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Syria’s Al-Qaeda not on US’ terror watch-lists: Who is supporting terrorism?
Global Village Space |
Nauman Sadiq |
According to a recent report by CBC Canada, Al-Qaeda’s affiliate in Syria, which was formerly known as Al-Nusra Front and then Jabhat Fateh Al-Sham (JFS) since July 2016, has been removed from the terror watch-lists of the US and Canada after it merged with fighters from Zenki Brigade and hardline jihadists from Ahrar Al-Sham and rebranded itself as Hayat Tahrir Al-Sham (HTS) in January this year.
The US State Department is hesitant to label Tahrir Al-Sham as a terror group, despite the group’s link to Al-Qaeda, as the US government has directly funded and armed the Zenki Brigade, one of the constituents of Tahrir Al-Sham, with sophisticated weaponry including the US-made anti-tank TOW missiles.
The US State Department is hesitant to label Tahrir Al-Sham a terror group, despite the group’s link to Al-Qaeda.
The overall military commander of Tahrir Al-Sham continues to be Abu Mohammad Al-Julani, whom the US has branded a Specially Designated Global Terrorist with a $10 million bounty. But for the US to designate Tahrir Al-Sham as a terrorist organization now would mean acknowledging that it supplied sophisticated weapons to terrorists, and draw attention to the fact that the US continues to arm Islamic jihadists in Syria.
Read more: Why is the US attacking the Syrians who are fighting ISIS?
Al-Julani’s Al-Nusra Front is only a splinter group of the Islamic State.
In order to understand the bloody history of Al-Nusra Front during the Syrian civil war, bear in mind that since the beginning of the Syrian conflict in August 2011 to April 2013, the Islamic State and Al-Nusra Front were a single organization that chose the banner of “Jabhat Al-Nusra.” Although Al-Nusra Front has been led by Abu Mohammad Al-Julani, he was appointed as the emir of Al-Nusra Front by Abu Bakr Al-Baghdadi, the leader of Islamic State, in January 2012.
Thus, Al-Julani’s Al-Nusra Front is only a splinter group of the Islamic State, which split from its parent organization in April 2013 over a leadership dispute between the two organizations.
The merger of IS and Al-Nusra Front
Al-Baghdadi declared that the two groups were merging under the name “Islamic State of Iraq and Syria.”
In March 2011, protests began in Syria against the government of Bashar Al-Assad. In the following months, violence between demonstrators and security forces led to a gradual militarization of the conflict. In August 2011, Abu Bakr Al-Baghdadi, who was based in Iraq, began sending Syrian and Iraqi jihadists, experienced in guerilla warfare, across the border into Syria to establish an organization inside the country.
Led by a Syrian known as Abu Mohammad Al-Julani, the group began to recruit fighters and establish cells throughout the country. On January 23, 2012, the group announced its formation as Jabhat Al-Nusra.
Read more: Escalation of the Syrian conflict: Is the US hurting Syria more than ever
Abu Bakr Al-Baghdadi, however, defied the nominal authority of Al-Qaeda Central and declared himself as the caliph of Islamic State of Iraq and Syria.
Read full article:
Syria’s Al-Qaeda not on US’ terror watch-lists: Who is supporting terrorism?
Global Village Space |
Nauman Sadiq |
According to a recent report by CBC Canada, Al-Qaeda’s affiliate in Syria, which was formerly known as Al-Nusra Front and then Jabhat Fateh Al-Sham (JFS) since July 2016, has been removed from the terror watch-lists of the US and Canada after it merged with fighters from Zenki Brigade and hardline jihadists from Ahrar Al-Sham and rebranded itself as Hayat Tahrir Al-Sham (HTS) in January this year.
The US State Department is hesitant to label Tahrir Al-Sham as a terror group, despite the group’s link to Al-Qaeda, as the US government has directly funded and armed the Zenki Brigade, one of the constituents of Tahrir Al-Sham, with sophisticated weaponry including the US-made anti-tank TOW missiles.
The US State Department is hesitant to label Tahrir Al-Sham a terror group, despite the group’s link to Al-Qaeda.
The overall military commander of Tahrir Al-Sham continues to be Abu Mohammad Al-Julani, whom the US has branded a Specially Designated Global Terrorist with a $10 million bounty. But for the US to designate Tahrir Al-Sham as a terrorist organization now would mean acknowledging that it supplied sophisticated weapons to terrorists, and draw attention to the fact that the US continues to arm Islamic jihadists in Syria.
Read more: Why is the US attacking the Syrians who are fighting ISIS?
Al-Julani’s Al-Nusra Front is only a splinter group of the Islamic State.
In order to understand the bloody history of Al-Nusra Front during the Syrian civil war, bear in mind that since the beginning of the Syrian conflict in August 2011 to April 2013, the Islamic State and Al-Nusra Front were a single organization that chose the banner of “Jabhat Al-Nusra.” Although Al-Nusra Front has been led by Abu Mohammad Al-Julani, he was appointed as the emir of Al-Nusra Front by Abu Bakr Al-Baghdadi, the leader of Islamic State, in January 2012.
Thus, Al-Julani’s Al-Nusra Front is only a splinter group of the Islamic State, which split from its parent organization in April 2013 over a leadership dispute between the two organizations.
The merger of IS and Al-Nusra Front
Al-Baghdadi declared that the two groups were merging under the name “Islamic State of Iraq and Syria.”
In March 2011, protests began in Syria against the government of Bashar Al-Assad. In the following months, violence between demonstrators and security forces led to a gradual militarization of the conflict. In August 2011, Abu Bakr Al-Baghdadi, who was based in Iraq, began sending Syrian and Iraqi jihadists, experienced in guerilla warfare, across the border into Syria to establish an organization inside the country.
Led by a Syrian known as Abu Mohammad Al-Julani, the group began to recruit fighters and establish cells throughout the country. On January 23, 2012, the group announced its formation as Jabhat Al-Nusra.
Read more: Escalation of the Syrian conflict: Is the US hurting Syria more than ever
Abu Bakr Al-Baghdadi, however, defied the nominal authority of Al-Qaeda Central and declared himself as the caliph of Islamic State of Iraq and Syria.
Read full article:
Syria’s Al-Qaeda not on US’ terror watch-lists: Who is supporting terrorism?
