Narrative
Narrative of the Organization's History
Narrative of the Organization's History
Leadership, Name Changes, Size Estimates, Resources, Geographic Locations
Ideology, Aims, Political Activities, Targets, and Tactics
First Attacks, Largest Attacks, Notable Attacks
Foreign Designations and Listings, Community Relations, Relations with Other Groups, State Sponsors and External Influences
Mapping relationships with other militant groups over time in regional maps
Initially, Suqour al-Sham’s leader, Ahmad Abu Eissa, was a proponent of a moderate Islamist state that would hold elections and guarantee full rights for minorities and seculars. After joining the Islamic Front umbrella group, however, Eissa recanted his statement and advocated for a completely Islamic state in Syria.[39]
Suqour al-Sham was initially affiliated with the Free Syrian Army (FSA), though it began to distance itself from the FSA after the FSA-affiliated Supreme Military Council’s (SMC) political wing, the Syrian National Council (SNC), joined the National Coalition for Syrian Revolutionary and Opposition Forces.[40] On September 23, 2013, Suqour al-Sham joined the Islamic Coalition, a political group that opposed the National Coalition for Syrian Revolutionary and Opposition Forces and called for opposition to the Assad regime to be run only by groups fighting inside Syria.[41]
In January 2017, Suqour al-Sham sent a representative to the Astana peace talks between Syrian opposition groups and the Assad regime.[42] Suqour al-Sham, along with the other militant groups represented, chose not to sign the ceasefire agreement negotiated by Russia, Turkey, and Iran.[43]
Suqour al-Sham targeted the Assad regime since its founding. Additionally, the group actively fought the Islamic State (IS) until from January 2014 until a ceasefire with IS was signed on February 5, 2014.[44]
Suqour al-Sham utilized many small arms and IEDs, and it often attacked military outposts in order to gain weapons.[45] Suqour al-Sham also clarified that its car bombs were not martyrdom or suicide operations. Instead, the group gave cars that had been secretly rigged with explosives to suspected spies or Suqour al-Sham captives, and it remotely detonated these vehicles when they reached military checkpoints.
Disclaimer: These are some selected major attacks in the militant organization's history. It is not a comprehensive listing but captures some of the most famous attacks or turning points during the campaign.
May 28, 2012: Suqour al-Sham and the Shuhada Jebel al-Zawiyah Battalion attacked a government checkpoint outside the village of Mughara in Idlib province. The militants seized weaponry, including a tank and an anti-aircraft armored personnel carrier (unknown casualties).[46]
October 9, 2012: Suqour al-Sham fighters seized the town of Maarat al Nauman from government forces in the Idlib province (unknown casualties).[47]
May 2013: Suqour al-Sham coordinated with Jabhat al-Nusra (Al-Nusra) and other opposition groups to overrun several military camps in the Idlib province. According to Al-Nusra, the total opposition force included 2,000 fighters, 8 tanks, and an armored vehicle (unknown casualties).[48]
January 3, 2014: Suqour al-Sham joined members of the Free Syrian Army and the Islamic Front as part of an opposition assault against Islamic State (IS) positions across Syria. The initial attack pushed IS out of most of the Idlib province and city of Aleppo and weakened IS control in Raqqa province (unknown casualties).[49]
January 2, 2015: Suqour al-Sham coordinated with Al-Nusra and Ahrar al-Sham to attack an army post in the province of Idlib. This assault began a larger campaign to take control of the town of Ariha and the area surrounding Arbaeen Mountain in Idlib (unknown casualties).[50]
May 2015: Suqour al-Sham, as part of Ahrar al-Sham, helped take Idlib from regime forces. (unknown killed, unknown wounded) [51]
July 2017: Suqour al-Sham fought as part of Ahrar al-Sham against Hayat Tahrir al-Sham (HTS) after HTS attacked Ahrar al-Sham. Analysts believe that these attacks were a part of HTS’ attempts to become the preeminent force in Idlib.[52]
February-April 2018: Suqour al-Sham fought alongside Jabhat Tahrir Souriya (JTS) against HTS. The fighting successfully pushed back HTS. Violence ended in April after due to a ceasefire, reportedly signed after Abu Issa al-Sheikh’s son was killed in the fighting. [53]
Suqour al-Sham has not been designated as a terrorist organization by any national governments or international organizations.
Since December 2015, the United Nations Security Council has made efforts towards the establishment of a list of terrorist groups active in Syria. Lebanon and Egypt support classifying Suqour al-Sham as such, but the Security Council has been unable to achieve a unanimous consensus.[54]
The relationship between Suqour al-Sham and the communities in which it operated is unknown.
Though Suqour al-Sham never announced a formal affiliation with Al Qaeda (AQ), it did coordinate attacks against the Assad regime with AQ affiliate Jabhat al-Nusra.[55] Despite its coordination with Al-Nusra, Suqour al-Sham has opposed Al-Nusra’s successor group, Hayat Tahrir al-Sham (HTS), and has fought against that group on numerous occasions.[56]
Suqour al-Sham opposed the Islamic State (IS) and began targeting the group on January 3, 2014.[57] However, the decision to target IS disgruntled many senior Suqour al-Sham leaders, such as the group’s top religious leader Abu Abderrahman al-Sarmini. In January 2014, Sarmini defected from Suqour al-Sham in protest of its attacks against IS. Conflict with IS also prompted Liwa Dawoud and Liwa Siyoof al-Haq, two of Suqour al-Sham’s strongest factions, to declare peace with IS, defect from Suqour al-Sham, and eventually form Jaysh al-Sham (the Army of the Levant) with deserting IS members.[58] In February, 2014 IS members assassinated of Suqour al-Sham’s top military commander, Mohamad al-Dik. The group was severely weakened by the assassination and defections.[59] In February 2014, IS militants clashed with Suquor al-Sham members in the Sha’er oil fields in the province of Hama. IS successfully besieged 500 Suqour al-Sham militants in the fighting, prompting Suqour al-Sham to sign a ceasefire with IS within days of the start of the siege.[60]
During its existence as an independent militant organization, Suqour al-Sham was active in multiple Syrian opposition coalitions. It was affiliated with the Free Syrian Army (FSA) in 2011, and it became a founding a member of the FSA-linked Syrian Islamic Liberation Front (SILF) umbrella organization in 2012.[61] In 2012, Suqour al-Sham leader Ahmad Abu Eissa was elected as the head of the SILF.[62] Despite its close ties to the Free Syrian Army, Suqour al-Sham did not take orders from the FSA’s Syrian National Council. Suqour al-Sham began to distance itself from the FSA in September 2013 when it joined the Islamic Coalition, a political group that called for the implementation of Shariah law in Syria.[63]
In late 2013, Suqour al-Sham helped found the Islamic Front, an umbrella group of 40,000-70,000 fighters that sought to replace the Assad regime with an Islamic government.[64] Suqour al-Sham left the SILF in November 2013 in order to join this new umbrella group.[65] Suqour al-Sham’s commander, Ahmad Abu Eissa, served as the Islamic Front’s leader until it collapsed in mid-2014 due to disagreements between Ahrar al-Sham and Jaysh al-Islam.[66]
Suqour al-Sham merged into Ahrar al-Sham on March 22, 2015, and its former leader, Ahmad Abu Eissa, became a deputy responsible for Ahrar al-Sham’s political affairs.[67] Since this first merger, Suqour al-Sham’s official standing vis-à-vis Ahrar al-Sham has been tumultuous. Suquor al-Sham left the group in 2016, only to join again in 2017 during clashes with Jund al-Aqsa before finally leaving a second time later that year. [68] Finally, it merged with Jabhat Tahrir Souriya (JTS), a later iteration of Ahrar al-Sham, into the Turkish-led National Liberation Front (NLF). [69] This series of mergers and then breakages can be useful in understanding the higher-level relationships between various rebel groups on issues like major assaults, peace talks, and rebel infighting. However, it is perhaps more useful to consider Ahrar al-Sham and Suqour al-Sham as consistently staunch allies with occasional efforts to change the formal, public image of their relationship. Reporting indicates that, regardless of the official state of their relationship at any given moment, Suqour al-Sham and Ahrar al-Sham closely cooperated on military issues.
There is some speculation that Saudi Arabia and Qatar provided financial support to Suqour al-Sham, largely due to both countries’ efforts to fund the Islamic Front. Analysts disagree on the extent to which Saudi Arabia influenced Suqour al-Sham. Some claim that Saudi Arabia played a large role in establishing the Islamic Front, an umbrella group that included Suqour al-Sham. However, other analysts argue that there is little evidence to support this claim aside from Saudi Arabia’s funding for Islamic Front member Jaysh al-Islam.[70] Additionally, Qatar reportedly financed the Islamic Front, an umbrella organization that included Suqour al-Sham.[71]
In 2018, it was clear that Turkey was a major supporter of the group. Suqour al-Sham fought alongside the Turkish-supported Jabhat Tahrir al-Souriya (JTS); both groups later merged into the Turkish-led National Liberation Front. [72]
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