Islamic Front (Syria)
The Islamic Front (Arabic: الجبهة الإسلامية, al-Jabhat al-Islāmiyyah) was a Sunni Islamist rebel group involved in the Syrian Civil War,[1] which was formed by the union of seven separate groups on 22 November 2013.[13] 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.[14]
Not to be confused with Islamic Coalition (Syria).Islamic Front
Ahmed Abu Issa[1]
Zahran Alloush †
Hassan Aboud †
Abul-Abbas al-Shami
Abu Rateb
Abu Omar Hreitan
22 November 2013–2015
Syria as an Islamic state under Sharia[4]
Syrian Revolutionary Command Council (2014–2015)
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State opponents
Non-state opponents
Shi'ite groups
Hezbollah- Kata'ib Hezbollah
Liwa Fatemiyoun- Asa'ib Ahl al-Haq
Al-Abbas Brigade- Peace Companies
- Kata'ib Sayyid al-Shuhada
Liwa Zainebiyoun
Syrian-affiliated groups
Ba'ath Brigades
Palestine Liberation Army
Syrian Resistance
Liwa Al-Quds
Arab Nationalist Guard
Jaysh al-Muwahhideen
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Jihadist groups
The Islamic Front wanted to transform Syria into an Islamic state after the planned overthrow of the government of President Bashar al-Assad.[15] 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.[16] In 2015, the Salafist group Ahrar ash-Sham – a major component of the Islamic Front alliance – joined with jihadist groups under the Army of Conquest operations room umbrella, successfully campaigning against the Syrian Arab Army in the northern districts from March to September 2015. The group continued its nominal membership of the Islamic Front alliance, despite its more jihadist orientation. By early 2015, the Islamic Front was being described as virtually defunct, with the largest member groups Ahrar ash-Sham and Jaysh al-Islam remaining separate entities, and the smaller IF factions (Liwa al-Haqq, Suqour al-Sham Brigade and Kurdish Islamic Front) being absorbed into Ahrar ash-Sham.[17]
Funding and international support[edit]
The group was widely reported to be backed and armed by Saudi Arabia,[37][38][39] although other analysts have said there is little evidence for Saudi Arabian support for factions other than Jaysh al-Islam.[27] Other constituent factions, principally the Tawhid Brigade, have been reported as Qatari-backed.[27]
The Front has been widely reported as close to Turkey.[40] The Turkish Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdoğan’s has been linked to some members in the Islamic Front (Syria).[41] A leaked German intelligence document from May 2015 suggested the Islamic Front and Ahrar ash-Sham in particular had received weapons from Turkey.[42][43] Other Terrorist groups had supported the Islamic Front (Syria). The Jabhat al-Nusra (JN) have publicity supported the Islamic Front (Syria) as long as the Islamic Front does not create any western ties or leave out Arab regimes.[44] "Muhammad al-Mohaisany, a rising star in the jihadist community and a key financier of rebel efforts in northern Syria -- released a video message backing Islamic Front (Syria) on social media platforms."[44] However, ISIS is feeling uneasy from the formation of the Islamic Front because they are competitors in Syria.[44] The United States has not designated the Islamic Front (Syria) as a global jihadist group because they do not want to establish a caliphate.[44] As a result, the United States government has not recognized the group to be a danger to American lives.[44] However, many of the United States allies could back this group which politically could be an issue for the United States.[44]
Views and objectives[edit]
The Islamic Front released its charter on the Internet in late November 2013, outlining its aims and objectives, although the document avoided providing a clear vision of the future.[4] The Islamic Front's charter rejects the concepts of representative democracy and secularism, instead seeking to establish an Islamic state ruled by a Majlis-ash-Shura and implementing sharia. It acknowledges the ethnic and religious minorities that live in Syria, while also welcoming the foreign fighters who have joined the anti-Assad forces and rejecting non-military means of ending the civil war.[4] One member of the political assembly of the group has stated that the Islamic Front could accept Syria as a democracy, as long as sharia is "sovereign".[45] The Islamic Front said it aspires "to establish an independent state where God's merciful law is sovereign and where the individuals of this state enjoy justice and a dignified life."[46]
According to the Islamic Front, they only want to unify Muslims under one Islamic State.[44] The group has stated that they will not punish non-Muslims.[44] The Islamic Front (Syria) has been very open to allowing other smaller rebel groups join their movement as long as they share similar beliefs.[44]
The Islamic Front criticized ISIS (Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant), saying: "They killed the people of Islam and leave the idol worshippers" and "They use the verses talking about the disbelievers and implement it on the Muslims".[47]
In 2013, before the Front was formed, its future military leader Zahran Alloush gave a speech attacking Shi'ites, whom he called "Rafidis", the Alawites and "the Zoroastrians", saying "the mujahediin of Sham [the Levant] will wash the filth (رجس) of the Rafida and the Rafidia from Sham... if Allah wills it, until they cleanse Bilad al-Sham [the land of the Levant] from the filth of the Majous [Fireworshippers] who have fought the religion of Allah"; "Shia are still servile and small (أذلاء صاغرين ) throughout history"; and "I bid you, o unclean (أنجاس) Rafida, that as the Banu Umayya [ Umayyads] destroyed your skulls in the past, the people of the Ghouta and the people of Sham will destroy your skulls in the future".[48]
Alloush and Hassan Aboud, heading the Islamic Front's political office, have denounced democracy and called for an Islamic state to succeed Assad.[49] However in a May 2015 interview with McClatchy journalists, Alloush used moderate rhetoric, claiming that Syrians should decide what sort of state they wanted to live under and that Alawites were "part of the Syrian people" and only those with blood on their hands should be held accountable. His spokesman went on to claim that the sectarian and Islamist rhetoric Alloush had previously made was only intended for internal consumption and to rally his fighters.[50][51][52]
Claimed attacks/description of attacks[edit]
The Islamic Front (Syria) has claimed for forty five attacks from 2012 to 2015.[53] The country that the Islamic Front (Syria) has been active in has only been in Syria and only in the major cities.[53] The most deadly attacks occurred on the same day on December 14, 2014 on two different military bases.[53] The Islamic Front killed ninety soldiers at each location and took fifteen soldiers hostage and their where about are still unknown to this day.[53] The majority of their attacks are assaults with explosives (thirty seven attacks) but they have used armed assaults as well in their attacks as well (three times).[53] The Majority of their targets were military personnel (twenty three attacks) but a close second was government officials (nineteen attacks); Forty three percent of the attacks were against military personnel, thirty five percent of the attacks were against government officials, and all other attacks involved were around twenty percent of the attacks.[53]