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32-738: The Yarmouk Martyrs Brigade was originally set up in 2012, largely based on "local and familial ties, rather than ideology". At this stage connected to mainstream Syrian rebel bodies like the Supreme Military Council and Southern Front , the brigade became increasingly isolated from other groups, owing to accusations that it was affiliated with the Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant (ISIL). The group gained attention when it abducted 21 Filipino UN soldiers in early March 2013, releasing them on 10 March 2013. The group justified

64-409: A Diwan of Hisbah the group also established a Diwan of Services based on ISIL's, which released photos also modeled after ISIL's style of photo releases depicting themes of common life in areas under their control, nature, and fighting. The rebel Army of Conquest and Southern Front imposed a siege on the group's territory causing the prices of meat, fuel and water to increase. In April and May 2015,

96-775: A member of the Unified Military Command of Eastern Ghouta ), along with other groups formed Jund al-Malahm, an operations room in the Eastern Ghouta area of Damascus, in direct competition with the Unified Military Command of Eastern Ghouta operations room. On 20 June, the Army of Conquest in the southern region was established and immediately took part in the campaign in Quneitra . The coalition includes Ahrar al-Sham , al-Nusra Front ,

128-507: A military offensive in Aleppo directed by Jabhat Fatah al-Sham. In general, over the past years Qatar's support for the al-Nusra front has remained constant in spite of the group's rebranding operation and several strategic alliances and mergers. In fact, Qatar's sponsorship for the al-Qaeda affiliate in Syria was in line with Doha's strategy to expand its regional influence by investing on

160-493: A religious judge and leader. He was targeted by U.S. Treasury Sanctions on 10 November 2016, for his role as mediator and recruiter on behalf of the al-Nusra Front. Notably, Muhaysini also collected material and financial support for al-Nusra from the Gulf, especially, Qatar, and was known for his public endorsement of Qatar-based " Madid Ahl al-Sham ", a most effective fundraising campaign which al-Nusra itself acknowledged as "one of

192-420: A series of reforms made by the group earlier in the year, such as the group changing the flag in its logo to the flag of ISIL and adopting an administrative model similar to that of ISIL. The first claims of the group's affiliation with ISIL did not occur until December 2014, with al-Nusra launching an offensive against the group in response, other groups allied with al-Nusra later joined in on the offensive against

224-469: A split from Jaysh al-Fatah, reportedly due to disagreements with Ahrar al-Sham over the application of Islamic law in areas under their control. Following this development, there were unconfirmed reports that al-Nusra Front , in an act of solidarity with Jund al-Aqsa, left the coalition, or that Jund al-Aqsa would be rejoining Jaysh al-Fateh. In January 2016, the Sham Legion announced it was leaving

256-682: The Army of Khalid ibn al-Walid , a companion of the Prophet Muhammad . Supreme Military Council (Syria) Too Many Requests If you report this error to the Wikimedia System Administrators, please include the details below. Request from 172.68.168.226 via cp1108 cp1108, Varnish XID 207609624 Upstream caches: cp1108 int Error: 429, Too Many Requests at Thu, 28 Nov 2024 07:44:55 GMT Army of Conquest The Army of Conquest ( Arabic : جيش الفتح ) or Jaish al-Fatah , abbreviated JaF ,

288-787: The Daraa Governorate . While the two groups were initially able to take control of several villages and towns, opposition forces eventually pushed them back. At least two important brigade commanders were killed during the conflict, among them Abu Tahrir, a Syria Revolutionaries Front defector. As a result of the failed offensive, the Islamic Muthanna Movement and the Yarmouk Martyrs Brigade were severely weakened, leading to rumors they had merged. On 24 May 2016, they along with Jaysh al-Jihad officially united to form Khalid ibn al-Walid Army , or

320-664: The Islamic Muthanna Movement , first expressing some kind of affinity to the Islamic State and adopted more Islamic symbols and insignia. Nevertheless, the groups officially remained part of the Southern Front and took part in the First Battle of Al-Shaykh Maskin . In 2014, the Yarmouk Martyrs Brigade began facing accusations made by al-Nusra that the group was an affiliate of ISIL due to

352-603: The Fatah al-Sham Coalition, Ihyaa al-Jihad Brigade, Mujahideen of Nawa Gathering, Lions of Unity Brigade, Ansar al-Haq Brigade, and the Islamic Brigade of al- Omarein. In July 2016, the al-Nusra Front renamed itself as Jabhat Fatah al-Sham , restructured the group further, and began to create propaganda to support their offensives across the Aleppo Governorate . On 23 October 2015, Jund al-Aqsa announced

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384-534: The Yarmouk Martyrs Brigade confining the group to the towns of Jamla and Shajara. The fighting ended after mediation between al-Nusra and the Yarmouk Martyr's Brigades by the Islamic Muthanna Movement . The claims of allegiance and affiliation with ISIL made by al-Nusra regarding the Yarmouk Martyrs Brigade were denied by the Southern Front . However after the clashes with the group's affiliation became more widely known to locals, with one resident of town under

416-424: The Yarmouk Martyrs Brigade still cooperated with other rebel groups in the war against the government: In course of the 2013 Daraa offensive , the brigade aided the al-Nusra Front in attacking the 38th Division air defence base, and fought with other opposition groups during the capture of several towns south of Nawa . It also participated in a major, yet eventually unsuccessful offensive to capture Nawa itself from

448-452: The approach taken by the Yarmouk Martyrs Brigade and ISIL in their enforcement of Sharia , with the Yarmouk Martyrs Brigade being described as taking a more gradual approach, such as how in areas under the control of ISIL it was obligatory and enforced for women to wear Niqabs in areas under the control of the Yarmouk Martyrs Brigade it was not enforced for Niqabs to be worn but was encouraged and Niqabs were distributed. Alongside establishing

480-585: The brigade, as well as Jaysh al-Jihad , launched attacks on al-Nusra. This fighting ended following arbitration from local groups. On 15 November 2015, its head Muhammad "Abu Ali" al-Baridi, nicknamed al-Khal (the Uncle), and five other leaders were killed in a bomb blast in Jamla, the village where the Brigade is headquartered. Al-Nusra Front claimed responsibility for the attack. Abu Obaideh Qahtan, said to have been

512-524: The effective leader of the brigade anyway, took over as head. Obaideh, a Palestinian-Syrian from the Yarmouk Camp , was not only a founding member of the brigade, but had also much military experience as veteran of the Soviet–Afghan War . Nevertheless, just four months after taking over, he was replaced as head by Abu Abdullah al-Madani, a previously unknown mujahid of Saudi origin. This development

544-788: The following months, it seized most of Idlib Governorate. The Institute for the Study of War has described Jaish al-Fatah as an "anti-regime" and "anti- Hezbollah " powerbroker operating in the Idlib, Hama, Daraa and Quneitra Governorates. Jaish al-Fatah has been described by the Tony Blair Institute for Global Change as an " al-Qaeda led coalition" which was working towards the ultimate goal of creating an "Islamic state." At its founding, Jaish al-Fatah contained six members, two of whom ( al-Nusra and Jund al-Aqsa ) were directly connected to al-Qaeda . With Ahrar al-Sham being

576-475: The government in July 2013. It continued to work together with other rebel groups throughout early 2014, stating at the time that its aim was to "fight so that Syrian men and women may choose a free and democratic system that establishes a prosperous state respecting the aspirations of Syrians in the freedom and dignity for which they have fought." By July 2014, the brigade began to clash with other rebel groups such as

608-432: The group's control claiming members the group liked the ideology of ISIL and there was a shift in the opinion of its members, the resident also quoted the members as saying "We want their [ISIL] course if they are truthful." However there were no conformations of the group's affiliation or support for ISIL. In an interview a member of the group stated regarding the claims of affiliation with ISIL, "With regards to whether there

640-534: The group, ostensibly to redeploy its forces to Aleppo, but also due to tensions with Jund al-Aqsa. In May 2016, the Army of Conquest announced it was restructuring, ending ties with Jund al-Aqsa while readmitting the Sham Legion. It was also joined by the Turkistan Islamic Party , a jihadist group composed of Uyghurs from Xinjiang . On 24 September 2016, Nour al-Din al-Zenki Movement joined

672-555: The group. Several days later, the Suqour al-Sham Brigade also joined the group. On 9 October, Jund al-Aqsa rejoined Al-Nusra Front, thus rejoining the Army of Conquest, though on 23 January 2017 they were kicked out of Al-Nusra and by extension the Army of Conquest. On 23 January 2017, the al-Nusra Front attacked Jabhat Ahl al-Sham bases in Atarib and other towns in western Aleppo. All of their bases were captured and by 24 January,

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704-457: The increasing role of key actors – including extremist and terrorist entities – in a number of international arenas. The Army of Conquest captured Idlib City on 28 March 2015. In the following months, they spearheaded an offensive that drove out government forces from almost all of Idlib Governorate. Following this success, additional branches of the Army of Conquest were established in other parts of Syria. The Army of Conquest coalition

736-538: The kidnapping by claiming that "UN is silent about the crimes of the regime against the Syrian people" and that it provided "aid to the criminal regime forces". After much criticism, however, the brigade changed its position, saying that it had attempted to protect the UN peacekeepers from the "barbaric bombing that Assad’s criminal gangs are launching against the western villages of Deraa province and all of Syria." At this time,

768-448: The largest group, al-Nusra and Ahrar al-Sham together were reported to represent 90 percent of the troops. Another prominent Islamist faction in the operations room was Sham Legion (Faylaq Al-Sham). The remaining three founding members were Jaish al-Sunna ; Liwa al-Haqq , and Ajnad al-Sham . Jaish al-Fatah collaborated with more moderate Free Syrian Army factions such as Knights of Justice Brigade . The coalition's initial success

800-599: The preferred conduits for donations". In early May 2015, the Army of Conquest formed a new branch in Western Qalamoun , called Army of Conquest – al-Qalamoun . On 1 October 2015, after defeats by pro-Assad forces, Army of Conquest in Qalamoun was replaced by an independent faction called Saraya Ahl al-Sham , which aims to unite all rebel factions in Western Qalamoun. However, the al-Nusra Front

832-728: The same day, a pro-opposition source claimed that about fifty Syrian government soldiers defected to the new group. As columnist David Ignatius reported, Qatar , Turkey , and Saudi Arabia were the primary sponsors of the new coalition that was led by al-Nusra. Since the very beginning, the three states allegedly provided conspicuous material support to the group, mostly consisting of weapons and military equipment. In 2016, shortly after al-Nusra changed its name in Jabhat Fatah al-Sham, Financial Times reporter Erica Solomon quoted rebels and activists claiming that Qatar and Saudi Arabia were consistently ferrying in cash and supplies to support

864-636: Was a joint command center of Sunni Islamist Syrian rebel factions participating in the Syrian Civil War . The alliance was formed in March 2015 under the supervision and coordination of Saudi cleric Abdullah al-Muhaysini . It consisted of Islamist rebel factions mainly active in the Idlib Governorate , with some factions active in the Hama and Latakia Governorates . In the course of

896-407: Was a secret connection with respect to the leadership, this I don't know about." The member also added that the group was an Islamist group since its foundation. The group also went on to establish an Islamic court with its own police force called the "Diwan of Hisbah " to enforce Islamic law modeled and named after ISIL's own Hisbah in territories they controlled. However there were differences in

928-418: Was attributed to its strong coherence, with the name of individual factions being forbidden when the group conducts joint operations. Since the inter-rebel conflicts across Idlib , which led to Ahrar al-Sham clashing with Jabhat Fateh al-Sham , and the defections and mergers which started on 21 January 2017, the Army of Conquest has become defunct. Jaish al-Fatah declared its formation on 24 March 2015. On

960-522: Was both attributed to Obaideh's lacking administration skills and the strengthening links of the Yarmouk Martyrs Brigade with ISIL, as al-Madani was said to have been sent by the ISIL leadership to lead the brigade. Despite his replacement, Abu Obaideh Qahtan remained a major field commander of the brigade. On 21 March 2016, the brigade and its ally, the Islamic Muthanna Movement , launched a major offensive against other rebel groups, aiming to take control of

992-600: Was not included in Saraya Ahl al-Sham, although the two groups continued to cooperate. The following month, the al-Nusra Front issued a statement calling on the opposition in the Eastern Ghouta area of Damascus to form a similar coalition, but this call was rejected by the Unified Military Command of Eastern Ghouta , a grouping which includes the most prominent factions in the area. In October 2015 Army of Conquest members al-Nusra Front and Ahrar ash-Sham (also

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1024-518: Was partially modelled upon the success of the Southern Front of the Free Syrian Army , and in turn newer coalitions, like the Battle of Victory , were modelled on the Army of Conquest. Saudi cleric Abdullah al-Muhaysini played a key role in the early history of the Army of Conquest. In fact, Muhayisini coordinated and supervised the establishment of the group, for which he also served as

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