SUMMARY
Liwa Thuwar ar-Raqqa (Raqqa Revolutionaries’ Brigade), for a while known as Jabhat Thuwar ar-Raqqa, was a rebel group formed in September 2012 with its headquarters in Ain Issa in Ar Raqqah Governorate in northern Syria. It participated in the Syrian Civil War as a part of the Syrian insurgents. The group was a founding member of the SDF coalition on 10 October 2015, at which point the group ceased to exist as an independent organization. It branded itself as an FSA faction.
Liwa Thuwar ar-Raqqa allied with several factions to fight IS during the 2014 anti-IS offensive. In Raqqa it fought in IS - Islamic Front, Jabhat Fateh al-Sham, Liwa al-Jihad fi Sabeel Allah, Liwa Thuwar ar-Raqqa and later Euphrates Islamic Liberation Front, Islamic Front, Jabhat Fateh al-Sham, Liwa Thuwar ar-Raqqa - IS in Ar Raqqah Governorate, and in Aleppo in Dawn of Freedom Brigades, Euphrates Islamic Liberation Front, Islamic Front, Jabhat al-Akrad, Liwa Thuwar ar-Raqqa - IS. From September 2014, Liwa Thuwar ar-Raqqa was allied with PYD to fight jointly in the operations room Euphrates Volcano, which fought IS in Aleppo and Ar Raqqah Governorates during 2014-2015. Late 2015, Liwa Thuwar ar-Raqqa allied with a tribal army in Raqqah countryside to form Jabhat Thuwar ar-Raqqa. However, it stated its disbandment shortly thereafter due to a dispute involving other local groups and lack of equipment and support. Liwa Thuwar ar-Raqqa thereafter reappeared to join SDF in October 2015, though parts of the group appears to have at first rejected the merger.
The leader of Jabhat Thuwar ar-Raqqa was Abu Issa.
Liwa Thuwar ar-Raqqa has been involved in the non-state category of UCDP organized violence. It is also considered part of the Syrian insurgents active in the intrastate and one-sided categories of UCDP organized violence.
The Islamic Front was formed on 22 November 2013 as an umbrella organization for seven of the largest Islamist-leaning factions across Syria. Its largest component group was Ahrar al-Sham, a Salafist movement which often cooperated closely with al-Qaida-linked Jabhat Fateh al-Sham (at the time known as Jabhat al-Nusra). Ahrar al-Sham had local affiliates which were active in twelve of Syria’s fourteen governorates (all except Suwayda and Tartus) and was considered one of the most powerful groups in Syria. Other significant factions were Jaysh al-Islam, which was the largest group in Damascus and its countryside, and al-Tawhid Brigade, which at the formation of the Islamic Front was one of the strongest factions in Aleppo governorate. The Islamic Front’s other constituent part were the Idlib-based Suqour al-Sham Brigades, Homs-based Liwa al-Haq, Idlib and Latakia-based Ansar al-Sham, and the Kurdish Islamic Front, which had a small presence spread out in the Kurdish populated regions close to the Turkish border.
The leader of Suqour al-Sham Brigades, Ahmed Issa al-Sheikh, became the leader of the Islamic Front’s Shura Council, with Jaysh al-Islam’s leader, Zahran Alloush, as its military commander and Hassan Abboud, leader of Ahrar al-Sham, as the head of the political bureau. At its formation in 2013, the Islamic Front was estimated to have something in the range of 45, 000 to more than 55, 000 fighters, probably making it the largest non-state actor in Syria, except possibly for IS. Despite hefty goals of fully merging all its factions, the Islamic Front remained a rather shaky union, with the component groups’ various local branches varying widely in how integrated they were within the Front. Whilst the Aleppo branches fully merged, abandoning their separate names and logotypes, local branches in many other areas retained largely separate identities, with Jaysh al-Islam especially remaining distinct.
The Islamic Front was formed with the stated aim to topple the Assad regime and build an Islamic state, and is coded as part of Syrian insurgents in the conflict over government in Syria. The Islamic Front actor was, however, also heavily involved in several non-state conflicts, mostly fighting IS in various coalitions. In January 2014, the Islamic Front joined several other factions in an effort to push IS out of Syria. In Aleppo and Idlib it was part of the IS - Islamic Front, Mujahideen Army, SRF fighting. In Raqqah it fought in IS - Islamic Front, Jabhat Fateh al-Sham, Liwa al-Jihad fi Sabeel Allah, Liwa Thuwar ar-Raqqa and Euphrates Islamic Liberation Front, Islamic Front, Jabhat Fateh al-Sham, Liwa Thuwar ar-Raqqa - IS. In Deir ez Zor it participated in Authenticity and Development Front, Islamic Front, Jabhat Fateh al-Sham - IS and IS - Mujahideen Shura Council. It also fought alongside Jabhat Fateh al-Sham in IS - Islamic Front, Jabhat Fateh al-Sham.
By March 2015, most of the smaller component parts had ceased to exist, with the Kurdish Islamic Front, Liwa al-Haq and Suqour al-Sham Brigades having been absorbed into Ahrar al-Sham. Al-Tawhid Brigade had also collapsed at this point, after gradually weakening and fracturing during 2014, with various battalions joining different groups. The remaining factions of Ahrar al-Sham, Ansar al-Sham and Jaysh al-Islam largely ceased using the Front branding and structures in 2015, instead reestablishing themselves as independent actors. The Islamic Front is thus treated as having become defunct in March 2015.
Islamic Front has been involved in the non-state category of UCDP organized violence. It is also considered part of the Syrian insurgents active in the intrastate and one-sided categories of UCDP organized 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).
