SUMMARY
Harakat Ahrar al-Sham al-Islamiyya or Ahrar al-Sham was formed in December 2011 as part of the civil war in Syria. The group has increasingly become one of the most prominent groups within the opposition.
Ahrar al-Sham was Sunni Salafist militant group that aimed at replacing the Assad Regime with an Islamic government.
Ahrar al-Sham was the largest group within the Islamic Front. The group has also been the main component of the Fatah Halab, Jaysh al-Fatah Idlib, Eastern Qalamoun, Eastern Ghouta Unified Military Command Operation Rooms. Ahrar al-Sham has also been fighting together with Jabhat al-Nusra. On 18 February 2018, Ahrar al-Sham created Syrian Liberation Front together with Nour al-Din Zenki. Syrian Liberation Front merged with National Front for Liberation in August 2018, which in turn joined the Turkish-backed rebel alliance SNA (Syria National Army) in October 2019.
Ahrar al-Sham consisted of 10 000 - 20 000 fighters. Qatar Supported Ahrar al-Sham with weapons and money in 2014, Saudi Arabia and Turkey joined the support in 2015 providing the group with weapons and money.
Ahrar al-Sham was led by Hassan Abboud until he was killed in clashes with IS on 9 September 2014. On 11 September 2014 Sheikh Hashim al-Sheikh became the interim leader of Ahrar al-Sham until September 2015 when he stepped down in favour of Abu Yahya al-Hamawi.
Ahrar al-Sham 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 organised violence.
Jaysh al-Islam (meaning the Army of Islam) was formed as Liwa al-Islam (Islam Brigade) by Zahran Alloush in September 2011 during the civil war in Syria with an aim of toppling Assad and replacing him with an Islamic government. The group was particularly active around Damascus, with Eastern Ghouta as its stronghold. Jaysh al-Islam was one of the main Syrian insurgent groups in Damascus and its countryside until 2018. On 29 September 2013, 50 small rebel factions from the area joined Liwa al-Islam and they changed their name to Jaysh al-Islam.
In 2014, Jaysh al-Islam was part of the Islamic Front. During 2015, it participated in several coalitions while remaining an independent actor. Most notably, on 26 April 2015 they established the Fatah Halab Operations room with other groups active in the Aleppo area. The group was also a leading member in the Eastern Ghouta Unified Military Command and the Eastern Qalamoun Operations Room, both active in fighting IS in Rif Dimashq. It continued fighting IS in several coalitions (2015, 2017, 2018) in Damascus countryside until it was driven out by the regime in mid-2018. In April 2018, Jaysh al-Islam joined the Turkish-backed rebel alliance SNA (Syria National Army)
Jaysh al-Islam consisted of between 17 000 and 25 000 fighters, and was for much of the uprising one of the strongest groups in Syria.
Jaysh al-Islam was led by Zahran Alloush until his death on 25 December 2015. Essam al-Buwaydhani then became the military leader of the group.
Jaysh al-Islam 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 organised violence.
Jabhat Fateh al-Sham (Front for the Conquest of the Levant), commonly known as Jabhat al-Nusra or al-Nusra only, was one of several jihadi groups to enter the Syrian scene to fight against Bashar al-Assad and the Government of Syria. Even though al-Nusra was not the largest it soon became the most noticed group and remained an important actor on the Syrian scene. In July 2016, leader al-Julani changed the name of the group from Jabhat al-Nusra to Jabhat Fatah al-Sham. Since January 2017, al-Nusra is part of the alliance Hay’at Tahrir al-Sham (HTS).
Al-Nusra advocated a new Syrian order, based on a vision of a globally reaching Islamic caliphate and ruled by Sharia-legislation, and was explicitly anti-Western. Its rhetoric was greatly sectarian, and full of Salafi-jihadi references.
The origins of al-Nusra can be traced back to the turmoil in Iraq during the early 2000s. What would become al-Nusra developed from a network run by Abu Musab al-Zarqawi dedicated to send jihadist fighters to Iraq via Syria. In 2007, the Syrian regime reevaluated its stance towards Iraq and subsequently struck down on the network which moved into Iraq. The loosely organized network remained in Iraq until late 2011/early 2012 when it reemerged as Jabhat al-Nusra in Syria.
When it emerged, there were speculations regarding the groups authenticity. Some within the opposition suggested the regime was behind attacks carried out by the group, as a way to bolster its claims of facing an opposition of Salafi terrorists, to wean support for the mainstream opposition, and to instill fear among Western countries and the minorities in Syria.
There are different reports concerning al-Nusra's relationship with the Free Syrian Army (FSA), with information suggesting that al-Nusra's hardline jihadi stance caused a reluctance to cooperate with FSA, whose approach was more nationalist and not opposed to Western assistance.
In September 2013, al-Nusra was among 13 rebel outfits which declared their rejection of the Syrian National Coalition, which enjoys the support of the FSA.
However, the UCDP has registered cooperation between FSA and al-Nusra, and other sources say that cooperation between al-Nusra and FSA did take place.
Al-Nusras relationship with al-Qaeda has been discussed. In terms of tactics, rhetoric and targets, its similarities to ISI (Islamic State in Iraq) also known as AQI (al-Qaeda in Iraq) were noted. Al-Qaeda's network for media distribution endorsed al-Nusra propaganda. In April 2013, the leader of ISI announced that his group and al-Nusra had merged and would be known as ISIS (Islamic State in Iraq and al-Sham/Syria). However, the al-Nusra leader shortly thereafter denied this, and instead confirmed al-Nusra's allegiance to al-Qaeda central's leader Ayman al-Zawahiri.
In terms of strategies employed, al-Nusra was known for its use of suicide bombings. Information indicates that the group sought to avoid civilian casualties in its attacks, which earned them more popularity among Syrians, although many feared their radical ideology.
Al-Nusra 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 organised violence. Since January 2017, al-Nusra is part of the alliance Hay’at Tahrir al-Sham (HTS).
