SUMMARY
The Mujahideen Army (Jaysh al-Mujahideen) was an alliance formed during the civil war in Syria on 2 January 2014 with the goal of defeating the Islamic State (IS) in Aleppo. As such it was a leading faction in the anti-IS offensive that begun in January 2014 (see IS - Islamic Front, Mujahideen Army, SRF. It was based in the countryside of western Aleppo, mainly around Atarib, but participated in fighting IS on several more fronts in northern Syria.
The alliance was composed by the following groups: Nour al-Din al-Zenki, Fastaqim Union, 19th Division, Islamic Freedom Brigade, Battalion of the Martyr Muhammad Sha'ban, Farouq Battalion, 5th Battalion, Revolutionaries of Atarib Gathering, Atarib Martyrs Brigade, Battalion of the Martyr Alaa al-Ahmad, Central Force for the City of Atarib, Ansar al-Haqq Battalion, Loyalty to God Battalion, Shells of Justice Brigade. At the time of its formation it was estimated to have around 5,000 fighters, making it a prominent fighting force in Aleppo.
Its largest member group was Nour al-Din al-Zenki, which was also a part of the Authenticity and Development Front, but fought as part of the Mujahideen Army in Aleppo during the 2014 anti-IS offensive. Mujahideen Army was greatly weakened when Nour al-Din al-Zenki left the alliance in May 2014, and thereafter stopped playing as prominent role in the opposition. On 6 May 2015, the Mujahideen Army joined the Fatah Halab joint operations room. The group finally dissolved after merging into Ahrar al-Sham on 24 January 2017, after being defeated by HTS.
The Mujahideen Army had a joint leadership including Lt. Col. Abu Bakr, Captain Mohammed Shakerdi and Nour al-Din Zinki commander Sheikh Tawfiq Shahabuddin. The Mujahideen Army branded themselves as an FSA group and received US backing. It was originally a moderately Islamist oriented movement which opposed conflict with any other factions than IS, including al-Qaida linked Jabhat Fateh al-Sham (at the time known as Jabhat al-Nusra). It would, however, later also fight the Kurdish-led SDF as part of the Fatah Halab operations room.
The Mujahideen Army has been involved in the non-state category of UCDP organised violence. It is also considered part of the Syrian insurgents active in the intrastate and one-sided categories of UCDP organized violence.
