Opposition fighters leave Syrian Free Army to fight for al-Qaeda

Few outside Syria’s pro-government Alawite and Christian communities share the regime’s claim that it is fighting a war against Islamist terrorists. Clearly, the core membership of the Free Syrian Army consists of rebels whose grievances against the brutal rule of Bashar al-Assad are primarily ethnic and political, not religious. At the same time, it would be equally naïve to disregard the documented existence of several armed Islamist groups currently operating all over Syria. A case in point is the Deir ez-Zor governorate, one of Syria’s largest provinces, which borders Iraq. Al-Qaeda-linked groups have operated in that region for at least a decade, far from the reach of the government in Damascus or the United States military stationed across the border in Iraq. The Syrian uprising has breathed new life to the al-Qaeda-linked groups in Eastern Syria.

One of the most active such groups is Jabhat al-Nusra, which translates into English as “Front for the Protection of the People of the Levant”. Al-Nusra, known informally as “Solidarity Front”, is widely considered al-Qaeda’s main branch in Syria. It has hundreds of members in Deir ez-Zor’s towns and cities, including in Mohassan, where Solidarity Front vehicles can currently be observed patrolling the streets while bearing the black banners of al-Qaeda. British newspaper The Guardian, whose editorial position is unreservedly in support of the Syrian uprising, has managed to place one of its special correspondents, Iraqi-born Ghaith Abdul-Ahad, inside Deir ez-Zor. While there, the journalist met a senior Jabhat al-Nusra commander who goes by the name Abu Khuder. A former Syrian army officer, Abu Khuder was one of the first Syrians in Deir ez-Zor province to join the Free Syrian Army. He soon quit, however, accusing the Free Syrian Army of operational ineptness and amateurism. He soon joined Jabhat al-Nusra, whose core leadership consists of hardened veterans of the Iraqi insurgency against the US military.

According to Abdul-Ahad’s report, Abu Khuder now leads a Jabhat al-Nusra battalion calling itself “the strangers”, after a well-known Islamist madih (poetic eulogy) that celebrates al-Qaeda founder Osama bin Laden’s operations in the mountain ranges of Afghanistan. He told The Guardian that his “clear instructions” from the al-Nusra leadership are to actively assist the regional command of the Free Syrian Army, whose members he meets “almost every day”. Much of that assistance is in the area of explosives, especially car bombs and improvised explosive devices. According to Abu Khuder, his men, many of whom are “immigrants” from Iraq, Jordan, Yemen, or Saudi Arabia, acquired their explosives expertise while fighting US troops in Iraq. At the same time, al-Nusra is in charge of its own operations against the Syrian military. In one recent statement posted online, the group claimed responsibility for a July 17 attack on a Syrian Air Force base in the northeastern city of Qamishli, which killed 38 people. Another statement from the group claimed that it had members operating in Aleppo, Syria’s largest city, where the Free Syrian Army is currently engaged in a fight to the death against government troops. The statement, quoted by Agence France Presse, said that victory in Syria belongs “to the believers”. It did not specify whether that term applies to the Free Syrian Army.

JOSEPH FITSANAKIS | intelNews.org |