Jaysh al-Ahrar

Jaysh al-Ahrar (Arabic: جيش الأحرار‎, lit. 'Army of the Free') is an armed Salafi jihadist rebel group in northwestern Syria that originated as a clique composed of 16 units in Ahrar al-Sham that opposed involvement in Operation Euphrates Shield, after a fatwa was released by religious clerics in Jabhat Fatah al-Sham, which led to the group's separation from Ahrar al-Sham.[1]

Jaysh al-Ahrar
Army of the Free
Arabic: جيش الأحرار‎
Participant in the Syrian Civil War
Logo of the group
Active1 December 2016 – present
IdeologySunni Islamism
Group(s)
  • Liwa al-Tamkeen[2]
  • Liwa Ahrar al-Jabal al-Wastani[2]
  • Martyr Ali Mutlaq Battalion[3]
  • al-Naasan Bloc[4]
Leaders
  • Hasim al-Shaykh ("Abu Jaber", founder and commander until Sept. 2017)[5]
  • Khalil Ismail Arslan ("Abu Ismail Gubas", deputy commander) †[6]
  • Walid al-Mushayil ("Abu Hashim", artillery commander)[7]
Area of operationsNorthwestern Syria
Size1,500–2,000 (Jan. 2017)[8]
Part of Tahrir al-Sham (Jan.–Sep. 2017) [9]

National Front for Liberation (since Aug. 2018)[7]

Defeat the Invaders Operations Room (Feb.–May 2018)[10]
Split from Ahrar al-Sham[1]
Allies Tahrir al-Sham
  • Jabhat Fatah al-Sham
Turkistan Islamic Party in Syria
Ahrar al-Sham
Sham Legion
Free Syrian Army[10]
Opponent(s) Syria
 Iran
 Russia
Hezbollah
Battles and war(s)Syrian Civil War
Websitehttps://twitter.com/jishalahrar

Most members of the group joined Tahrir al-Sham (HTS) in January 2017. The founding leader of Jaysh al-Ahrar, Hashim al-Shaykh ("Abu Jaber") was appointed as the head of HTS. Jaysh al-Ahrar left HTS in September 2017, and have since then closely cooperated with both HTS and Ahrar al-Sham, as well as other rebel groups in the area.[13]

History

Formation and HTS

On 20 September 2016, Ahrar al-Sham's shura council authorized its fighters to cooperate with the Turkish Armed Forces and the Turkish-backed Free Syrian Army and participate in Operation Euphrates Shield against the Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant and the Syrian Democratic Forces, while the Battle of Aleppo was still active. This led to a split between Ahrar al-Sham's majority pro-Turkey, nationalist and pragmatic faction on one side and its minority Salafi jihadist faction, who favoured a merger with Jabhat Fatah al-Sham, the Syrian branch of al-Qaeda, on the other.[1] Members of the pragmatic faction opposed such merger in fears of losing support from foreign backers, mainly Turkey.[14]

On 1 December, 16 units from the hardliner faction grouped together under the name of Jaysh al-Ahrar, led by Abu Jaber. Soon after its formation, Jaysh al-Ahrar destroyed Liwa Ahfad al-Sahaba in the Kafr Halab area after the latter killed one of the former's fighters.[2]

On 22 January 2017, amid heavy infighting between Ahrar al-Sham and JFS, Abu Jaber announced the temporary dissolution of Jaysh al-Ahrar, while continuing to push for a merger with JFS.[2] This merger was achieved when JFS, member groups of Jaysh al-Ahrar and other Ahrar al-Sham defectors, Jabhat Ansar al-Din, Liwa al-Haqq, Jaysh al-Sunna, and the Nour al-Din al-Zenki Movement formed Hayat Tahrir al-Sham (HTS) on 28 January. Abu Jaber was named HTS's general commander.[14]

In September 2017, a number of Jaysh al-Ahrar members left HTS due to disagreements with HTS after a leak in which Abu Muhammad al-Julani and HTS Idlib commander Abu Hamza Binnish discussed using foreign Salafi jihadist clerics such as Abdullah al-Muhaysini as tools. While Abu Maria al-Qahtani encouraged Abu Muhammad al-Julani to eliminate other rebel groups and to develop a relationship with Iran. The split came after Muhaysini as well as another cleric officially resigned from HTS. However Jaysh al-Ahrar and HTS both agreed to maintain good terms and continue to cooperate.[15]

Abu Jaber remained with HTS. On 1 October, he resigned as HTS's general commander, being replaced by Abu Muhammad al-Julani, who was considered to be HTS's top commander all along. Abu Jaber was then appointed as the head of HTS's shura council.[16]

Post-HTS

Jaysh al-Ahrar fought alongside other rebel groups, including HTS, Ahrar al-Sham, Free Idlib Army, Army of Victory, Army of Glory, Nour al-Din al-Zenki Movement, and Jund al-Malahim[12] against the Syrian Army's Northwestern Syria campaign (October 2017–February 2018), which resulted in a rebel defeat.

In February 2018, during fighting between Hayat Tahrir al-Sham and the Syrian Liberation Front, a coalition of Ahrar al-Sham and the Nour al-Din al-Zenki Movement, Jaysh al-Ahrar released a statement urging the Turkistan Islamic Party in Syria to not get involved in the fighting on the side of HTS, and for HTS' leader Abu Mohammad al-Julani to submit to the authority of a Sharia court in order to mediate the conflict.[17]

On 18 June 2018, unidentified gunmen assassinated Jaysh al-Ahrar deputy commander Khalil Ismail Arslan ("Abu Ismail Gubas") and his son in a village near Saraqib.[6]

On 1 August 2018, the group, along with the Ahrar al-Sham-led Syrian Liberation Front, Suqour al-Sham Brigades, and the Damascus Gathering joined the National Front for Liberation. Walid al-Mushayil ("Abu Hashim"), artillery commander of Jaysh al-Ahrar, was appointed the NFL's second deputy commander.[7]

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References
  1. Haid Haid (21 December 2016). "Why Ahrar al-Sham is fighting itself - and how this impacts the battle for Syria". Middle East Eye.
  2. Aymenn Jawad Al-Tamimi (7 January 2017). "Syrian Rebel Mergers: A Harakat Nour Al-Din Al-Zinki Perspective".
  3. https://pbs.twimg.com/media/DW0_6NjW0AAmymC.jpg
  4. https://pbs.twimg.com/media/DW_NU9JWsAE-sc1.jpg
  5. "16 formations of Ahrar al-Sham unite under "Jaysh al-Ahrar"". Orient News. 21 December 2016.
  6. "Number-Two man assassinated of "Jaish Al Ahrar" by unknown gunmen". Syria Call. 18 June 2018.
  7. "Meet the leading leaders of the "National Liberation Front"". Enab Baladi. 1 August 2018.
  8. "Jaish al-Ahrar: A New Crisis Threatens to Split Ahrar al-Sham". Syrian Observer. 5 January 2017.
  9. "Jaish al-Ahrar leaves Tahrir al-Sham alliance: statement". Zaman al-Wasl. 14 September 2017.
  10. "New FSA Operations Room To Repel Regime Attacks In Northern Syria". Revolutionary Forces of Syria Media Office. 4 February 2018.
  11. Joško Barić. "Syrian War Daily – 20th of December 2017".
  12. "Idlib Rebel Groups Unite Under New Joint Operations Room". Enab Baladi. 6 January 2018.
  13. "Tahrir Al-Sham Shrinks to its First Core". Enab Baladi. 17 September 2017.
  14. Aymenn Jawad Al-Tamimi (February 2017). "The Formation of Hay'at Tahrir al-Sham and Wider Tensions in the Syrian Insurgency". Combating Terrorism Center.
  15. "Successive defects of Hayyaat Tahrir Al-Sham in Idlib by leaders and Sharia members". Syrian Observatory for Human Rights. 14 September 2017.
  16. "Gulani returns to lead his military formation again". Enab Baladi. 2 October 2017.
  17. https://pbs.twimg.com/media/DWqtG-DW0AAhjuT?format=jpg&name=900x900
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