Al-Nusra Front, also known as Front for the Conquest of the Levant, was a Salafi-jihadist organization that fought against Ba'athist regime 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.
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, was 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.
Foreign fighters have fought on all four sides of the Syrian Civil War, as well both sides of the War in Iraq. In addition to Sunni foreign fighters, Shia fighters from several countries have joined pro-government militias in Syria, leftist militants have joined Kurdish forces, and other foreign fighters have joined jihadist organizations and private military contractors recruit globally. Estimates of the total number of foreign Sunnis who have fought for the Syrian rebels over the course of the conflict range from 5,000 to over 10,000, while foreign Shia fighters numbered around 10,000 or less in 2013 rising to between 15,000 and 25,000 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.
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.
Junud al-Sham, sometimes also called Jund al-Sham, was a group of Chechen and Lebanese Sunni mujahideen that fought in the Syrian Civil War and were led by Muslim Shishani until its disbanding in 2021.
The Group of the One and Only was a minor rebel group that fought in the Syrian Civil War. The group was composed of foreigners and Syrians. The group's leader, Amir Al Bara, and an unknown number of fighters, reportedly left Latakia and later joined the Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant in 2016.
Murat Akhmetovich Margoshvili, also known by his kunya Muslim Shishani or Muslim Abu Walid al Shishani, was the emir of the defunct Junud al-Sham group in Syria. He gained prominence in the early years of the Syrian civil war large because of his distinctive red beard.
The Ajnad al-Sham was an independent Idlib and Hama-based rebel group active during the Syrian Civil War. The group is named after Ajnad al-Sham. It joined the Army of Conquest on 24 March 2015 and took part in the Second Battle of Idlib. On 29 March 2014, it announced that its military leader, Abu Abdullah Taoum, was killed during clashes around al-Fouaa.
Jaysh al-Jihad was an Islamist rebel group based in Quneitra Governorate. The group formed from the merger of seven small independent groups and factions that defected from Nusra Front after it clashed with the Yarmouk Martyrs Brigade in December 2014. These groups were: Jihad Brigades, Jamaat Jund al-Islam, Jamaat Abu Baseer, Mujahideen of al-Sham movement, Jamaat Shabab Ahl al-Sunnah, Nurayn Brigade, and Jamaat Bunyan al-Marsous.
The Imam Bukhari Jamaat is an Islamist Salafi group fighting in the Syrian Civil War and the War in Afghanistan, composed of primarily Uzbeks, and expressing loyalty to the Taliban movement. The group originally operated only in Syria, where it is allied with other jihadist organisations such as al-Nusra Front and Ahrar ash-Sham, and alongside these other groups it makes up the Army of Conquest, which overran much of Idlib province in north Syria in 2015. Since late 2016, the group has also began to fight against Afghan National Security Forces, and has claimed to have set up training camps in northern Afghanistan.
The Turkistan Islamic Party in Syria (TIP) was the Syrian branch of the Turkistan Islamic Party, an armed Uyghur Jihadist group with a presence in the Syrian Civil War. While the TIP has been active in Syria, the organization's core leadership was based in Afghanistan and Pakistan, with a presence in its home territory of China.
Abu Omar al-Turkistani was a high-ranking commander for several al-Qaeda-affiliated groups, such as the Islamic Jihad Union (IJU), the Al-Nusra Front and the Turkistan Islamic Party in Syria (TIP). Active as a militant since at least 2001, al-Turkistani fought in both the War in Afghanistan and the Syrian Civil War. By late 2016, he was considered to be "one of top ten leading 'jihadists' in Syria" and one of the "four most prominent leaders" of TIP. Shortly before his death, al-Turkistani helped to facilitate the merger of many Islamist rebel groups into Tahrir al-Sham. He was eventually killed by an American drone strike on 1 January 2017.
Ajnad al-Kavkaz is a Chechen-led Salafi jihadist militant group in northwestern Syria, operating primarily in the mountainous and forested areas of Latakia Governorate. Although it was formed by former fighters of the Caucasus Emirate and was tentatively linked to the organization, AK operated autonomously from the beginning and later cut ties with the Caucasus Emirate. Though it had become "the largest of the Muslim factions from the former Soviet Union fighting in Syria" by September 2016, AK's activity dwindled in the following years. In 2022, the group's centre of operations shifted from Syria to Ukraine, as most AK militants had begun mobilizing to fight against the Russian invasion of Ukraine. As of 2023, AK has largely been engaged in the battle of Bakhmut in Ukraine. The following year, members of the group were active in the November Battle of Aleppo, which precipitated the fall of the Assad regime the next month.
Jamaat Jund al-Qawqaz, originally formed as Ahrar al-Sharkas, is an armed group based in the Quneitra Governorate of Syria with some fighters in the Latakia Governorate. The group is made up of ethnic Circassians from Beer Ajam. The group came to prominence during the Quneitra Governorate clashes (2012–14).
Foreign fighters in the Syrian civil war have come to Syria and joined all four sides in the war. In addition to Sunni foreign fighters arriving to defend the Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant or join the Syrian rebels, Shia fighters from several countries have joined pro-government militias in Syria, and leftists have become foreign fighters in the Syrian Democratic Forces.
The Tahrir al-Sham–Jundullah conflict was a series of violent clashes between Hayat Tahrir al-Sham and several rival jihadist factions operating in the Idlib and Latakia governorates. The clashes began on 25 October 2021 after HTS demanded that the jihadist leader Muslim Shishani should stand trial after they accused him and his group of sheltering members of the Islamic State.
Jaysh Muhammad in Bilad al-Sham was a jihadist organization based in Aleppo, Syria, that fought in the Syrian civil war. The group was led by an Egyptian foreign militant named Abu Obeida al-Masri/Muhajir until 2014 who also led the group after splitting from a sector led by Ahmed Obeid in the Azaz area of north Aleppo countryside at the end of 2012. After Abu Obeida al-Masri left the group to go with the Islamic Front in Latakia, the Majlis al-Shura decided to pledge allegiance to Al-Nusra Front in 2016.
Giorgi Kushtanashvili, later known as Feyzullah Margoshvili and commonly known by his nom de guerreSalahuddin Shishani, was briefly the head of Jaish al-Muhajireen wal-Ansar and later headed Jaysh Usrah in Syria until his death in December 2017.
Kerim Bilyalov, commonly known by his nom de guerreAbdul Karim Krymsky, was a Crimean Tatar who served as the deputy emir of Jaish al-Muhajireen wal-Ansar and was the head of a Crimean jamaat.
Tahrir al-Sham 
Turkistan Islamic Party in Syria 
Syrian Turkmen Brigades 
Syria 
Russia 
United States 
Iran 
Hezbollah 
