The Ajnad al-Sham ( ar, أجناد الشام, Soldiers of the Levant) was an independent Idlib and Hama-based rebel group active during the Syrian Civil War. The group is named after Ajnad al-Sham. It joined the

Army of Conquest The Army of Conquest ( ar, جيش الفتح) or Jaish al-Fatah, abbreviated JaF, 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 supe ...

on 24 March 2015 and took part in the

Second Battle of Idlib The Battle of Idlib ("Operation to Free Idlib") was a military operation in the Idlib Governorate, during the Syrian Civil War, conducted by rebels against Syrian government forces defending Idlib city. The battle On 24 March 2015, the newly ...

. On 29 March 2014, it announced that its military leader, Abu Abdullah Taoum, was killed during clashes around al-Fouaa.

History

On 5 November 2015, during the 2nd Northwestern Syria offensive, Ajnad al-Sham militants in the

Hama Governorate Hama Governorate ( ar, مُحافظة حماة / ALA-LC: ''Muḥāfaẓat Ḥamā'') is one of the 14 Governorates of Syria, governorates of Syria. It is situated in western-central Syria, bordering Idlib Governorate, Idlib and Aleppo Governorates ...

killed and beheaded an unnamed

Syrian Army " (''Guardians of the Homeland'') , colors = * Service uniform: Khaki, Olive * Combat uniform: Green, Black, Khaki , anniversaries = August 1st , equipment = , equipment_label = , battles = 1948 Arab–Israeli War Six ...

Brigadier general and placed his head in a bin. They posted a picture of it on

Facebook Facebook is an online social media and social networking service owned by American company Meta Platforms. Founded in 2004 by Mark Zuckerberg with fellow Harvard College students and roommates Eduardo Saverin, Andrew McCollum, Dustin M ...

and

Twitter Twitter is an online social media and social networking service owned and operated by American company Twitter, Inc., on which users post and interact with 280-character-long messages known as "tweets". Registered users can post, like, and ...

where fellow militants praised this execution and labelled the Brigadier general with derogatory slogans like "Nusayri" - a term for

Alawites The Alawis, Alawites ( ar, علوية ''Alawīyah''), or pejoratively Nusayris ( ar, نصيرية ''Nuṣayrīyah'') are an ethnoreligious group that lives primarily in Levant and follows Alawism, a sect of Islam that originated from Shia Isla ...

. In May 2016, a statement by the group threatened to retaliate against government forces if demands related to a

prison riot A prison riot is an act of concerted defiance or disorder by a group of prisoners against the prison administrators, prison officers, or other groups of prisoners. Prison riots have not been the subject of many academic studies or research inquir ...

Hama , timezone = EET , utc_offset = +2 , timezone_DST = EEST , utc_offset_DST = +3 , postal_code_type = , postal_code = , ar ...

were not met. In February 2017, during clashes between

Ahrar al-Sham Harakat Ahrar al-Sham al-Islamiyya ( ar-at, حركة أحرار الشام الإسلامية, Ḥarakat Aḥrāru š-Šām al-Islāmiyah, lit=Islamic Movement of the Freemen of the Levant), commonly referred to as Ahrar al-Sham, is a coalition ...

Hayat Tahrir al-Sham Hay'at Tahrir al-Sham (HTS) (, transliteration: ', "Organization for the Liberation of the Levant" or "Levant Liberation Committee"), commonly referred to as Tahrir al-Sham, is a Sunni Islamist political and armed organisation involved in the ...

and the ISIL affiliated

Jund al-Aqsa Jund al-Aqsa ( ar, جند الأقصى ''Jund al-‘Aqṣā'', "Garrison of al-Aqsa"), later known as Liwa al-Aqsa after 7 February 2017, was a Salafist jihadist organization that was active during the Syrian Civil War. Formerly known as Sara ...

, the pro-opposition

Syrian Observatory for Human Rights , image = Syrian Observatory for Human Rights Logo.jpg , image_size = 200px , caption = The logo of the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights , type = NGO , founded_date = , founder ...

reported that Ajnad al-Sham came under attack from fighters from Jund al-Aqsa at their headquarters along with Saraya al-Ghuraba another Jihadist group, and during the attack, Jund al-Aqsa reportedly seized weapons and vehicles from Ajnad al-Sham and Saraya al-Ghuraba. On 18 June 2017, after joining Hayat Tahrir al-Sham the group left HTS instead joining Ahrar al-Sham.

References

Anti-government factions of the Syrian civil war Jihadist groups in Syria Salafi Islamist groups Organizations designated as terrorist by Malaysia {{mil-unit-stub

History

See also

References