Jaysh al-Jihad

Jaysh al-Jihad
جَيْشُ الْجِهَادِ
Leaders Abu Mussab Al-Fanussy
Dates of operation February 2015 – 21 May 2016
Headquarters Al-Qahtaniyah, Quneitra[1]
Active regions Quneitra Governorate and Daraa Governorate, Syria[1]
Ideology Salafi Jihadism
Size 500[1]
Part of Islamic State (allegedly)
Allies Yarmouk Martyrs Brigade
Opponents
Battles and wars Syrian Civil War

Jaysh al-Jihad (Army of Jihad) was a Islamist militant group based in the Quneitra Governorate in Syria. It formed from the merger of 7 smaller groups that split from Al-Nusra Front after their clashes with the Yarmouk Martyrs Brigade in December of 2014. The groups were: Jihad Brigades, Jamaat Jund al-Islam, Jamaat Abu Baseer, Mujahideen of al-Sham movement, Jamaat Shabab Ahl al-Sunnah, Nurayn Brigade, and Jamaat Bunyan al-Marsous.[2]

Some other Syrian militant groups say that the group is allied with ISIS.[3][4] In April of 2015, fighting happened between the group and the Free Syrian Army and Al-Nusra Front after Jaysh al-Jihad members killed six Free Syrian Army members in Quneitra.[5] By the 6th of May 2015, the Al-Nusra Front and other militant groups said that they had cleared Quneitra of Jaysh al-Jihad fighters.[6]

In May of 2016, some of the group's members decided to join the Yarmouk Martyrs Brigade and Islamic Muthanna to create the Khalid ibn al-Walid Army.[7]

References

  1. 1.0 1.1 1.2 "The Islamic State in Southern Syria" (PDF). Carter Center. 15 May 2015. Retrieved 10 June 2015.
  2. "The Islamic State in Southern Syria" (PDF). Carter Center. 15 May 2015. Retrieved 10 June 2015.
  3. ""جيش الجهاد".. هل هو خلايا نائمة لـ"داعش" في درعا والقنيطرة؟". Retrieved 9 May 2015.
  4. "دوت مصر - 7 فصائل سورية تعلن إنشاء "جيش الجهاد"". دوت مصر. Archived from the original on 17 May 2017. Retrieved 9 May 2015.
  5. "The emergence of IS in southern Syria". Middle East Eye. 30 April 2015. Retrieved 10 June 2015.
  6. "The Islamic State in Southern Syria" (PDF). Carter Center. 15 May 2015. Retrieved 10 June 2015.
  7. "Far from Raqqa and Fallujah , Syria rebels open new front against ISIL in the south". The National. 29 May 2016.