Northwestern Syria Offensive (October–November 2015)
On the 7 October 2015, shortly after the start of the Russian military intervention in the Syrian Civil War, Russian air campaign in Syria, the Syrian government forces and its allies launched a ground Offensive (military), offensive against anti-government positions in northwestern Syria, initially in northern Hama Governorate. The primary objective is to seal off the northern Hama border with Idlib and "build a buffer-zone around the city of Khan Shaykhun, Khan Sheikhoun". It has been described as the first major Syrian-Russian coordinated attack since the start of the Syrian Civil War. The offensive was extended in the subsequent days to the al-Ghab plains, between northwest Hama and southwest Idlib, as well as to the edge of the Latakia governorate. Background Before the start of the government offensive, Russia moved substantial numbers of advisors and artillery pieces into Hama Governorate. Troops belonging to the 74th Guards Motor Rifle Brigade and 291st Artillery Brigade ... [...More Info...]       [...Related Items...]     OR:     [Wikipedia]   [Google]   [Baidu]   |
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Umm Haratayn, Hama
Umm Haratayn (; also transliterated ''Umm Hartein'' or ''Umm Harteyn'') is a village in central Syria, administratively part of the Suran Subdistrict of Hama District. According to the Syria Central Bureau of Statistics (CBS), Umm Haratayn had a population of 528 in the 2004 census. The inhabitants of Umm Haratayn are Alawites. History Umm Haratayn is one of several villages on the al-A'la plateau to contain Byzantine-era ruins, namely a rectangular citadel with towers on its corners. In the late 19th century, the village was owned by the Bani Khalid tribe, which sold it to the Kaylani family of Hama in 1890. The inhabitants were Alawite Alawites () are an Arabs, Arab ethnoreligious group who live primarily in the Levant region in West Asia and follow Alawism, a sect of Islam that splintered from early Shia as a ''ghulat'' branch during the ninth century. Alawites venerate A ... tenant farmers who settled in the village in the 1920s or early 1930s at the initiative of ... [...More Info...]       [...Related Items...]     OR:     [Wikipedia]   [Google]   [Baidu]   |
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Alwiya Al-Furqan
Alwiya al-Furqan (, '' Criterion Brigades'') is an independent Islamist rebel group involved in the Syrian Civil War. It claimed to be the largest Islamist rebel faction that operated in the eastern Quneitra Governorate and Damascus. The group also held ties to Jordan which allowed fighters from the group to cross into the country to receive medical aid. History In May 2013, after the split between the al-Nusra Front and Islamic State of Iraq after the latter's refusal of a merger between the two and establishment of the Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant, the group released a statement critical of al-Nusra's leader Abu Mohammad al-Joulani for his pledge of allegiance to al-Qaeda in light of the dispute. In 2013, after a chemical weapons attack in Eastern Ghouta, ISIL and al-Nusra conducted separate revenge attacks, Alwiya al-Furqa, Ahrar al-Sham and the Jesus Son of Mary Battalions joined the ISIL-led attacks which were code named "Volcano of Rage", and shelled Alawit ... [...More Info...]       [...Related Items...]     OR:     [Wikipedia]   [Google]   [Baidu]   |
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Islamic Front (Syria)
The Islamic Front (, ''al-Jabhat al-Islāmiyyah'') was a Sunni Islamism, Islamist rebel alliance involved in the Syrian Civil War, which was formed by the union of seven separate groups on 22 November 2013. Its three largest components were Ahrar ash-Sham, the al-Tawhid Brigade and Jaysh al-Islam. The alliance was achieved by expanding the preceding Syrian Islamic Front alliance. It was described as "an umbrella organization rather than a full union", with constituent factions continuing to serve under their own distinct leaderships. The Islamic Front wanted to transform Syria into an Islamic state after the planned overthrow of the government of President Bashar al-Assad. It refused to recognise most formal structures of the Syrian opposition, such as the Syrian National Council. The alliance fragmented over the course of 2014. On 24 December 2014, the Islamic Front factions in the Aleppo Governorate formed the Levant Front alliance with other armed groups in northern Syria. I ... [...More Info...]       [...Related Items...]     OR:     [Wikipedia]   [Google]   [Baidu]   |
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Ajnad Al-Sham
The Ajnad al-Sham (, 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 on 24 March 2015 and took part in the Second Battle of Idlib. 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 killed and beheaded an unnamed Syrian Army Brigadier general and placed his head in a bin. They posted a picture of it on Facebook and Twitter where fellow militants praised this execution and labelled the Brigadier general with derogatory slogans like "Nusayri" - a term for Alawites. In May 2016, a statement by the group threatened to retaliate against government forces if demands related to a prison riot in Hama were not met. On 5 May, as part of the Southern Aleppo campaig ... [...More Info...]       [...Related Items...]     OR:     [Wikipedia]   [Google]   [Baidu]   |
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Liwa Al-Haqq (Idlib, Syria)
Liwa al-Haqq (, Right Brigade or Truth Brigade), was a Syrian Islamist rebel group that was active during the Syrian Civil War until joining Hayat Tahrir al-Sham in 2017. History On 31 October 2014, amid fighting between al-Nusra and the western-backed Hazzm Movement and Syrian Revolutionaries Front, Liwa al-Haqq along with 13 other rebel groups in Idlib established a peace keeping force to mediate the conflict between al-Nusra and the western backed groups, among the peace keeping factions included Ahrar al-Sham, Jaysh al-Islam, Suqour al-Sham and the Nour al-Din al-Zenki Movement. In May 2015, Liwa al-Haqq was part of a joint rebel offensive alongside the al-Nusra Front, Ajnad al-Kavkaz, Jund al-Aqsa, and Faylaq al-Sham against the Syrian government in northwestern Syria, that eventually led to the rebel takeover of much of the Idlib Governorate, including the governorate's capital Idlib. In September 2015, In response to reports of Russian intervention, Liwa al-Haqq ... [...More Info...]       [...Related Items...]     OR:     [Wikipedia]   [Google]   [Baidu]   |
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Jaysh Al-Sunna
Jaysh al-Sunna () was a Homs-based Islamist rebel group that was established as a merger between different rebel groups, some of which originally came from the Free Syrian Army's Farouq Brigades, and was active during the Syrian Civil War. It joined the Army of Conquest on 24 March 2015, and took part in the Second Battle of Idlib. It lost 14 fighters in the battle. The group became part of Hay'at Tahrir al-Sham in 2018. Alleged bombing by the U.S.-led coalition On 11 August 2015, an ammunition depot and base belonging to the group were allegedly bombed by the U.S.-led anti-ISIL coalition in the Atme area in the northern Idlib Governorate. Ten of the group's fighters were killed along with 8 civilians. Robert Ford, the former U.S. ambassador to Syria, expressed consternation at why an airstrike was conducted on Jaysh al-Sunna. Reported use of child soldiers In October 2016, it was reported that Jaysh al-Sunna released a video which featured child soldiers at an unident ... [...More Info...]       [...Related Items...]     OR:     [Wikipedia]   [Google]   [Baidu]   |
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Sham Legion
The Sham Legion (, ''Faylaq al-Shām'' lit. Levant Legion) was an alliance of Sunni Islamist rebel groups formed in March 2014, during the Syrian Civil War. The alliance was formed from 19 different groups, some of which were previously affiliated with the Muslim Brotherhood of Syria and the Shields of the Revolution Council. At the Syrian Revolution Victory Conference, which was held on 29 January 2025, most factions of the armed opposition, including the Sham Legion, announced their dissolution and were incorporated into the newly formed Ministry of Defense. History The Sham Legion was formed on 10 March 2014 from 19 Islamist rebel groups in Syria. These groups operated from the Aleppo Governorate to Damascus, but were concentrated in the Idlib, Hama, and Homs governorates. The formation aimed to "unify the ranks" of non-al-Qaeda-affiliated Islamist rebels in Syria. After its formation, the group took part in the Battle of Morek and Khan Shaykhun in 2014. Upon the f ... [...More Info...]       [...Related Items...]     OR:     [Wikipedia]   [Google]   [Baidu]   |
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Ahrar Ash-Sham
Harakat Ahrar al-Sham al-Islamiyya (), commonly referred to as Ahrar al-Sham, was a coalition of multiple Sunni Islamist units that coalesced into a single brigade and later a division in order to fight against the Syrian Government led by Bashar al-Assad during the Syrian Civil War. Ahrar al-Sham was led by Hassan Aboud until his death in 2014. In July 2013, Ahrar al-Sham had 10,000 to 20,000 fighters, which at the time made it the second most powerful unit fighting against al-Assad, after the Free Syrian Army. It was the principal organization operating under the umbrella of the Syrian Islamic Front and was a major component of the Islamic Front. With an estimated 20,000 fighters in 2015, Ahrar al-Sham became the largest rebel group in Syria after the Free Syrian Army became less powerful. Ahrar al-Sham and Jaysh al-Islam were the main rebel groups supported by Turkey. On 18 February 2018, Ahrar al-Sham merged with the Nour al-Din al-Zenki Movement to form the Syrian Lib ... [...More Info...]       [...Related Items...]     OR:     [Wikipedia]   [Google]   [Baidu]   |
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Al-Nusra Front
Al-Nusra Front or Jabhat al-Nusra or Jabhat Nusrat Ahl al-Sham, also known as Front for the Conquest of the Levant, and also later known as Jabhat Fatah al-Sham was a Salafi-jihadist organization that fought against Ba'athist Syria, Ba'athist regime forces in the Syrian Civil War. Its aim was to overthrow president Bashar al-Assad and establish an Islamic state ruled by Sharia law in Syria. Formed in 2012, in November of that year ''The Washington Post'' described al-Nusra as "the most aggressive and successful" of the rebel forces. While secular and pro-democratic rebel groups of the 2011 Syrian Revolution, Syrian Revolution such as the Free Syrian Army were focused on ending the decades-long reign of the Assad family, al-Nusra Front also sought the unification of Islamism, Islamist forces in a post-Assad Syria, anticipating a new stage of the civil war. It denounced the international assistance in support of the Syrian opposition as "imperialism"; viewing it as a long-term t ... [...More Info...]       [...Related Items...]     OR:     [Wikipedia]   [Google]   [Baidu]   |
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Army Of Conquest
The Army of Conquest () 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 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 the following months, it seized most of Idlib Governorate. The Institute for the Study of War described the Army of Conquest as an "anti-regime" and "anti- Hezbollah" powerbroker operating in the Idlib, Hama, Daraa and Quneitra Governorates. The Army of Conquest was 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." Participants At its founding, the Army of Conquest contained six members, two of whom (al-Nusra and Jund a ... [...More Info...]       [...Related Items...]     OR:     [Wikipedia]   [Google]   [Baidu]   |
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Hezbollah
Hezbollah ( ; , , ) is a Lebanese Shia Islamist political party and paramilitary group. Hezbollah's paramilitary wing is the Jihad Council, and its political wing is the Loyalty to the Resistance Bloc party in the Lebanese Parliament. Its armed strength was assessed to be equivalent to that of a medium-sized army in 2016. Hezbollah was founded in 1982 by Lebanese clerics in response to the Israeli invasion of Lebanon. Inspired by the Iranian Revolution of 1979 and Ayatollah Ruhollah Khomeini's model of Islamic governance, Hezbollah established strong ties with Iran. The group was initially supported by 1,500 Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) instructors, who helped unify various Lebanese Shia factions under Hezbollah's leadership. Hezbollah's 1985 manifesto outlined its key objectives, which include expelling Western influence from the region, destroying Israel, pledging allegiance to Iran's supreme leader, and establishing an Islamic government influenced by ... [...More Info...]       [...Related Items...]     OR:     [Wikipedia]   [Google]   [Baidu]   |