Al-Nusra Front

Al-Nusra Front
جبهة النصرة
Participant in the Syrian Civil War, the
Syrian Civil War spillover in Lebanon,
Operation Inherent Resolve, and
the Russian intervention in the Syrian Civil War

Flag of the al-Nusra Front
Active 23 January 2012 – present[1]
Ideology
Leaders Abu Mohammad al-Julani[6]
Headquarters
Area of operations  Syria (Primarily in Northwest Syria, around the Idlib and Aleppo Provinces)
 Lebanon[12]
Strength 15,000-20,000[13][14][15]
Part of al-Qaeda
Mujahideen Shura Council[16]
Army of Conquest[17]
Battle of Victory[18]
Ansar al-Sharia[19]
Jund al-Malahm[20]
Jaish al-Haramoun[21]
Itisam bi Allah[22]
Northern Homs Countryside Operations Room[23]
Mare' Operations Room (alleged)[24]
al Marj Operations Room[25]
[26]
Repel or Counter the Injustice Operations Room[27][28][29][30]
Jaysh al-Fustat[31][32]
Allies
Opponents

State opponents

Non-state opponents

Shi'ite groups

Islamic State and Islamic State affiliates

Battles and wars

Syrian Civil War

Syrian Civil War spillover in Lebanon

Military intervention against ISIL

Al-Nusra Front, or Jabhat al-Nusra (Arabic: جبهة النصرة لأهل الشام‎ Jabhat an-Nuṣrah li-Ahli ash-Shām, "The Support Front for the People of Al-Sham", often abbreviated to JN or JaN), sometimes called al-Qaeda in Syria or al-Qaeda in the Levant,[48] is a Sunni Islamist militia fighting against Syrian Government forces in the Syrian Civil War, with the aim of establishing an Islamist state in the country.[49] It is the Syrian branch of al-Qaeda,[50] and also operates in neighbouring Lebanon.[51] In early 2015, the group became one of the major components of the powerful jihadist joint operations room named the Army of Conquest, which took over large territories in Northwestern Syria, although by late 2015, al-Nusra's role in the alliance became unclear.

The group announced its formation on 23 January 2012.[52] In November 2012, The Washington Post described al-Nusra as the most successful arm of the rebel forces.[53] Ten days later, the United States designated Jabhat al-Nusra as a foreign terrorist organization, followed by the United Nations Security Council and many other countries.

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.[54] Western observers[55] and a Syrian observer[56] considered such a split unlikely, and in March 2015, al-Nusra’s leadership denied a break-up or that talks with Qatar had occurred.[55] Other Syrian observers considered such a split conceivable[56] or imminent.[57] As of 2015, al-Nusra cooperates with Islamist and jihadist rebel groups, and some Free Syrian Army-aligned groups, against Syrian government forces (see section Relations with other Syrian rebels).

Ideology

The membership of the Al Nusra Front is primarily made up of Syrian jihadists.[58][59] Its goals are to overthrow Bashar al-Assad's government in Syria and to create an Islamic emirate under sharia law,[60][61] with an emphasis from an early stage on focusing on the "near enemy" of the Syrian regime rather than on global jihad.[62] Syrian members of the group claim that they are fighting only the Assad regime and would not attack Western states;[63] while official policy of the group is to hold the United States and Israel as enemies of Islam,[64] and to warn against Western intervention in Syria,[63] al-Nusra Front leader Golani has stated that "We are only here to accomplish one mission, to fight the regime and its agents on the ground, including Hezbollah and others".[65] 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 include: 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.[66] 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 they had been carried out against the group's guidelines.[67] 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.[68][69][70] Nusra and ISIL are both against the Druze, the difference being that Nusra is apparently satisfied with destroying Druze shrines and making them become Sunnis while ISIL wants to violently annihilate them as it does to Yazidis.[71]

The tactics of al-Nusra Front differ 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 has cooperated with other militant groups and has declined to impose sharia law where there has been opposition. Analysts have noted this could give the al-Nusra Front a greater long-term advantage.[72]

In early 2015, al-Qaeda leader Ayman al-Zawahiri instructed al-Nusra Front leader Jolani to pursue the following five goals:[56]

  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[56]

Al-Qaeda/Al-Nusra has been trying to take advantage of ISIL's rise by presenting itself as "moderate" compared to ISIL. While it has the same aim of establishing sharia and a caliphate, it intends to implement it in a more gradual manner.[73][74][75][76][77] Al Nusra criticized the way ISIL fully and immediately instituted sharia since it alienated people too much, with a gradual, slower approach favored by al-Qaeda by preparing society to accept it and indoctrinating people through education before implementing the hudud 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.[78] 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.[79]

A video called The Heirs of Glory was issued by al-Nusra, 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 September 11 attacks and the Islamists Sayyid Qutb and Abdullah Azzam.[80] Its magazine, Al Risalah, was first issued in July 2015.

Al-Qaeda leader al-Zawahiri urged ISIL fighters to unite with all other jihadists against their enemies and stop the infighting.[81][82] 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.[83]

Structure

Leadership

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). Very little is known about him, with even his nationality unclear.[49] 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.[84]

Name Position Situation
Abu Mohammad al-Julani Emir

Founder and Emir of al-Nusra Front[85]

Sami al-Oraydi Deputy Emir

Deputy leader and senior religious official in al-Nusra[85]

Abu Humam al-Shami † Military Commander

Military Chief for al-Nusra Front.[85] Killed in March 2015 by the US-led Coalition[10][86]

Abu Firas al-Suri † Chief Spokesperson

Chief media Spokesperson for al-Nusra Front.[85] Killed in April 2016 by an airstrike.[87]

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[85]

Abu Muhammed al Ansari † Emir of Idlib province

Held the position of Emir of Idlib province[88] Killed in April 2014 by ISIL forces[88]

Hierarchy

The structure of the group varies across Syria. In Damascus, the organisation operates in an underground clandestine cell system, while in Aleppo, the group is organised along semi-conventional military lines, with units divided into brigades, regiments, and platoons.[49] All potential recruits must undertake a ten-day religious training course, followed by a 15–20-day military training program.[1]

Al-Nusra contains 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 play an important role in the regional JN leadership, with each region having a commander and a sheikh. The sheikh supervises the commander from a religious perspective and is known as dabet al-shar'i (religious commissioner).[49]

Members of the group are accused of attacking the religious beliefs of non-Sunnis in Syria, including the Alawis.[64] 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".[89]

Foreign fighters

A number of Americans have attempted to join the fighting in Syria, specifically with al-Nusra.[90] 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.[90] 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.[91]

Media

All statements and videos by the al-Nusra Front have been released by its media outlet, al-Manarah al-Bayda (The White Minaret), via the leading jihadist webforum Shamoukh al-Islam.[1]

History

Origin

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 some 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.[49][92]

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.[49] 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.[49][92]

Iraq's deputy interior minister said in early February 2012 that weapons and Islamist militants were entering Syria from Iraq.[93] 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;[49] Iraqi Foreign Minister Hoshyar Zebari agreed to that in 2012.[94] The British The Daily Telegraph stated in December 2012 that many foreign al-Nusra fighters were hardened veterans from conflicts in Iraq and Afghanistan.[63]

Strength in 2012

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.[92] Nusra in October 2012 refused a call for a four-day ceasefire in Syria during Eid al-Adha feast.[95]

In November 2012, they were considered by The Huffington Post to be the best trained and most experienced fighters among the Syrian rebels.[96] 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.[53] Commentator David Ignatius for The Washington Post described Nusra then as the most aggressive and successful arm of the FSA.[53] 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".[53]

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".[97]

Relations with other Syrian rebels

Al-Nusra Front fighters during the Syrian Civil War.

In 2012

In October–December 2012, and especially after its terrorist designation by the US, Nusra received words of praise and appreciation for their efforts in the "revolution" against Assad from non-specified ‘rebels’,[95] a Free Syrian Army (FSA) spokesman in the Aleppo region,[98] a group of 29 civilian and military groups,[99][100] and the leader of the Syrian National Coalition.[101] At the same time, two anonymous FSA leaders,[63][95] and a secular rebel in north Syria,[63] expressed disapproval of the Islamist ‘religious prison’ Nusra might be wanting to turn Syria into.

In 2015

In 2015, rebel factions 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.[102]

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 Free Syrian Army, moderate and conservative Syrian Islamists, and some independent jihadist factions.[102]

Split with ISIL (2013)

By January 2013, Nusra was a formidable force with strong popular support in Syria,[92] and it continued to grow in strength during the following months.[103] 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,[104] and that he was merging Jabhat al-Nusra with ISI into one group, "Islamic State of Iraq and al-Sham" (ISIL ), under his command.[92][105] Al-Baghdadi also said 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.[105]

The next day al-Julani rejected the merger and affirmed the group's allegiance to al-Qaeda and its leader, Ayman al-Zawahiri.[92] 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."[106] Nusra then split, with some members, particularly foreign fighters, followed Baghdadi’s edict and joined ISIL, while others stayed loyal to Golani or left to join other Islamist brigades.[92][107][108]

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.[109] Sometime in May 2013, al-Julani was reportedly injured by an airstrike conducted by the Syrian government.[110] 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.[111] 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.[108]

In November 2013, Al-Zawahiri ordered the disbandment of ISIL and said al-Nusra should be considered the (only) al-Qaeda branch in Syria,[50] 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.[48]

Open fights Nusra–ISIL (2013–2015)

Some units of al-Nusra began taking part in clashes against the Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant in late 2013.[112]

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.[113] 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.[114] 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.[115] In May 2014, open fighting broke out between ISIL and al-Nusra in Deir ez-Zor Governorate, leaving hundreds dead on both sides.[116]

By July 2014, al-Nusra had largely been expelled from Deir ez-Zor Governorate.[117] 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.[118][119][120][121]

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."[65]

Speculations on a split with al-Qaeda

On 12 February 2015, SITE Intelligence Group cited rumours that Nusra leader al-Julani had plans to disassociate from al-Qaeda.[122]

On 4 March, "sources within and close to al-Nusra" reportedly had said to Reuters 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.[54]

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".[55]

But Abu Maria al-Qahtani, the commander of al-Nusra in Deir ez-Zor province, still strongly advocated a split with al-Qaeda.[57] 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".[57]

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.[123]

A "well-connected Syrian Islamist" cited in May 2015 by 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."[56]

Other attacks (2012–2015)

The 6 January 2012 al-Midan bombing was claimed by al-Nusra, in a video seen by AFP on 29 February 2012.[124] 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.[125] The video asserts that the "martyrdom-seeking operation" was executed "in revenge for our mother Umm Abdullah—from the city of Homs—against whom the criminals of the regime violated her dignity and threatened to slaughter her son," SITE reported. The video shows "an excerpt of allegiances, operations, and training of the al-Nusra Front" as well as a fighter "amongst the masses in a public demonstration, advising them to do their prayers and adhere to the rituals of Islam."

The al-Nusra Front announced the formation of the "Free Ones of the Levant Brigades", in a YouTube video statement that was released on 23 January. In the statement, the group claimed that it attacked the headquarters of security in Idlib province.[126] "To all the free people of Syria, we announce the formation of the Free Ones of the Levant Brigades," 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."[126]

The March 2012 Damascus bombings were claimed by Nusra.[52]

The 10 May 2012 Damascus bombings were allegedly claimed by al-Nusra Front in an Internet video;[127] 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.[128]

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.[129] On 5 June 2012, the 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.[130]

On 17 June 2012, Walid Ahmad al-Ayesh, described by Syrian authorities as the "right hand" of the 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.[131] 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.[132]

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.[133] Al-Nusra claimed responsibility for the attack and published photos of 11 station employees they kidnapped following the raid.[134]

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.[135][136]

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.[137] Three suicide car bombs exploded at the eastern corner of the central Saadallah Al-Jabiri Square killing 48 people.[138] More than 122 people were reported to be heavily injured.[139] 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.[140][141]

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

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.[142]

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.[143] 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.[96]

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.[144][145]

Members of the 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.[146] The SOHR claimed a total of 50 soldiers were killed in the Sahl al-Ghab attack.[147]

Al Jazeera reported on 23 December 2012 that the 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.[148]

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.[149]

Though it was initially reported that Syrian Catholic priest François Murad was beheaded at a church in Gassanieh, he was actually shot dead.[150]

The group has taken part in military operations with the Free Syrian Army.[151] 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."[152]

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.[153]

As of June 2013, al-Nusra Front had claimed responsibility for 57 of the 70 suicide attacks in Syria during the conflict.[154]

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.[155] 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.[156] At the same time, two groups of UN peacekeepers from Philippines were trapped under fire in nearby Rwihinah.[157] On 31 August, one group of 32 Filipinos soldiers was rescued and the other group of 40 soldiers escaped.[158] The rescue operation was carried out by Irish peacekeepers.[159] 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.[160] On 8 September, Rodrigo Duterte, the mayor of Davao City, called for Singha's death after he allegedly called the Filipinos soldiers cowards.[161] On 11 September, the kidnapped Fijian soldiers were released.[162]

In late October 2014, al-Nusra began attacking some Free Syrian Army 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.[163][164]

In June 2015, fighters of al-Nusra massacred 20 Druze villagers in Idlib province located in north-west Syria.[165] Al-Jazeera claimed that Al-Nusra's leadership apologized and blamed the incident on a few undisciplined fighters.[166] Foreign Policy noted that Al-Jazeera is engaged in actively whitewashing Al-Nusra and 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.[68][69][70] Nusra and ISIL are both against the Druze, the difference being the that Nusra is apparently satisfied with destroying Druze shrines and making them become Sunnis while ISIL wants to violently annihilate them like it did to Yazidis.[71]

Two The Revolutionary Army fighters were beheaded by Nusra.[167][168][169][170][171][172][173][174]

Nusra fighters celebrated the ransoming and exchange of Lebanese army prisoners in the town of Arsal in Lebanon.[175][176][177]

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.[178] Al-Julani said he would pay "three million euros ($3.4 million) for anyone who can kill Bashar al-Assad and end his story".[179]

Russian air raids (2015–2016)

Russian air strikes reportedly targeted positions held by al-Nusra.[180] Al-Nusra has set a reward for the seizure of Russian soldiers.[181] Russia sees al-Nusra as a "terrorist organization".

Abu Ubaid Al-Madani, who speaks Russian, released a video addressed to the Russians warning that they would massacre Russian soldiers.[182] Abu Mohammad al-Julani called for Russian civilians to be attacked by former Soviet Muslims and called for attacks on Alawite villages in Syria.[183][184][185] 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.[186]

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.[187]

On 17 February, 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.[15][188] 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.[189]

Territorial control

Military situation in the Syrian Civil War as of May 1, 2016.
  Controlled by Syrian Government forces
  Controlled by Kurdish forces (Rojava)
  Controlled by the Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant
  Controlled by al-Nusra Front
  Controlled by Syrian opposition forces

(For a more detailed map, see Cities and towns during the Syrian Civil War)

As of late 2015, al-Nusra controlled territory throughout Idlib Governorate, alongside other factions in the Army of Conquest.[190][191]

External support

At least one Arab government[192] has accused Qatar of helping al-Nusra.[193] According to the Al-Ahram Weekly, "The Saudis and Qataris are to provide funding for 40 per cent of the [Army of Conquest] coalition’s needs".[194] JaN has been cited as an example of groups in the Syrian Civil War that Saudi Arabia has supported that are "most in line with Wahhabi beliefs".[2] The US Government has been sending weapons to rebels in Syria since at least late 2013,[195] and perhaps as early as 2012,[196] during the beginning phases of the conflict. These weapons have been reportedly falling into hands of extremists, such as al-Nusra and ISIL.[197][198][199]

al-Nusra has also been materially supported by multiple foreign fighters. Most of these fighters are from Europe and the Middle East, as pipelines to Syria from those locations are better established and navigable.[200] 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.[201]

The Independent reported that Saudi Arabia and Turkey "are 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 includes Jabhat al-Nusra."[202]

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.[203]

Al-Qaeda and Khorasan group

Main article: Khorasan group

Khorasan, also known as the Khorasan Group, is an alleged group of senior al-Qaeda members who operate in Syria.[204] The group is reported to consist of a small number of fighters who are all on terrorist watchlists, and co-ordinate with the al-Nusra Front. At an intelligence gathering in Washington, D.C. on 18 September 2014, Director of National Intelligence James Clapper stated that "in terms of threat to the homeland, Khorasan may pose as much of a danger as ISIS."[205] The term first appeared in news media in September 2014, although the United States had reportedly been keeping track of the group for two years previously.[206] 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.[207]

Weaponry and tactics

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, suicide-attacks, targeting of checkpoints, conventional assault of military bases, assassination of political and military figures and members of the shabiha,[49] targeting (destruction/killing) of pro-government media stations and personnel.

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.[208]

The 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.[209]

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".[184]

Chemical weapons

On 30 May, 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.[210][211][212] The governor of Adana claimed that the security forces had not found sarin gas but unknown chemicals, without offering further elaboration.[213] The Turkish Ambassador to Moscow later said that tests showed the chemical seized was anti-freeze, not sarin.[214] In September six of those arrested in May 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."[215] 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 suspects were said to be linked to al-Nusra and to Ahrar ash-Sham.[216][217]

Designation as a terrorist organisation

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

Country Date References
 Iran 3 January 2012 [218]
 United States 10 December 2012 [97]
United Nations United Nations Security Council May 2013 [219][220]
 France 30 May 2013 [221]
 Australia 28 June 2013 [222]
 United Kingdom 19 July 2013 [223][224]
 Canada 7 November 2013 [225]
 Saudi Arabia 7 March 2014 [226]
 New Zealand 14 May 2014 [227]
 United Arab Emirates 19 May 2014 [228]
 Turkey 2 June 2014 [220][229]
 Russia 29 December 2014 [230][231][232]

See also

References

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  221. ↑ ‘Liste unique de gels’. 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."
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