Ansar al-Sham

Kata'ib Ansar al-Sham
Supporters of the Levant Battalions[1]
Arabic: كَتَائِبُ أَنْصَارِ الشَّامِ
LeadersAbu Omar al-Jamil
(overall leader)
Abu Musa al-Shishani
(military commander)[2]
Dates of operationSeptember 2012[2] – present
Group(s)al-Zahir Baybars Battalion[3]
HeadquartersJabal al-Akrad, Latakia Governorate[3]
Active regionsLatakia Governorate[4]
Idlib Governorate[1]
IdeologySunni Islamism[5]
Size2,500[3] (March 2014)
Part of Syrian Islamic Front
Islamic Front
Jaysh al-Islam[6] (December 2016–January 2017, branch part of Ahrar al-Sham since January 2017)
Tahrir al-Sham (February 2017–August 2018)[7]
Allies Free Syrian Army
Junud al-Sham
Jund al-Aqsa
Sham Legion
Ajnad al-Kavkaz
Ajnad ash-Sham
Jaysh al-Sunna
Tahrir al-Sham
Turkistan Islamic Party in Syria
Opponents Syria
 Russia
 Iran
Hezbollah
Syrian Resistance
Syrian Social Nationalist Party
Battles and warsSyrian Civil War
  • 2013 Latakia offensive[8]
  • 2014 Latakia offensive[9]
  • Inter-rebel conflict during the Syrian Civil War
  • 2015 Idlib offensive
    • Battle of Idlib (2015)
  • Northwestern Syria offensive (April–June 2015)
  • Al-Ghab offensive (July–August 2015)
  • 2015–16 Latakia offensive
  • 2016 Latakia offensive
  • Northwestern Syria offensive (April 2019–present)
Not to be confused with Ahrar al-Sham, another Islamist militant group or Ansar al-Islam, which has a Syrian faction that sometimes also goes by the name Ansar al-Sham.

Ansar al-Sham is a Sunni militant group active in the Syrian Civil War, and it mainly fights against the Syrian Arab Army (SAA) and its allies.[10] It was founded by Abu-Omar al-Jamil, who fought in Afghanistan against the Soviet Union. The group allows both foreign fighters and local Syrian people to join the group and the group is described to be made up of people who left the SAA, shopkeepers, and farmers.[11]

References

  1. ↑ 1.0 1.1 Sinjab, Lina (17 October 2013). "Syria crisis: Guide to armed and political opposition". BBC. Retrieved 15 May 2014.
  2. ↑ 2.0 2.1 "Rebels Reopen the Latakia Front". Institute for the Study of War. 10 April 2014. Retrieved 19 May 2014.
  3. ↑ 3.0 3.1 3.2 3.3 Tam Hussein (24 March 2014). "The Ansar al-Sham Battalions". Carnegie Endowment for International Peace. Retrieved 15 May 2014.
  4. ↑ Aaron Y. Zelin (4 February 2013). "The Syrian Islamic Front: A New Extremist Force". The Washington Institute for Near East Policy. Retrieved 15 May 2014.
  5. ↑ "A Power Move by Syria's Rebel Forces". Institute for the Study of War. 22 November 2013. Retrieved 15 May 2014.
  6. ↑ "استجابة للمطالب الشعبية.. "أنصار الشام" تندمج بـ"جيش الإسلام" - شبكة بلدي الإعلامية". Baladi News Network. 15 December 2016. Archived from the original on 9 April 2018. Retrieved 15 December 2016.
  7. ↑ "New statement from Hayy'at Taḥrīr al-Shām: "Katā'ib Anṣār al-Shām Joins Hayy'at Taḥrīr al-Shām"". Jihadology. February 7, 2017.
  8. ↑ "Regime Regains Ground on the Coast". Institute for the Study of War. 22 August 2013. Archived from the original on 28 March 2014. Retrieved 19 May 2014.
  9. ↑ "Syrie: combats féroces autour d'un point de passage avec la Turquie". AFP. 21 March 2014. Retrieved 16 May 2014.
  10. ↑ "A Power Move by Syria's Rebel Forces | ISW Blog". 22 November 2011. Retrieved 2024-03-20.
  11. ↑ "Ansar al-Sham | Mapping Militant Organizations". web.stanford.edu. Archived from the original on 2022-09-01. Retrieved 2024-03-20.
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