflict (January–March 2017 2017)]]\n* [[East Ghouta inter-rebel conflict (April–May 2017)|2nd East Ghouta inter-rebel conflict (April–May 2017)]]\n* [[Idlib Governorate clashes (July 2017)|3rd Idlib inter-rebel conflict (July 2017)]]\n* [[Syrian Liberation Front–Tahrir al-Sham conflict]]\n|[[Military intervention against the Islamic State|Military intervention against IS]]\n* [[American-led intervention in Syria]]\n|[[Second Battle of Idlib]]\n|[[2015 Jisr al-Shughur offensive]]{{cite news|last=Jocelyn|first=Thomas|title=Al Nusrah Front,allies launch new offensives against Syrian regime|url=http://www.longwarjournal.org/archives/2015/04/al-nusrah-front-allies-launch-new-offensives-against-syrian-regime.php|work=Long War Journal|date=23 April 2015}}\n|[[Daraa offensive (February 2017)]]\n|[[Qaboun offensive (2017)]]\n|[[Hama offensive (March–April 2017)]]\n|[[Daraa offensive (June 2017)]]\n|[[Northwestern Syria campaign (October 2017–February 2018)]]\n|[[Battle of Harasta (2017–18)]]\n|[[Beit Jinn offensive]]\n|[[Rif Dimashq offensive (February–April 2018)]]\n|[[2018 Southern Syria offensive]]\n|[[2022 Ahrar al-Sham–Levant Front clashes]]\n|[[2022 Aleppo country side clashes]]\n|[[2022 south of jishr al sougor]]\n|[[Northwestern Syria clashes (December 2022–November 2024)]]\n|[[2024 Syrian opposition offensives]]\n|[[Southern Syria offensive (2024)]]\n}}"},"url":{"wt":"{{Official URL}}"},"status":{"wt":"Active"},"predecessor":{"wt":"[[Ahrar al-Sham 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Harakat Ahrar al-Sham al-Islamiyyah
حركة أحرار الشام الإسلامية
Flag of Ahrar al-Sham (2012–2016) Flag of Ahrar al-Sham Variant of the logo of the Islamic Front used by Ahrar al-Sham
Harakat Ahrar al-Sham al-Islamiyya (Arabic: حركة أحرار الشام الإسلامية, romanized:Ḥarakat Aḥrār aš-Šām al-Islāmiyah, lit.'Islamic Movement of the Freemen of the Levant'), commonly referred to as Ahrar al-Sham, is a coalition of multiple Islamist units that coalesced into a single brigade and later a division in order to fight against the Syrian Government led by Bashar al-Assad during the Syrian Civil War.[47] Ahrar al-Sham was led by Hassan Aboud[4] until his death in 2014.[3] In July 2013, Ahrar al-Sham had 10,000 to 20,000 fighters,[4] which at the time made it the second most powerful unit fighting against al-Assad, after the Free Syrian Army.[48] It was the principal organization operating under the umbrella of the Syrian Islamic Front[4] and was a major component of the Islamic Front.[30] With an estimated 20,000 fighters in 2015,[16] Ahrar al-Sham became the largest rebel group in Syria after the Free Syrian Army became less powerful. Ahrar al-Sham and Jaysh al-Islam are the main rebel groups supported by Turkey.[49] On 18 February 2018, Ahrar al-Sham merged with the Nour al-Din al-Zenki Movement to form the Syrian Liberation Front.[34]
The Islamic Movement of the Free Men of the Levant is an Islamist, reformist, innovative and comprehensive movement. It is integrated with the Islamic Front and is a comprehensive and Islamic military, political and social formation. It aims to completely overthrow the Assad regime in Syria and build an Islamic state whose only sovereign, reference, ruler, direction, and individual, societal and nationwide unifier is Allah Almighty's Sharia (law).[51]
In its first audio address, Ahrar al-Sham stated its goal was to replace the Assad government with a Sunni Islamic state.[16][50] It acknowledged the need to take into account the population's current state of mind. It also described the uprising as a jihad against a Safawi (Iranian Shi'ite) plot to spread Shia Islam and establish a Shia state from Iran through Iraq and Syria, extending to Lebanon and Palestine.[52]
Newspaper The New Arab argued that "Ahrar Al-Sham started as a Syrian Salafi jihadist group in late 2011".[18] This view was shared by Wilson Center researcher Ali El Yassir who stated that the group had "unambiguously espoused a Salafi and Jihadi discourse when it was created".[17] Researcher Hassan Hassan similarly stated that "Salafi-jihadism [was] the movement to which its top echelon once subscribed".[53] According to the International Crisis Group in 2012, Ahrar al-Sham, along with the more extreme al-Nusra Front, had "embraced the language of jihad and called for an Islamic state based on Salafi principles."[54] Around the same time, Institute for the Study of War researcher Elizabeth O'Bagy stated that Ahrar al-Sham consisted of "conservative Islamist, and often Salafist, member units" and also included "many Salafi-jihadists".[19] She further paralleled the group's ideology to that of the Fighting Vanguard, an older Syrian Islamist militant faction.[55] According to US intelligence officials, a few al-Qaeda members released from prisons by the Syrian government have been able to influence actions of the group, and install operatives within the senior ranks of Ahrar al-Sham.[56][57][58] Such ties were not disclosed publicly until January 2014, when a former senior leader of Ahrar al-Sham, the now deceased Abu Khalid al-Suri, acknowledged his long-time membership in al-Qaeda and role as Ayman al-Zawahiri's representative in the Levant.[57][59]
However, Ahrar al-Sham had a Syrian leadership which "emphasize[d] that its campaign is for Syria, not for a global jihad".[4] In general, the group did not advertise its most extreme ideological elements, and was willing to cooperate with secular Syrian rebel factions.[19] Some scholars have argued for Ahrar al-Sham to be noted as a "nationalist jihadist salafi" group.[60] The goal of regime change can be seen in Ahrar al-Sham's involvement in the conflict in Syria. Ahrar al-Sham has joined forces with other groups in the conflict in their opposition to the Assad regime in Syria.[60]
In 2014, regional expert Aymenn Jawad Al-Tamimi has speculated two factions existed within Ahrar al-Sham, a nationalist moderate faction and a hardline jihadist faction influenced largely by Abu Khalid al-Suri whom was appointed by Ayman al-Zawahiri to act as a mediator between Jabhat al-Nusra and the Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant (ISIL), the faction at the time mostly existing in eastern Syria, in particular in Hasakah and having a pro-Caliphate outlook, that allied with ISIL and held ties with Ansar al-Islam with a number of Ahrar al-Sham members later joining ISIL during the group's presence there.[61][62] In this year, the group experienced disputes about its ideology and aims, resulting in a drift away from Salafist jihadism and toward a localized form of jihadism as well as Syrian nationalism.[17][53]
In 2015, researcher Sam Heller interviewed several Ahrar al-Sham commanders who stated that the group had initially been "something close to 'Salafi-jihadist', though "the group as a whole subsequently diverged from 'Salafi-jihadism'". Instead, Ahrar al-Sham had reportedly begun to espouse "revisionist jihadism" or "post-Salafi-jihadism"; this belief system argued that global jihadism in the tradition of al-Qaeda and IS was doomed to fail, and instead argued for a "jihad that balances between the ideological leadership of an elite vanguard and populist energy". According to Heller, the group's drift away from Salafist jihadism had mainly taken place in 2014, as the group had begun to oppose the Islamic State which espouses Salafist jihadism.[20] In August 2015, Ahrar al-Sham commander Eyad Shaar said "We are part of Syrian society and the international community. ... We want to be part of the solution."[63] Ahrar al-Sham's political representative stated in December 2015 that Ahrar al-Sham are "not related with al Qaeda, we only fight with them against Assad and ISIS".[64]
In May 2016, Ahrar al-Sham released an address by then deputy general director Ali al-Omar in which he distinguished Ahrar al-Sham's militancy from the Salafi jihadism of al-Qaeda and IS, and defended its political engagement.[65] During al-Omar's address, he stated that Ahrar al-Sham was a new school of Islamism born out of three other currents created after the fall of the Ottoman Empire, those currents being political organizations such as the Muslim Brotherhood, prostelyzation movements like the Tablighi Jamaat, and the general Jihadist movement, and that Ahrar al-Sham combines elements of these currents into its own methodology and practices establishing it as a new school of Islamism.[66] However, various ideological factions peristed within Ahrar al-Sham; hardliners still dominated the group's Sharia office and military wing, while more moderate pragmatists controlled the political office.[17] At this point, researcher Hassan Hassan also voiced doubts about the extent to which Ahrar al-Sham had actually drifted away from Salafist jihadism, as the group's writings (distributed in training camps) was still Salafi jihadist in nature.[53] As a result of the continuing disputes within the group, a faction called "Jaysh al-Ahrar" headed by Abu Jaber Shaykh, a senior commander in Ahrar al-Sham, split from the group and joined Hayat Tahrir al-Sham. Jaysh al-Ahrar later left HTS due to disagreements with the leadership and the resignation of the Saudi cleric Abdullah al-Muhaysini, and went on to join the National Front for Liberation alongside Ahrar al-Sham in 2018.[67]
Ahrar al-Sham leader Hassan Aboud stated that Ahrar al-Sham worked with the Nusra Front and would have no problems with al-Nusra as long as they continued fighting the regime. Aboud also said Ahrar worked with the Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant (ISIL) in some battles, but that their agenda was disagreeable. He said all parties, whether they were ISIL, al-Nusra, the Islamic Front, or the FSA, shared the same objective of establishing an Islamic state, but they differed as to the "tactics, strategies or methods".[68][69][70] Aboud claimed that in Syria "there are no secular groups".[71]
Ahrar al-Sham, and the Islamic Front in general, issued condolences for Afghan Taliban leader Mullah Omar upon his death.[72][73]
In February 2015, after the Charlie Hebdo shooting carried out by individuals linked to al-Qaeda in the Arabian Peninsula, a pro-opposition newspaper printed papers with the Je Suis Charlie slogan as well as a tribute to those who were killed in the attack, which was viewed as anti-Islamic by Ahrar al-Sham and some members were filmed burning copies of the newspaper with "Je Suis Charlie" printed on it, the newspaper's writers responded by saying the publication was taken out of context.[74]
During the group's existence, it has administered localities under its control including areas in the Raqqa Governorate, the Deir ez-Zor Governorate and elsewhere in Syria. Ahrar al-Sham also held strong ties to Syria's Arab tribes in the south and recruited several tribesmen from southern Syria into the group.[75]
In 2013, during the opposition's offensive in Raqqa, Ahrar al-Sham established a local affiliate known as Brigade of the Trustees of Raqqa, the brigade acted as a law enforcement unit in Raqqa and cooperated with local Islamic courts in enforcing Sharia law, and reportedly beat an individual in the city per the ruling of a local court.[76] The brigade also took part in humanitarian activities such as food distribution to locals.
An internal faction of Ahrar al-Sham, known as the Ashidaa Mujahideen Brigade, led by Abu al-Abd Ashidaa had flogged individuals for not attending Friday prayers.[77][78]
In an Amnesty International report in July 2016, Ahrar al-Sham, along with al-Nusra Front, was described as having "applied a strict interpretation of Shari'a and imposed punishments amounting to torture or other ill-treatment for perceived infractions." A political activist was abducted and detained by Ahrar al-Sham for having not worn a veil and accused of affiliation with the Syrian government. At least three children have been recorded to be abducted by Jabhat al-Nusra and Ahrar al-Sham between 2012 and 2015. Lawyers and political activists have faced reprisal attacks by Ahrar al-Sham and other Islamist rebel groups due to their political activities and perceived religious beliefs.[79] Mohamed Najeeb Bannan, an Islamic Front Sharia Court judge in Aleppo, stated, "The legal reference is the Islamic Sharia. The cases are different, from robberies to drug use, to moral crimes. It's our duty to look at any crime that comes to us. ... After the regime has fallen, we believe that the Muslim majority in Syria will ask for an Islamic state. Of course, it's very important to point out that some say the Islamic Sharia will cut off people's hands and heads, but it only applies to criminals. And to start off by killing, crucifying etc. That is not correct at all." In response to being asked what the difference between the Islamic Front's and the Islamic State's version of sharia would be, he said "One of their mistakes is before the regime has fallen, and before they've established what in Sharia is called Tamkeen [having a stable state], they started applying Sharia, thinking God gave them permission to control the land and establish a Caliphate. This goes against the beliefs of religious scholars around the world. This is what [IS] did wrong. This is going to cause a lot of trouble. Anyone who opposes [IS] will be considered against Sharia and will be severely punished."[80][bettersourceneeded] On 18 June 2017, Ahrar al-Sham adopted Unified Arab Law in its courts in Syria.[81]
Ahrar al-Sham has claimed that it only targets government forces and militia and that it has cancelled several operations due to fear of civilian casualties.[82] It provides humanitarian services and relief to local communities, in addition to pamphlets promoting religious commitment in daily life.[52]
History
Formation and early activities
Salafi groups emerged as important political and social actors in Egypt and Tunisia after the Arab Spring. Salafist groups can look very different from each other but author Markus Holdo identifies three accepted categories of Salafist groups. There are scripturalist Salafis who refuse to participate in politics because they find it useless in achieving their goals, the political Salafist who do engage in politics while seeking to put in place a fundamentalist agenda, and lastly there are the Jihadist Salafis who identify as part of a global jihad and generally find more popularity among younger people.[83] While there may be differences in how Jihadist Salafist groups define the act of jihad, they generally reject the institutional politics of liberal democracy and westernization because "of its inability to deliver the material and ethical goods they demand."[83] Jihadist Salafist do not just rally behind a shared religious view, but around fighting the ideals they think exist in institutional politics such as hierarchy, exclusion, and corruption.[83] Ahrar al-Sham can be described as Jihadist Salafis whose definition of Jihad is one of active war fighting. Often, this view of Jihad is used as a recruitment tool by calling fighters to join a cause and complete their duty to Islam.[60]
Ahrar al-Sham started forming units just after the Egyptian revolution of January 2011, and before the Syrian uprising started in March 2011.[15] Most of the group's founders were Salafist political prisoners who had been detained for years at the Sednaya prison until they were released as part of an amnesty by the Syrian Government in March–May 2011.[15][84][85] At the time of its establishment in December 2011,[16] Ahrar al-Sham consisted of about 25 rebel units spread across Syria. On 23 January 2012, the Ahrar al-Sham Battalions was officially announced in the Idlib Governorate. In the same announcement, the group claimed responsibility for an attack on the security headquarters in the city of Idlib. "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 God, 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."[86]
By July 2012, the group's website listed 50 units, and by mid-January 2013, the number had increased to 83 units.[87] Most of these units are headquartered in villages in Idlib Governorate, but many others are located in Hama and Aleppo Governorates. Some Ahrar al-Sham units that have been involved in heavy fighting include the Qawafel al-Shuhada and Ansar al-Haqq Brigades (both in Khan Shaykhun), the al-Tawhid wal-Iman Brigade (Maarat al-Nu'man, Idlib), the Shahba Brigade (Aleppo City), the Hassane bin Thabet Brigade (Darat Izza, Aleppo), and the Salahaddin and Abul-Fida Brigades (both in Hama City).[1]
Members of the group are Sunni Islamists.[88] Ahrar al-Sham cooperates with the Free Syrian Army; however, it does not maintain ties with the Syrian National Council.[52] Although they coordinate with other groups, they maintain their own strict and secretive leadership, receiving the majority of their funding and support from donors in Kuwait.[47][89][90]
Ahrar al-Sham was credited for rescuing NBC News team including reporter Richard Engel, producer Ghazi Balkiz, cameraman John Kooistra and others after they were kidnapped in December 2012. While Engel initially blamed pro-Assad Shabiha militants for the abduction, it later turned out that they were "almost certainly" abducted by an FSA affiliated rebel group.[91] There were around 500 people in Ahrar al-Sham in August 2012.[92]
2013–2014: The Islamic Front
In December 2012, a new umbrella organization was announced, called the Syrian Islamic Front, consisting of 11 Islamist rebel organizations. Ahrar al-Sham was the most prominent of these, and a member of Ahrar al-Sham's, Abu 'Abd Al-Rahman Al-Suri (aka Abdulrahman Al Soory[93]), served as the Front's spokesman.[94]
In January 2013, several of the member organizations of the Syrian Islamic Front announced that they were joining forces with Ahrar al-Sham into a broader group called Harakat Ahrar al-Sham al-Islamiyya (The Islamic Movement of Ahrar al-Sham).[85]
In May 2013, Ahrar al-Sham alongside Al-Nusra, ISIL, and the Tawhid Brigade fought the Ghuraba al-Sham Front because of looting and corruption on behalf of Ghuraba al-Sham as well as disputes Ghuraba al-Sham had with the Aleppo Sharia Court.[95][96]
In September 2013, members of ISIL killed the Ahrar al-Sham commander Abu Obeida Al-Binnishi, after he had intervened to protect a Malaysian Islamic charity; ISIL had mistaken its Malaysian flag for that of the United States.[97]
In August 2013, members of the brigade uploaded a video of their downing of a Syrian Air ForceMiG-21 over the Latakia province with a Chinese-made FN-6MANPADS, apparently becoming the first recorded kill with such a weapon.[98]
In mid-November 2013, after the Battle for Brigade 80 near the Aleppo International Airport, fighters from the Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant beheaded a commander[99] of Ahrar al-Sham forces, mistaking him for an Iraqi Shiite pro-government militiaman.[100]
In November 2013, the SIF announced that it was dissolving, and that its components would henceforth operate as part of the newly formed Islamic Front.[101]
In December 2013, there were reports of fighting between ISIL and another Islamic rebel group in the town of Maskana, Aleppo; activists reported that the Islamic rebel group was identified as Ahrar al-Sham.[102][103][104]
2014–2016: shifting alliances with rebels and Islamists
On 23 February 2014, one of the top commanders and al-Qaeda representative,[57][59] Abu Khalid al-Suri, was killed in a suicide bombing in Aleppo, organized by ISIL.[57][105] In March 2015, the Suqour al-Sham Brigade merged with Ahrar al-Sham,[106][107] but left in September 2016.[108] Later in September, Suqour al-Sham joined the Army of Conquest, a group which also has Ahrar al-Sham as a member.[109]
September 2014: leadership killed in bomb attack
On 9 September 2014, a bomb went off during a high-level meeting in Idlib province, killing Hassan Abboud, the leader of the group, and 27 other senior commanders, including military field commanders, members of the group's Shura council, and leaders of allied brigades. There was no claim of responsibility for the attack. The day after the bombing Abu Jaber was announced as replacement leader.[14][110][111] Ahrar ash-Sham received condolences from the al-Qaeda organization Nusra.[112] Ahrar received condolences from other al-Qaeda members.[113]
During the night of 6 November 2014, a US airstrike targeted the group for the first time, hitting its headquarters in Idlib governorate[13] and killing Abu al-Nasr, who was in charge of receiving weapons for the group.[118] On 24 November 2014, a US airstrike on the IS headquarters building in Ma'dan, Raqqa, killed another Ahrar al-Sham fighter, who was being held prisoner by IS.[119]
The New York Times reported that the pro Al-Qaeda Saudi cleric Abdullah Al-Muhaisini ordered that Christians in Idlib were not to be killed, and that Christians were being defended by Ahrar al-Sham.[120][121] However, according to Middle East Christian News, there were subsequent unconfirmed reports from the Assyrian Observatory for Human Rights of Ahrar al-Sham executing two Christians in the city.[122]
On 26 April 2015, Ahrar al-Sham, along with other major Aleppo based groups, established the Fatah Halab joint operations room.
On 14 July 2015, two suicide bombers blew themselves up at an Ahrar al-Sham Movement headquarters killing Abu Abdul Rahman Salqeen (an Ahrar al-Sham leader) and 5-6 others in Idlib province.[123][124]
Mohannad al-Masri, known by the alias Abu Yahia al-Hamawi, was appointed leader in September 2015.[125][126] Ali al-Omar, known by the alias Abu Ammar al-Omar, was appointed leader in November 2016.[127]
In October 2015, Abu Amara Brigades left the Levant Front, which they had joined in February 2015, and joined Ahrar al-Sham.[128]
On 21 October 2015, the Jund al Malahim operations room was created as an alliance of Ajnad al Sham, Ahrar al-Sham and Al-Nusra in Rif Dimashq.[129]
On 25 February 2016, a car bomb was detonated at the Russian military base in Idlib, Syria. Ahrar al-Sham claimed responsibility on their website alleging "dozens" of casualties among Russian officials.[citation needed] On the following day, Jaysh al-Sunna's branch in Hama merged with Ahrar al-Sham, though its northern Aleppo branch was not a part of this merger.[130][131]
On 13 May 2016, Amnesty International named Ahrar al-Sham as one of the groups responsible for "repeated indiscriminate attacks that may amount to war crimes" and reported allegations of their use of chemical weapons.[132] On 12 May 2016, Al-Nusra Front fighters attacked and captured the Alawite village of Zara'a, Southern Hama Governorate.[133] Pro-government media reported that Ahrar al-Sham fighters were involved.[134] The Syrian Observatory for Human Rights confirmed that civilians had been kidnapped[133] and the Red Crescent reportedly confirmed that 42 civilians and seven National Defence Force (pro-government militia) fighters were killed during the militant attack.[135] Additionally, some pro-Syrian government news sources reported that around 70 civilians, including women and children were kidnapped and taken to Al-Rastan Plains.[134] Some of the captured were pro-government soldiers.[133]
In September 2016, Ashida'a Mujahideen Brigade left Ahrar al-Sham, apparently due to Ahrar's support of Turkey's Operation Euphrates Shield and lack of willingness to be closer to al-Nusra Front.[136][bettersourceneeded]
On 10 December 2016, 16 Ahrar al-Sham units under Hashim Sheikh, known by the alias Abu Jaber, formed a quasi-independent group within Ahrar called Jaysh al-Ahrar, or the Free Army, for similar reasons as Ashida'a Mujahideen Brigade leaving 3 months prior.[138][139]
Syrian Civil War battles and offensives
In September 2015: In collaboration with Jabhat al-Nusra, Ahrar al-Sham overtook an Assad regime stronghold, the Abu al-Zuhur military air base in Idlib governorate.[140]
Autumn 2015: In alliance with Jabhat al-Nusra, Ahrar al-Sham was involved in offensives in Northern Aleppo against ISIS and in Southern Aleppo against Assad regime forces.[140]
May and June 2016: Allied with Jabhat al-Nusra, they conducted attacks in Northern Aleppo against ISIS that initially made rapid advances but were eventually pushed back.[140]
Spring 2016: Ahrar al-Sham was involved in heavy fighting with other Anti-ISIS rebel forces in Eastern and Western Ghouta and in the Dar'a region in southern Syria.[140]
June 2016: In alliance with Jabhat al-Nusra and others, major offensive against Assad regime forces in Jabal al-Akrad.[140]
2017: conflict with HTS
On 21 January 2017, five factions from Ahrar reportedly left inorder to from a coalition known as Tahrir al-Sham: Jaysh al-Ahrar, al-Bara, Dhu Nurayn, al-Sawa'iq and Usud al-Har Battalion.[141]
On 23 January 2017, the Jabhat Fatḥ al-Sham attacked Jabhat Ahl al-Sham bases in Atarib and other towns in western Aleppo. All the bases were captured and by 24 January, the group was defeated and joined Ahrar al-Sham.[142]
On 25 January 2017, several factions from Jaysh al-Islam based in Aleppo left to join Ahrar, establishing the Ansar Regiment.[143] On the same day, the remaining Fastaqim Union members of its Aleppo branch joined Ahrar al-Sham.[144]
On 25 January 2017, Suqour al-Sham Brigade along with the Idlib branch of Jaysh al-Islam and the Aleppo branch of the Levant Front joined Ahrar al-Sham.[145] On the following day, al-Miiqdad Brigade also joined Ahrar.[146][bettersourceneeded]
On 4 February 2017, American aircraft killed an Egyptian al-Qaeda member, Abu Hani al-Masri.[147][148][149] He was killed in Idlib's Sarmada region by a drone strike.[150]Egyptian Islamic Jihad was co-created by him.[151] Thomas Joscelyn pointed out that the publication al-Masra of al-Qaeda in the Arabian Peninsula talked about Abu Hani al-Masri.[152] He was also a military commander in Ahrar ash-Sham.[153] In Egypt he was jailed for several years and he was in Chechnya, Bosnia, Afghanistan,[154] and Somalia.[155][156] In 2012 he was released from prison in Egypt.[157] In Chechnya, several Russian prisoners once appeared in a video with Abu Hani al-Masri.[158][bettersourceneeded]
Jaber Ali Basha and Anas Abu Malek were made deputy leaders of Ahrar al-Sham in February 2017.[7][10][11]
On 31 July 2017, Hassan Soufan, also known by his nom de guerre "Abu al-Bara", was appointed as the leader of Ahrar al-Sham's shura council. Soufan was born in Latakia, and in 2004, Saudi Arabia extradited him to the Syrian government, which sentenced him to life imprisonment in Sednaya Prison. In December 2016, he was released as part of an agreement during which the rebels withdrew from Aleppo. Soufan was among those who temporarily split from Ahrar al-Sham as part of Jaysh al-Ahrar in the same month.[8]
On 6 August 2017, 120 Ahrar al-Sham fighters in Arbin, Eastern Ghouta defected to the al-Rahman Legion after internal disputes.[159] Ahrar al-Sham accused the Rahman Legion of seizing their weapons, while the Rahman Legion accused Ahrar al-Sham of their attempt to implement their "failed" experience from northern Syria in eastern Ghouta.[160] A ceasefire agreement between the Rahman Legion and Ahrar al-Sham was implemented on 9 August.[161]
In August 2018, Hassan Soufan resigned as leader and deputy leader Jaber Ali Basha was promoted to replace him.[9]
On 22 June 2018, an Ahrar al-Sham commander was assassinated in al-Bab by gunmen believed to be part of the Hamza Division.[163]
Capabilities and tactics
Ahrar al-Sham is one of the best-armed and most powerful rebel factions active in the Syrian Civil War. It progressed from the use of improvised explosive devices and small-arms ambushes in early 2012 to assuming a lead role in large-scale sustained assaults on multiple fronts by 2013. The capture of materiel from the Syrian Armed Forces enabled Ahrar to regularly deploy tanks and mobile artillery and anti-tank guided missiles. It occasionally employed 1990s-era Croatian rocket and grenade launchers. Ahrar al Sham was involved in every major rebel victory over Syrian Government forces between September 2012 and mid-2013.[2] Ahrar grew significantly by absorbing into its ranks other rebel factions from the Islamic Front and the Syrian Islamic Front which preceded it.[107][164][165]
As of 2016[update], Ahrar al-Sham had between 10,000 and 20,000 members. When Ahrar al-Sham cooperated with Jabhat al-Nusra, it had a force strong enough for military offensives that gained control of territory and pushed back Assad forces and the Islamic State.[140] Aside from large scale offensives, Ahrar al-Sham was known for its use of Improvised Explosive Devices (IEDs) and a tactic in which they would target military bases and capture weapons.[166] Ahrar al-Sham even has a technical division devoted to cyber attacks.[166] There is one confirmed report of Ahrar al-Sham using a SVBIED and it associates with groups who do.[167][166]
Foreign support
Discussions about foreign support in the media often center on the weapons that foreign powers provide to their proxies. Money is just as important as weapons though. As soon as a soldier / rebel has to fight away from his home, the rebel group has to pay at least his sustenance, and in practice some more. For Ahrar the amount of financial aid it got from abroad might be the very reason it became so powerful.[citation needed] After the December 2013 suspension of all U.S. and the U.K. non-lethal support, which included medicine, vehicles, and communications equipment,[168] to the Free Syrian Army after the Islamic Front, a coalition of Islamist fighters that broke with the American-backed Free Syrian Army, had seized warehouses of equipment. In 2014 the U.S. was considering indirectly resuming non-lethal aid to the moderate opposition by having it "funneled exclusively through the Supreme Military Council, the military wing of moderate, secular Syrian opposition" even if some of it ends up going to Islamist groups.[169] Several European states have attempted small-level engagements with individual Ahrar al-Sham political officials in Turkey.[170]
Ahrar al-Sham generally welcomes foreign fighters without demanding too much of them. Ahrar al-Sham encourages foreign fighters to arrive unmarried, committed to stay with the organization for six months, and prepared to pay in advance for their stay and their own weapon.[171] While Ahrar al-Sham does not consider jihad to be a duty for all Muslims, they do consider they objective of toppling the Assad regime in Syria to be a conflict that at its core is about Muslim concerns.[171] While foreign fighters may come from other countries, Ahrar al-Sham extends welcoming arms because they believe in a common linkage among Muslims fighting for an Islamic regime in Syria.
Donations from supporters abroad were important for Ahrar's growth. Saudi Arabia, Qatar and Turkey have been reported to have actively supported Ahrar al-Sham.[172] A statement issued by Ahrar al-Sham thanked Turkey and Qatar for their help.[173][bettersourceneeded] By 2013, the Kuwaiti private fund Popular Commission to Support the Syrian People, managed by Sheikh Ajmi and Sheik Irshid al-Hajri had supported Ahrar with US$400,000, for which Ahrar recorded a public thanks.[174]
Designation as a terrorist organization and relations with other groups
Ahrar al-Sham is not designated a terrorist organization by the U.S. State Department, the United Nations, or the European Union. Since December 2015, the UN Security Council has been trying to assemble a list of terrorist groups in Syria. Syria,[175]Iraq,[176]Russia,[176]Lebanon,[176]Egypt,[176] and the United Arab Emirates[177] support classifying Ahrar al-Sham as a terrorist group, but they have not been able to achieve a unanimous consensus.[16][178]
Ahrar al-Sham's relationships with U.N. designated terrorist organizations has been, and continues to be, a key point of contention in U.S. and Russian foreign relations and in their Syrian ceasefire negotiations.[179] The U.S. Department of State has said that "Ahrar al-Sham is not a designated foreign terrorist organization".[180] However, some U.S. officials have reportedly considered designating it as a terrorist organization because of its links to al-Qaeda subgroups such as the al-Nusra Front.[170]
In a speech at the Aspen Ideas Festival in Colorado on 28 June 2016, United States Secretary of State John Kerry referred to Ahrar al-Sham as one of several "subgroups" of terrorist groups, saying
But the most important thing, frankly, is seeing if we can reach an understanding with the Russians about how to, number one, deal with Daesh and al-Nusrah. Al-Nusrah is the other group there – Jabhat al-Nusrah. They are a designated terrorist group by the United Nations. And there are a couple of subgroups underneath the two designated – Daesh and Jabhat al-Nusrah – Jaysh al-Islam, Ahrar al-Sham particularly – who brush off and fight with that – alongside these other two sometimes to fight the Assad regime.[181]
before which he had said of Ahrar al-Sham that
From Orlando to San Bernardino to the Philippines and Bali, we've seen pictures and we've heard testimony of shocking crimes committed by al-Qaida, by Boko Haram, by Jaysh al-Islam, by Ahrar al-Sham, by al-Shabaab, Daesh, other groups against innocent civilians, against journalists, and against teachers particularly.[181]
—U.S. Department of State
It was reported that administration officials disapproved this mention and thought that it would potentially harm the U.S. government efforts to convince the Russians and the Syrian government not to attack Ahrar al-Sham with one senior administration official reportedly saying that despite the fact that "for months, we've been arguing to make sure the Russians and the Syrian regime don't equate these groups with the terrorists, Kerry's line yields that point."[182] Explaining these comments, US State Department spokesman John Kirby said that "secretary Kerry was simply trying to describe the complexity of the situation in Syria, noting that we aren't blind to the notion that some fighters shift their loyalties."[182][183] It was also reported that some Syrian groups see Kerry's comments as an example of how the Obama administration has slowly moved toward the Russian view of Syria, which includes painting all opposition groups as terrorists in order to justify attacking them.[182]
Although Ahrar al-Sham is not officially designated as a terrorist organization in Germany, on 6 October 2016 a German court has convicted four German-Lebanese men who supplied the group in Syria of "supporting a terrorist organization",[184] and, on 30 March 2017, two Syrian refugees who were members of Ahrar al-Sham were placed on trial in Munich, Germany for being members of a terrorist organization. According to the prosecutor, the goal of the group is to "overthrow the Syrian president Bashar al-Assad and establish an Islamic regime".[185]
On 29 March 2019, the criminal court in Rotterdam, the Netherlands designated Ahrar al-Sham as a terrorist organization. The judge based his decision on the period between 2013 and 2018. [186]
Ahrar al-Sham had worked with ISIL until the two groups began their present-day hostilities with one another in February 2014.[16] During Ahrar al-Sham's presence in Deir ez-Zor, after capturing oil fields from the Syrian government alongside other opposition groups, the group alongside the al-Nusra Front and Jaysh al-Islam co-signed a request asking the Islamic State's leader Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi to mediate a dispute over an oil field that was recently captured. In one instance, a commander affiliated with the Syrian Revolutionaries Front, claimed that the Islamic Front, which Ahrar al-Sham was a principle and founding member of, was more extreme than al-Nusra, and would eventually become a second IS.[187]
In 2013, in response to a chemical weapon attack in eastern Ghouta by Government forces, ISIL, and the al-Nusra Front conducted separate revenge attacks, Ahrar al-Sham along with other Free Syrian Army-aligned factions including the Jesus Son of Mary Battalions and Alwiya al-Furqan jointly took part in the ISIL-led attacks code named "Volcano of Rage", and shelled Alawite neighborhoods in Damascus, as well areas near the Embassy of Russia in Damascus and the Four Seasons Hotel Damascus, where UN observers were reportedly staying to investigate the chemical attack.[188] In the Raqqa Governorate between August and July 2013, several protests were held against both IS and Ahrar al-Sham, due to ISIL arresting Free Syrian Army commanders, the arrests also led to the defection of al-Nusra's commander from ISIL back to al-Nusra. The Ahfad al-Rasul Brigades supported the protests against ISIL and Ahrar al-Sham in August 2013.[188]
Abu Khalid al-Suri, a "top al-Qaeda leader", co-founded Ahrar al-Sham and was until the time of his February 2014 death, by a suicide car bomb attack believed to be carried out by ISIL, though the attack was denied by ISIL,[189] helping to lead Ahrar al-Sham which allowed Ayman Zawahiri, the leader of al-Qaeda, to influence the rebel group's actions despite the group officially having no affiliation with al-Qaeda.[190] In 2015, Ahrar al-Sham, "whose late leader fought alongside Osama bin Laden," again denied having any links to al-Qaeda[191] and in May 2016, the U.S., Britain, France, and Ukraine blocked a Russian proposal to the United Nations to blacklist Ahrar al-Sham as a terrorist group.[192] The group was openly allied with its longterm[193] partner al-Nusra Front and carried out joint operations with the group,[16][50] and was in talks with it about a possible merger in mid-2016.[194] Pro-government media reported that Ahrar al-Sham rejected the 2016 September 12 U.S.- and Russian-brokered Syrian ceasefire, citing the ceasefire's exclusion of certain Syrian rebel groups and declared solidarity with the al-Nusra Front, which was one of the groups excluded from this ceasefire.[195][bettersourceneeded]
After fighting broke out between ISIL and other opposition factions in Syria, Ahrar al-Sham and ISIL mutually agreed to withdraw from each other's spheres of influence, with Ahrar al-Sham withdrawing from the Raqqa Governorate that was dominated by ISIL and ISIL agreed to withdraw from opposition strongholds in the Idlib Governorate in 2014.[196]
In July 2017, in the Islamic State's weekly online newspaper al-Naba, IS mentioned Ahrar al-Sham as having previously shown, what it considers good Islamic character, and mentioned that in past disputes between Ahrar al-Sham and IS, Ahrar al-Sham had resolved disputes in a way in accordance to Sharia law.[199]
In January 2020, a former IS-linked media outlet that has since turned critical of IS, wrote in a publication that IS had allowed former Ahrar al-Sham members to "repent" in eastern Syria, and specifically mentioned one former Ahrar al-Sham commander that joined IS despite openly opposing the group, and though defecting to IS he did not hold a military position in the group but he did work in oil fields held by IS, and held a prominent position in IS's oil industry.[200]
Flags
Flags of Ahrar al-Sham
The official flag of Ahrar al-Sham since early 2016
The Syrian independence flag used officially by Ahrar since 21 June 2017, in addition to their official flag, though members were using it for some months prior in an informal basis
This flag is occasionally used by Ahrar al-Sham
This flag is occasionally used by Ahrar al-Sham[201][202]
The original flag of Kata'ib Ahrar al-Sham as used by the group in the first half of 2012
Jaysh al-Ahrar (Left HTS in mid-2017 due to disagreements with the leadership becoming an independent faction, later joined the National Front for Liberation with Ahrar al-Sham in August 2018)
Ahrar al halab (jabhat Ansar Al halab) left in 2015 and merged with kata'ib Jabhat Ansar Al Sham to create hsrakat jabhat ansar al sham al islamiyya but in 2017 most members joined ahrar al Sham again after jabhat Ansar Al Sham dissolved until 2023 were they returned
Al-Nusra Front, also known as Front for the Conquest of the Levant, was a Salafi-jihadist organization that fought against Syrian government forces in the Syrian Civil War. Its aim was to overthrow president Bashar al-Assad and establish an Islamic state ruled by Sharia law in Syria.
The Suqour al-Sham Brigades, also known as the Falcons of the Levant Brigades, is an armed rebel organisation formed by Ahmed Abu Issa early in the Syrian Civil War to fight against the Syrian Government. It was a member of the Islamic Front and a former unit of the Free Syrian Army and the Syrian Islamic Liberation Front. They have a history of coordinating with Ahrar al-Sham and al-Qaeda's al-Nusra Front, though clashes with the latter broke out in January 2017. In March 2015, the Suqour al-Sham Brigades merged with Ahrar ash-Sham, but left Ahrar al-Sham in September 2016. Also, in September 2016, they joined the Army of Conquest, of which Ahrar al-Sham is also a member. On 25 January 2017, Suqour al-Sham rejoined Ahrar al-Sham, but later became independent.
Liwa al-Muhajireen wal-Ansar, Brigade of Emigrants and Supporters or literally Banner of the Emigrants and Supporters), also known as Jaish al-Muhajireen wal-Ansar, formerly the Muhajireen Battalion, is a Salafi jihadist group consisting of both Arabic-speaking fighters and fighters from the North Caucasus that has been active in the Syrian Civil War against the Syrian government. The group was briefly affiliated with the Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant (ISIL) in 2013, but after changes in leadership, it took an increasingly hostile stance against it. In September 2015, JMA pledged allegiance to the al-Nusra Front.
The inter-rebel conflict during the Syrian Civil War has continued throughout the Syrian Civil War as factions of the Syrian opposition and Free Syrian Army have fought each other, with shifting alliances among various Islamist factions such as Al-Nusra Front, Ahrar al-Sham, Jaysh al-Islam and the Islamic Front.
The Syrian Revolutionaries Front was an alliance of 14 relatively moderate religious and some secular armed groups fighting under the banner of the Free Syrian Army, formed in December 2013, thus according to Arutz Sheva further sidelining the FSA and its leadership Supreme Military Council. It was established as a response to the merger of Islamist Syrian rebels into the Islamic Front.
The Mujahideen Army was a Sunni Islamist rebel group formed in order to fight the Syrian government and the Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant (ISIL) during the Syrian Civil War. Originally a coalition of several Islamist rebel groups, it accused ISIL of disrupting "security and stability" in areas that had been captured from the Syrian government. During its establishment in January 2014, the spokesperson of the coalition said it would start operations in Idlib and Aleppo and gradually expand towards the rest of Syria. In December 2016, the Army of Mujahideen was briefly reorganized as Jabhat Ahl al-Sham, but this formation soon fell apart during rebel infighting in January 2017.
Liwa al-Haqq, is a Syrian Islamist rebel group that was active during the Syrian Civil War until joining Hayat Tahrir al-Sham in 2017.
Kata'ib Ansar al-Sham is an armed Sunni Islamist rebel group active in the Syrian Civil War, mainly fighting against Syrian government forces.
Jund al-Aqsa, later known as Liwa al-Aqsa after 7 February 2017, was a Salafist jihadist organization that was active during the Syrian Civil War. Formerly known as Sarayat al-Quds, the group was founded by Abu Abdul 'Aziz al-Qatari as a subunit within the al-Nusra Front. The group later became independent, because al-Nusra was growing too rapidly for its resources and had suffered from fighting the Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant. On 20 September 2016 the U.S. Department of State designated Jund al-Aqsa as a terrorist organization. The group rejoined al-Nusra Front, by then renamed Jabhat Fateh al-Sham (JFS), in October 2016. However, on 23 January 2017, JFS declared that Jund Al-Aqsa was no longer part of Jabhat Fateh Al-Sham. In early February 2017, some of Jund al-Aqsa's units joined the newly formed Tahrir al-Sham, while the others refused and formed a new splinter group called Liwa al-Aqsa, and captured many towns in northern Hama and southern Idlib from other rebel groups. Following these attacks, Tahrir al-Sham launched a military operation against Liwa al-Aqsa, accusing them of being an ISIL affiliate. Following intense clashes with Tahrir al-Sham, up to 2,100 Liwa al-Aqsa militants left Idlib Province to join ISIL in Raqqa Province, by 22 February 2017.
Jabhat Ansar al-Din is a jihadist alliance that announced itself on 25 July 2014, during the Syrian Civil War. The alliance contains two groups: Harakat Sham al-Islam and Harakat Fajr ash-Sham al-Islamiya; it had declared that was not affiliated with any other "parties". The Green Battalion was originally a signatory, but around October 2014, it swore allegiance to the leader of Jaish al-Muhajireen wal-Ansar and was integrated into that faction. The alliance had attempted to maintain neutrality in the conflict between ISIL and other groups. On 28 January 2017, it joined with numerous other factions to form Tahrir al-Sham, though portions of it left HTS in February 2018.
The 13th Division was a Syrian rebel group sanctioned by the Syrian National Council. It was among the first armed Syrian opposition groups to receive U.S.-made BGM-71 TOW anti-tank missiles. According to a spokesperson for the FSA's Supreme Military Council, the 13th Division was funded by sources within Qatar and Saudi Arabia.
Alwiya al-Furqan is an independent Islamist rebel group involved in the Syrian Civil War. It claimed to be the largest Islamist rebel faction that operated in the eastern Quneitra Governorate and Damascus. The group also held ties to Jordan which allowed fighters from the group to cross into the country to receive medical aid.
The Islamic Muthanna Movement was a Syrian Salafist rebel group based in Daraa that had been active during Syrian Civil War. After its formation in 2012 as the "Muthanna bin Haritha Vanquisher of the Persians Battalion", it expanded to a sizable group. The group has been described by the As-Safir newspaper as "one of the most powerful armed factions in Daraa".
The Army of Conquest or Jaish al-Fatah, abbreviated JaF, was a joint command center of Sunni Islamist Syrian rebel factions participating in the Syrian Civil War.
The Army of Revolutionaries, also known as Jaysh al-Thuwar, is a multi-ethnic armed Syrian rebel coalition that is allied with the primarily Kurdish People's Protection Units (YPG) and participating in the Syrian Civil War as part of the Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF).
The Idlib Governorate clashes , were military confrontations between Syrian rebel factions led by Ahrar al-Sham and their allies on one side and the al-Qaeda-aligned Jabhat Fatah al-Sham and their allies on the other. After 7 February, the clashes also included Jund al-Aqsa as a third belligerent, which had re-branded itself as Liwa al-Aqsa and was attacking the other combatants. The battles were fought in the Idlib Governorate and the western countryside of the Aleppo Governorate.
Hay'at Tahrir al-Sham (HTS), also referred to as Tahrir al-Sham, is a Sunni Islamist political and paramilitary organisation involved in the Syrian civil war. It was formed on 28January 2017 as a merger between several armed factions: Jaysh al-Ahrar, Jabhat Fateh al-Sham (JFS), Ansar al-Din Front, Jaysh al-Sunna, Liwa al-Haqq, and the Nour al-Din al-Zenki Movement. The unification process was held under the initiative of Abu Jaber Shaykh, an Islamist militant commander who had been the second emir of Ahrar al-Sham. HTS, along with other Syrian opposition groups, launched an offensive and toppled the Assad regime on 8 December 2024, and now controls most of the country.
Hashim al-Shaykh, also known by his nom de guerreAbu Jaber Shaykh is a Syrian rebel commander and senior leader of Tahrir al-Sham. He had reportedly resigned from his position in Ahrar al-Sham where he served as a senior commander to help command and direct the merger. Abu Jaber is a Salafi Muslim with a jihadist ideology, which is reflected in the ideology of the group he leads.
Jaysh al-Ahrar, is an armed Salafi Islamist rebel group in northwestern Syria that originated as a clique composed of 16 units in Ahrar al-Sham that opposed involvement in Operation Euphrates Shield, after a fatwa was released by religious clerics in Jabhat Fatah al-Sham, which led to the group's separation from Ahrar al-Sham.
Opposition–ISIL conflict during the Syrian Civil War started after fighting erupted between Syrian opposition groups and the Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant (ISIL). In early January 2014, serious clashes between the groups erupted in the north of the country. Opposition groups near Aleppo attacked ISIL in two areas, Atarib and Anadan, which were both strongholds of the fundamentalist Sunni organization. Despite the conflict between ISIL and other rebels, one faction of ISIL has cooperated with the al-Nusra Front and the Green Battalion to combat Hezbollah in the Battle of Qalamoun. By 2018.
1 2 3 4 Ali El Yassir (23 August 2016). "The Ahrar al Sham Movement: Syria's Local Salafists". Woodrow Wilson International Center for Scholars. The movement unambiguously espoused a Salafi and Jihadi discourse when it was created, but it has also sought to differentiate itself from al Qaeda and ISIS's Salafi-Jihadism. The group continued to describe itself as independent and stated that it was not an extension of any organization, party or group. Unlike al Qaeda and ISIS, Ahrar al Sham consistently stated its fight was limited to Syria.
↑ Sami Moubayed (29 January 2017). "Is Syria's Idlib being groomed as Islamist killing ground?". Asia Times. "Last January, Idlib sank into a "rebel civil war" as fighting broke out between Jabhat al-Nusra and the Turkish-backed Ahrar al-Sham, a militia in the Syrian north that boasts of a powerbase of at least 20,000 fighters."
↑ Charles Lister (15 March 2017). "Al Qaeda Is Starting to Swallow the Syrian Opposition". Foreign Policy. "HTS and Ahrar al-Sham are the most militarily powerful, with the former likely commanding 12,000 to 14,000 fighters and the latter closer to 18,000 to 20,000."
↑ Aaron Y Zelin (June 2017). "How Al Qaeda survived drones, uprisings and the Islamic State"(PDF). Washington Institute for Near East Policy. Archived from the original(PDF) on 7 October 2020. Retrieved 22 September 2017."Overnight [after its January 2017 expansion], Ahrar al-Sham had gained approximately 8,000 additional fighters to supplement its already large membership of 12,000."
↑ "Syria group Hayat Tahrir al-Sham and al-Qaeda legacy". BBC. 22 May 2019. Retrieved 9 April 2024. In July 2017 HTS captured large parts of Idlib Province following battles against rebel groups, including its former ally Ahrar al-Sham.
1 2 3 Holdo, Markus (March 2016). "Post-Islamism and fields of contention after the Arab Spring: feminism, Salafism and the revolutionary youth". Third World Quarterly. 38 (8): 1800–1815. doi:10.1080/01436597.2016.1233492. S2CID151517166.
↑ "Private money pours into Syrian conflict as rich donors pick sides". The Washington Post. 15 June 2013. Retrieved 14 April 2016. Ahar al-Sham, considered one of the most radical of the Syrian Islamist militias, recorded a similar public thank-you for $400,000 the group says it received from the same fund. In its Web posting, the group specifically thanked Ajmi and Hajri
↑ "Archived copy". The Washington Post. Archived from the original on 18 October 2016. Retrieved 16 October 2016.{{cite news}}: CS1 maint: archived copy as title (link) Germany convicts 4 of supporting terrorist group in Syria, By Associated Press 6 October Washington Post
↑ Aryn Baker (24 February 2014). "Al Qaeda's Top Envoy Killed in Syria by Rival Rebel Group". Time. Retrieved 14 September 2016. The Syrian-born al-Suri had another role in helping lead one of the most effective fighting groups in Syria today, the Ahrar al-Sham brigade. Officially, Ahrar al-Sham has no affiliation with al-Qaeda, but Zawahiri was able to influence the rebel group's actions through al-Suri. It was a savvy management move that gave al-Qaeda flexibility on the Syrian front.
↑ "Russia blocked in bid to blacklist Syria rebels". Al Arabiya Network. Reuters. Retrieved 14 September 2016. Ahrar al-Sham, whose late leader fought alongside Osama bin Laden, last year denied sharing al Qaeda's ideology or having organizational ties to the group.
↑ Josh Wood (13 September 2016). "Syria truce threatened by Nusra's growing acceptance among rebels". The National. Retrieved 14 September 2016. The powerful Islamist group Ahrar Al Sham, a longtime ally of Fatah Al Sham that has recently been in talks about a merger, has also rejected the ceasefire.
↑ "As Syria truce holds, Al-Qaeda affiliate denounces it". Al Arabiya Network. Associated Press. Retrieved 14 September 2016. A Jabhat Fatah al-Sham commander in the northern province of Aleppo told The Associated Press the group could announce its merger with the ultraconservative Ahrar al-Sham group "in the near future." He spoke on condition of anonymity because he was not allowed to speak publicly about the talks. A senior Ahrar al-Sham official also confirmed the talks, adding that such a merger would cover a large number of factions, not just his group. "The merger will not be bilateral. ... It is a project to unify the factions on the battlefield. If it holds, all factions will melt into one," said the official, who spoke on condition of anonymity because the talks are ongoing.
O'Bagy, Elizabeth (2012). Jihad in Syria(PDF). Middle East Security Report. Vol.6. Washington, DC: Institute for the Study of War. Archived from the original(PDF) on 27 March 2014. Retrieved 28 January 2023.
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