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Suqour al-Sham Brigades

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The Suqour al-Sham Brigades (Arabic: أَلْوِيَةُ صُقُورِ الشَّامِ, romanized: ʾAlwiyat Ṣuqūr aš-Šām, English: Falcons of the Levant Brigades), also known as the Falcons of the Levant Brigades, is an armed rebel organisation formed by Ahmed Abu Issa[1] early in the Syrian Civil War to fight against the Syrian Government.[1] It was a member of the Islamic Front[8] and a former unit of the Free Syrian Army[17] and the Syrian Islamic Liberation Front.[18] They have a history of coordinating with Ahrar al-Sham and al-Qaeda's al-Nusra Front[6] (a group rebranded as Tahrir al-Sham since January 2017), though clashes with the latter broke out in January 2017. In March 2015, the Suqour al-Sham Brigades merged with Ahrar ash-Sham,[19][3] but left Ahrar al-Sham in September 2016.[4] Also, in September 2016, they joined the Army of Conquest, of which Ahrar al-Sham is also a member.[11] On 25 January 2017, Suqour al-Sham rejoined Ahrar al-Sham,[9] but later became independent.[5]

Suqour al-Sham Brigades
أَلْوِيَةُ صُقُورِ الشَّامِ
Leaders
  • Ahmad Issa al-Sheikh[1]
  • Abu Hussein al-Dik †
  • Ahmad Sarhan ("Abu Satif")[2]
Dates of operation
  • September 2011 – 22 March 2015[3]
  • 3 September 2016 – 26 January 2017[4]
  • 26 January 2017 – 2018 (as a semi-autonomous subgroup of Ahrar al-Sham)[5]
  • 2018–present
HeadquartersSarjeh, Idlib Governorate, Syria[1]
Active regionsIdlib Governorate, Syria
Aleppo Governorate, Syria
IdeologySunni Islamism[1]
Size9,000–10,000[6] (2013) 400[7] (December 2014)
Part ofFree Syrian Army (2011–2013)
Syrian Islamic Liberation Front (2012–2013)
Islamic Front (2013–2015)[8]


Syrian Revolutionary Command Council (2014–2015)[10]


Army of Conquest (2015–2017)[11]
National Front for Liberation (since August 2018)[2]
Allies
Opponents
Battles and warsSyrian Civil War
Preceded by
Suqour al-Sham Battalion

Ideology

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Suqour al-Sham's ideology has been described by Asher Berman of the Institute for the Study of War as Islamist but not having a global jihadist outlook. In a sermon delivered in a mosque in April 2012, Abu Issa said Muslims had lost their honor because they had abandoned jihad, replacing aspirations for martyrdom with a fear of death. However, in an interview in June 2012 Issa described his vision for a post-Assad Syria as a moderate Islamic state "without imposing it on society."[20]

A publication of the Counter Terrorism Centre in August 2013 described Suqour al-Sham as belonging to the most stridently Islamist wing of the Free Syrian Army and the Syrian Islamic Liberation Front.[21] After ending relations with those two organisations it joined the Islamic Front in November 2013, a charter released by the new group described their shared beliefs as rejecting representative democracy and secularism, instead seeking to establish an Islamic State ruled by a Majlis-ash-Shura and implementing Sharia law.[22]

Activity and tactics

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As Suquor al-Sham grew in prominence, rebel units in neighboring regions such as Aleppo and Idlib Governorate declared themselves to be members of Suqour al-Sham. The central leadership sometimes recognized their affiliation, but the amount of coordination with these groups was believed to be low. By June 2013 the group had recognised some 17 sub-brigades.[21]

Suqour al-Sham has been known to carry out roadside IED attacks targeting the Syrian Army since its inception. The organization has also carried out attacks on security checkpoints using VBIEDs that had been secretly rigged with explosives and driven unwittingly by released captives, upon reaching the target they were detonated remotely.[23] The group had not been known to carry out suicide bombings as of mid-July 2012.[20]

History

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After three months of protests in 2011, the Syrian government released many high-profile Salafist Islamist prisoners from Sednaya Prison such as Zahran Alloush, Hassan Aboud and Ahmed Abu Issa. The Suqour al-Sham Battalion was formed in September 2011 under the leadership of Ahmed Abu Issa in the town of Sarjeh in the Jabal al-Zawiya region of Idlib Governorate. The group's fighters are a mix of military defectors and civilian volunteers. According to its website, the brigade has a civilian and a military wing. The civilian wing is run by a shura council headed by Ahmed Abu Issa, this wing is responsible for acquiring military supplies, food, and media operations. The military wing is independent, but acts on the advice of the civilian leadership.[24]

Suquor al-Sham initially identified itself as part of the Free Syrian Army and recognized the Syrian National Council as the "chief representative of the revolution abroad;" however, the group does not view the SNC as an organization that can legitimately issue orders.[20] In September 2013, Suqour al-Sham was one of a number of rebel groups that issued a communique stating that the SNC was not representative of them and that they were abandoning it.[25][26] This was followed in December 2013 by a statement from Suqour al-Sham's leader, announcing that they were no longer part of the Free Syrian Army.[17]

In September 2012, a large number of Islamist rebel brigades, including the Farouq Brigades and the Suquor al-Sham formed the Syrian Islamic Liberation Front, under the leadership of Suquor al-Sham commander Ahmed Abu Issa. Abu Issa claimed the new Front had more than 40,000 fighters and aimed to establish a state with an Islamic reference.[18] This alliance was superseded in November 2013 by a new alliance called the Islamic Front, again led by Abu Issa.[8]

By early 2014, Suqour al-Sham had reportedly been substantially weakened following the outbreak of open warfare between many Syrian rebel factions and the Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant. On 21 January 2014, Suqour al-Sham's top religious official, Abu Abderrahman al-Sarmini, defected from the group, in protest of the internecine warfare. In February 2014, the group's top military commander, Mohammed al-Dik (alias Abu Hussein), was killed in an ISIL attack. In the same month, Suqour al-Sham's chief of staff and one of its most powerful founding factions, the Suyouf al-Haq Brigade, announced an unapproved separate peace with ISIL and defected from the group. Suyouf al-Haq joined with Liwa Dawud, a powerful Suqour al-Sham faction that had defected in 2013,[27] to form a new group called Jaysh al-Sham, or the Army of the Levant.[28][29]

In May 2014, the group conducted joint suicide attacks with the al-Nusra Front that involved American foreign fighter, Moner Mohammad Abu Salha who took part in one of the series of suicide bombings himself against Syrian government forces in Ariha.[30]

In September 2016, after more than a year of being absorbed by Ahrar al-Sham, the Suqour al-Sham Brigades left Ahrar al-Sham while continuing to use the Islamic Front logo.[4] Also, in September 2016, they joined the Army of Conquest, of which Ahrar al-Sham is also a member.[11] On 25 January 2017, Suqour al-Sham rejoined Ahrar al-Sham amid clashes with the al-Nusra Front.[9] By 2018 the group left Ahrar al-Sham again. On 1 August 2018, it joined the National Front for Liberation, with Suqour al-Sham commander Ahmad Sarhan ("Abu Satif") named as the NFL's first deputy commander.[2]

On 6 August 2019, al-Masdar which has been described as a pro-Syrian government news site, claimed that the Russian military carried out an ambush resulting in the death of 14 fighters from the group in the northern part of the Hama Governorate during a Syrian government offensive in the area.[31]

According to a Syrian opposition source and an activist in Afrin, the Suqour al-Sham Brigades were among the Turkish-backed insurgent groups which volunteered to send fighters to Libya as part of a Turkish-led operation to aid the Tripoli-based Government of National Accord in December 2019.[32]

War crimes

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The UN Commission of Inquiry for Syria reported that the group unlawfully detained Hekmat Khalil al-De’ar for alleged dealings with the Syrian Democratic Forces. His dead body returned to his family the next day. The autopsy showed that he had been subjected to torture.[14]

See also

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References

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  1. ^ a b c d e O'Bagy 2012, p. 23.
  2. ^ a b c "Meet the leading leaders of the "National Liberation Front"". Enab Baladi. 1 August 2018.
  3. ^ a b c "Islamist Mergers in Syria: Ahrar al-Sham Swallows Suqour al-Sham". Carnegie Endowment for International Peace. 23 March 2015. Retrieved 30 March 2015.
  4. ^ a b c "Sham Hawks Brigade split from the Islamic Movement of the Free Levant". Eldorar. 3 September 2016.
  5. ^ a b "Rival Groups Clash in Syria's Rebel-Packed Idlib". Associated Press. 15 July 2017.
  6. ^ a b "MAPPING MILITANT ORGANIZATIONS: Suqour al-Sham". Stanford University. Retrieved 2 October 2016.
  7. ^ Dick, Marlin (1 December 2014). "Syrian rebel coalition announced". The Daily Star. Archived from the original on 1 December 2014. Retrieved 1 December 2014.
  8. ^ a b c "Leading Syrian rebel groups form new Islamic Front". BBC News. 22 November 2013. Retrieved 22 November 2013.
  9. ^ a b c Obs, Syrian Rebellion (25 January 2017). "#SRO - As #JFS leading its war in #Idlib gov', many factions seeking refuge inside Ahrar ash-Sham : these five sunni factions merged in it.pic.twitter.com/KuiZnw4XHJ". Twitter.
  10. ^ "Translation: the Formation of the Syrian Revolutionary Command Council". Goha's Nail. 3 August 2014. Retrieved 6 August 2014.
  11. ^ a b c "Hassan Hassan حسن on Twitter". Retrieved 5 March 2017.
  12. ^ a b "Freedom, Human Rights, Rule of Law: The Goals and Guiding Principles of the Islamic Front and Its Allies". Democratic Revolution, Syrian Style. 17 May 2014. Retrieved 17 May 2014.
  13. ^ "Syrian War Daily – 2nd of March 2018". 2 March 2018.
  14. ^ a b "2021 Country Reports on Human Rights Practices: Syria". www.state.gov.
  15. ^ "YPG and Rebel Forces Challenge ISIS in Northern Syria".
  16. ^ "Syrian War Daily – 21st of February 2018". 21 February 2018.
  17. ^ a b "Leading Syrian rebels defect, dealing blow to fight against al-Qaeda". Daily Telegraph. 5 December 2013. Retrieved 10 December 2013.
  18. ^ a b "Syria's Islamist rebels join forces against Assad". Reuters. 11 October 2012. Retrieved 26 April 2014.
  19. ^ "اندماج حركتي أحرار الشام وصقور الشام". Retrieved 5 March 2017.
  20. ^ a b c "Rebel Groups in Jebel Al-Zawiyah" (PDF). Institute for the Study of War.
  21. ^ a b Lund, Aron (27 August 2013). "The Non-State Militant Landscape in Syria". CTC Sentinel. Archived from the original on 7 October 2013. Retrieved 22 November 2013.
  22. ^ "New rebel alliance wants Syria as 'Islamic State'". AFP news agency. 26 November 2013. Retrieved 28 November 2013.
  23. ^ "Syrian rebels releasing prisoners in bomb-rigged cars". New York Daily News. 21 June 2012. Archived from the original on 28 June 2012.
  24. ^ "About Sham Falcons". Archived from the original on 2012-08-18.
  25. ^ "Syrian rebel groups reject SNC authority, call for Islamic leadership". Reuters. 25 September 2013. Retrieved 21 October 2013.
  26. ^ "Largest Syrian rebel groups form Islamic alliance, in possible blow to U.S. influence". Washington Post. 25 September 2013. Retrieved 21 October 2013.
  27. ^ "A decision of the General Command in brigades Hawks Levant to accept the request of the separation o".
  28. ^ Hassan Hassan (4 March 2014). "Front to Back". Foreign Policy. Retrieved 5 March 2014.
  29. ^ "Politics of the Islamic Front, Part 6: Stagnation?". Carnegie Endowment for International Peace. 14 April 2014. Retrieved 26 April 2014.
  30. ^ "Al Nusrah Front, Suqour al Sham launch joint suicide assault in Syria | FDD's Long War Journal". 26 May 2014.
  31. ^ "Jihadists suffer heavy losses in 2 ambushes carried out by suspected Russian troops". 6 August 2019. Archived from the original on 6 August 2019. Retrieved 6 August 2019.
  32. ^ Ragip Soylu; Harun al-Aswad (27 December 2019). "Turkey to send Syrian rebel fighters to battle Haftar in Libya". Middle East Eye. Retrieved 29 December 2019.

Sources

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O’Bagy, E. (2012, September). Jihad in Syria. Middle East Security Report 6 , 1-41.

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