Harakat Sham al-Islam

Harakat Sham al-Islam
Syrian Islamic Movement[1]
حركة شام الإسلام
Participant in Syrian Civil War


Harakat Sham al-Islam Logo & Flag
Active August 2013[2]–present
Ideology Salafist jihadism[3]
Leaders Ibrahim bin Shakaran †[4]
Abu Talha al Andalusi
Abu Muhammad al Baydawi[5]
Area of operations Latakia Governorate, Syria
Aleppo Governorate, Syria[2]
Strength 500 (April 2014)[6]
Part of
Allies
Opponents
Battles and wars

Syrian Civil War

Harakat Sham al-Islam (Arabic: حركة شام الإسلام‎, meaning "Islamic Movement of the Levant") is a jihadist group composed of primarily Moroccans that has been active during the Syrian Civil War.[15] The group announced on 25 July 2014 that it became part of the Jabhat Ansar al-Din.[7] It was designated as a terrorist organization by the US State Department on 24 September 2014.[16]

The group was founded in August 2013[2] by three Moroccan detainees who had been released from the Guantanamo Bay detention camp, Ibrahim bin Shakran, Ahmed Mizouz and Mohammed Alami.[6] Harakat Sham al-Islam first came to notice because of the role it played in the 2013 Latakia offensive.[14] The following year the group was one of the three primary factions, alongside Al-Nusra Front and Ansar al-Sham, that took part in the 2014 Latakia offensive.[13] Harakat Sham al-Islam also has a presence in Aleppo, being involved in battles for Kindi Hospital and the Aleppo Central Prison.[14]

The group's leader, Shakran, was killed in a battle with Syrian Government forces in April 2014,[3] along with the group's military commander, Abu Safiya Al-Masri.[17]

See also

References

  1. ↑ "Ex-Guantánamo detainee dies fighting Assad in Syria". Miami Herald. 18 September 2013. Retrieved 19 May 2014.
  2. 1 2 3 4 5 "Muhajireen Battalions in Syria". 13 December 2013. Retrieved 19 May 2014.
  3. 1 2 3 "Former Guantanamo detainee killed while leading jihadist group in Syria". Long War Journal. 4 April 2014. Retrieved 26 May 2014.
  4. ↑ "Ex-Guantanamo prisoner killed in Syria". Al Jazeera English. 18 September 2013. Retrieved 29 May 2014.
  5. ↑ "Syrian jihadist group Sham al Islam appoints new leader". Long War Journal. 22 April 2015. Retrieved 23 April 2015.
  6. 1 2 "After Guantanamo, Freed Detainees Returned to Violence in Syria Battlefields". The Wall Street Journal. 3 June 2014. Retrieved 5 June 2014.
  7. 1 2 "Syria Update: July 17 - 25, 2014". Institute for the Study of War Syria Updates. 25 July 2014. Retrieved 26 July 2014.
  8. ↑ "Jaish al-Muhajireen wal-Ansar Capture Claimed “Assad Spies” In Aleppo". From Chechnya To Syria. 10 September 2014. Retrieved 12 September 2014.
  9. ↑ Ivan Sidorenko on Twitter: "#Syria #Latakia #Lattakia MILITANTS ANNOUNCE NEW OpRoom + Battle NAMED "Repel or Counter the Injustice" against #SAA https://t.co/lBQp1ZI3t5"
  10. ↑ معركة رد المظالم (@Rd_Almzalm) | Twitter
  11. ↑
  12. ↑ Field report: Islamist rebels attack Syrian Army in Hama. Map Update
  13. 1 2 "Syrie: combats féroces autour d'un point de passage avec la Turquie". 21 March 2014. Retrieved 19 May 2014.
  14. 1 2 3 Abu Ahmad al-Maghrebi (Ibrahim Bencheqroun), un vétéran du Jihad mort en Syrie | Jihad veteran killed in Syria
  15. ↑ "The Syrian rebel groups pulling in foreign fighters". BBC. 24 December 2013. Retrieved 19 May 2014.
  16. ↑ "Designations of Foreign Terrorist Fighters". US Department of State. 24 September 2014. Retrieved 25 September 2014.
  17. ↑ "مصرع قائد حركة شام الاسلام ونائبه خلال اشتباكات مع قوات النظام". Syrian Observatory for Human Rights. 3 April 2014.

External links

This article is issued from Wikipedia - version of the Monday, May 02, 2016. The text is available under the Creative Commons Attribution/Share Alike but additional terms may apply for the media files.