Ansar al-Din Front
Jabhat Ansar al-Din[8] (Arabic: جبهة أنصار الدين, The Supporters of the Religion Front) is a jihadist alliance that announced itself on 25 July 2014, during the Syrian Civil War.[3] The alliance contains two groups: Harakat Sham al-Islam and Harakat Fajr ash-Sham al-Islamiya; it had declared that was not affiliated with any other "parties".[3] The Green Battalion was originally a signatory, but around October 2014, it swore allegiance to the leader of Jaish al-Muhajireen wal-Ansar and was integrated into that faction.[15] The alliance had attempted to maintain neutrality in the conflict between ISIL and other groups.[8] On January 28, 2017, it joined with numerous other factions to form Tahrir al-Sham,[16] though portions of it left HTS in February 2018.[10]
Supporters of the Religion Front
1,000[1]
Tahrir al-Sham[10]
Rouse the Believers Operations Room (splinter faction)[11]
The groups involved in the coalition have diverse memberships; Harakat Fajr Sham al-Islamiya numbers mostly Syrians from the Aleppo area,[17] while Harakat Sham al-Islam was formed around a core of Moroccan fighters,[18] the Green Battalion mainly had fighters from Saudi Arabia[18] and Jaish al-Mujahireen wal-Ansar was formed by Chechen and other Russian-speaking fighters.[19] On 23 September 2015, Jaish al-Muhajireen wal-Ansar left and joined Jabhat al-Nusra.[20]
Relationship with other groups[edit]
The group has stated they desire to maintain a policy of neutrality and independence between various groups in fighting against the Syrian government as well as stating a desire to cooperate with these groups as well,[34] prior the formation of the group the member groups did cooperate with ISIL in early 2014 in besieging the Kweiris airbase.[35]
In an interview in 2015 a representative from the group was asked about their views regarding both al-Nusra and ISIL to which the representative said regarding al-Nusra "The problem is with them, not with us: we are prepared to work with all upright factions whose goals are like ours. It is not hidden from anyone that the goals of the majority of factions are like our goals." He added when asked if al-Nusra has made mistakes on the ground "In my personal opinion indeed we all make mistakes…and perhaps in Jabhat al-Nusra’s point of view it is not necessary to establish a Caliphate while the gangs of Assad exist in Syria." When asked about the group's stance on ISIL he said "We have no relation with IS (Islamic State). We don’t fight them and they don’t fight us. But anyone who says that Jabhat Ansar al-Din is affiliated with IS is lying."[36]