Notes on the Growing Struggle between ISIS, Nusra/Ahrar, and other factions of the FSA

Sunday, November 17th, 2013

Infighting among rebel groups is more ferocious than ever. ISIS is becoming more radicalized as it tries to consolidate its rule over large chunks of the rebel zone. This means fighting other militias. As a result, Jabhat al-Nusra and Ahrar al-Sham are working together more closely than ever both to counter ISIS and to take power from weaker factions of the Free Syria Army.

The Radicalization of ISIS

ISIS assigned a sixteen year old as military emir of Azaz, north of Aleppo. An ISIS prisoner from Asifat al-Shamal, the militia that ISIS defeated to take Azaz, was able to escape from his captors. He says the 16 yr old ISIS Emir regularly tortured the prisoners.

The rebels on the coast are uniting against ISIS. This comes after recent clashes between a Free Syrian Army unit (al-Hijra li-Allah) and ISIS in which 4 ISIS soldiers were killed. Following the clashes, the FSA unit opened negotiations with ISIS to release the prisoners it had captured, but instead, ISIS executed 6 of the 10 prisoners it held, after brutally torturing them. Here is video of the bodies of their martyrs killed by ISIS in the countryside of Latakia It includes video of them alive as well. ISIS accused the victims of killing 4 non-Syrian ISIS fighters in the same area after stopping them on a checkpoint in the town of Rabi’a.

On Sunday an ISIS leader executed a member of the Shari’a Court who went to mediate and stop the fighting between the two groups.

One result of this fighting is that Jabal al-Turkman in Latakia is now split between the ISIS and the rest of the groups. Nusra is trying to negotiate a settlement between the ISIS and FSA. Nusra has given ISIS an ultimatum to avoid avoid fitna (civil strife), within a period, which may be several weeks, ISIS must hand over its emir, Abu Aymen al-Iraqi, clear its checkpoints, and leave the coast for good.

The beheaded man, Muhammad Faris, الشهيد ” محمد فارس “

The story of the ISIS mistakenly beheading an Ahrar al-Sham soldier takes a new turn. Mounting evidence suggests it was not a mistake, but intentional. A picture has been released that shows the decapitated body of the soldier wearing a shirt that has the logo of Harakat Fajr al-Islamia on it, this is the local Ahrar al-Sham affiliate. This suggests that the killers could not have been mistaken about his identity or affiliation before beheading him. The ISIS soldiers were also reportedly heard to say that “The villains (Ahrar/Ashrar) of Sham are protecting apostates.”

Decapitated body with clear logo of Ahrar al-Sham related militia

In the letter next to Abu Muslim, the emir of ISIS in Aleppo, Abu Abd al Malik, the sharia officer in Ahrar al sham says: We inform you that we are keen to calm things down and remove the elements that lead to strife, especially in these difficult days, and for that, the Sharia office attempted, as soon as news of the slaughtered brother arrived, to visit the headquarter of the Dawla’s sharia leaders in an attempt to find a Dai’a who would kill the fitna and give us back the brother’s head. And the emir of ahrar al sham in Aleppo sent a delegate to communicate with your officials and restore the head al karim (honorable/precious). لاستعادة الرأس الكريم

Hassan Abboud, head of Ahrar al-Sham, talks about one of his experiences with Abdulqader Saleh (commander of Liwaa al-Tawhid, the largest militia in Aleppo, during which Saleh kissed his hand.

[tweet https://twitter.com/HassanAbboud_Ah/status/401769799824719872/]

….a month ago, Abdalqader took me to a side room and held my hand, he then looked into my eyes with the corner of his eye shinning and filled with tears. And he said with his Aleppo country accent “I beg you, i don’t want to fight a Muslim, find us a solution”. He then fell on my hand and started kissing it repeatedly. “I beg you” so he became the second man who’s hand I kissed without rules.

Nusra and Ahrar al-Sham Work Together to “Cleanse” Deir al-Zour of other FSA militias

Nusra and Ahrar al sham cleansed the city of Mayadeen in Deir ezor from the groups that falsly claim to be part of the FSA. The couple took away the weapons and headquarters of 3 group that “falsely claimed” to be part of the fsa after receiving many complaints about these groups behavior.

One of the groups that Nusra attacked belongs al Firqa al-Khamissa in the FSA which also includes Ahfad al-Rassoul. None of the allies of the group that was attacked moved to support it or even issued a condemnation of the attack. indicating how strong Nusra and Ahrar have become in the region.

The Haya al-Sharia, which is run by Nusra, issued a statement before each attack on a local groups and accuses them of being thieves and shabiha in justification of their attack. At the same time, al-Haya has been on a campaign to expand its control over the oil fields in the Jazeera area. Most recently they added a large oil field to their holdings, which is a main source of electricity and gas in the area.

Comments (31)

SANDRO LOEWE said:

Iranian and Hezballah troops continue push against militants in Aleppo

Iranian and Hezballah army troops continue their push to invade
areas from militants’ control in the northwestern city of Aleppo and near the capital Damascus.

http://www.liveleak.com/view?i=8b7_1384662585

November 17th, 2013, 12:51 pm

ghufran said:

This obsession with beheading is pathological and is now the hallmark of Islamist fighters (aka holly terrorists). Westerners and other foreigners who watch what Nusra, ISIS and their Taliban brothers do reach a simple conclusion:
This is a sick and failing culture that infects most Muslim countries, we should either stay out and let those people kill each other or, if we have to take sides, we should do business with people who are not head cutters and christian haters regardless of how corrupt and oppressive they might be.
This simple logic is what Assad and his aides and advisers count on to win the PR war, and it is working.

November 17th, 2013, 3:35 pm

Amir in Tel Aviv said:

When I see those savages and lunatics, I begin to realize that maybe Assad is the lesser evil. This is no longer a Syrian revolution. It was so in the beginning, but now it is not “Syrian”, and it is definitely not a “revolution”. If these barbarian win the battle, the Syrians (and the region) are doomed to many years of cruelty and misery.
.

November 17th, 2013, 3:41 pm

ALAN said:

1. SANDRO LOEWE
Correction: As Israeli
49. Akbar Palace said:
Heads Up,
The issue of Syria and Iran SHOULD be international, but no one wants to act. So, it seems to me those that will act are the ones most affected by the outcome.

/I think the Guided Kingdom and Guided Hebrews are discussing important issues in both arabic and english;)/
and so…..
Israel to be working with Saudi Arabia on Iran strike plan
Riyadh reported to give Jerusalem okay to use Saudi airspace and to cooperate on other tactical support, according to Sunday Times
http://www.timesofisrael.com/israel-said-to-be-working-with-saudi-arabia-on-iran-strike-plan/?utm_source=dlvr.it&utm_medium=twitter

this wish will bring the results so that the whole world will not be able to prevent them! I guarantee complete f**king!!

Sandro
Note your public lineup with the Israelies !

November 17th, 2013, 3:49 pm

Hani said:

The translation of Hassan Abboud is very good but there is one mistake. The word مادقاتل (maa da-aatel or maa da-eetel) is a contraction of ما بدي أقاتل (I don’t want to fight). This is a regular form in Aleppo dialect.

November 17th, 2013, 6:16 pm

…
Gohmert said the president had warned Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu that his nation “must defend itself by itself.”

“Our President said that, and yet, if we are not going to help Israel defend itself, which is actually defending us as well, then shouldn’t we avoid jeopardizing Israel’s own self-defense?” Gohmert said….
http://youtu.be/nhmytmBtO84
http://www.rawstory.com/rs/2013/11/14/rep-gohmert-upset-obamas-israel-policy-not-based-on-biblical-prophecies/

November 17th, 2013, 7:05 pm

Onus on US politicians and lawmakers to resist influential Israeli lobby

The recent diplomatic opening between Iran and the US and its allies is a very worthwhile attempt to break an unnecessary deadlock, a deadlock manufactured by the West and its Zionist lobby – but the process will be arduous.

Cunningham believes that the dominant Israeli lobby in the United States is pushing the administration and the Congress to ramp up the sanctions and abandon diplomacy, but the onus is on the wise US politicians and lawmakers to resist the influential Israeli lobby and take up a realistic, conciliatory and constructive approach toward Iran.

The onus is very much on the US and its allies to prove their very belated purported bona fides. One must remain healthily skeptical about the real motives. Could it be that, for example, the US and its allies want to engage Iran in order to facilitate their political agenda for regime change in Syria? Or could it be to cause political fragmentation within Iran by engaging Iranian leadership in a futile negotiation process? All will be revealed in the course of time.

November 17th, 2013, 7:17 pm

Heads-up said:

Just so you may know, our well informed and highly reliable sources who work very hard, around the clock and behind the scenes authorized the release of the following very important heads up, in order to keep you up to date with current events.

Our patrons are still reviewing the material of the main post. Not that we expect any differences in their assessments compared to previous posts, but we will present their assessment when it becomes available. In the meantime, we urge readers to exercise extreme caution, to exercise critical analysis and sound judgement when reading anything presented by this site.

On the other hand, huge losses suffered by the evil criminal regime of Ass-head in Qalamoun today at the hands of the heroes of the GLORIOUS Syrian Revolution. At the same time, three so-called General, one Brigidair General and over 40 thugs were eliminated by direct burial into a flattened building in Damascus.

Congratulations from the depth of our hearts to the people of Syria on these victories.

There will be NO bees in Syria by the Will of The Al-Mighty.

November 17th, 2013, 7:18 pm

Turkey confronts policy missteps on Syria with rise of al-Qaeda across the border
http://www.washingtonpost.com/world/middle_east/turkey-confronts-policy-missteps-on-syria-with-rise-of-al-qaeda-across-the-border/2013/11/16/e6183f12-4e27-11e3-97f6-ed8e3053083b_story.html

November 17th, 2013, 7:27 pm

mjabali said:

HEADS UP

Care to explain to us with your GUIDED wit what do you mean by your cryptic message that there will be NO bees in Syria.

November 17th, 2013, 7:36 pm

Heresy?Clatter?Do you dream and you lie awake?Syrian Arab army lookout for!Glory to the brave Syrian Arab army!!!

November 17th, 2013, 7:40 pm

al-3Ar3ur spoke yesterday about the evils of the ISIS on the coast.

The ISIS is creating too many enemies these days….

November 17th, 2013, 7:43 pm

Syrian said:

سمير المطفي
كان نشيدهم : من حرستا ننتظر أول علامة …

فكان الرد بتحويل مبنى المركبات إلى بودرة بشكل سحري …

صار نشيدهم : من بيروت ننتظر راغب علامة
ويا دار ما دخلك شر .
http://youtu.be/K-HHNPOde4g
وبحسب المرصد السوري فقد قتل 31 جنديا سوريا على الاقل بينهم اربعة ضباط كبار الاحد في تفجير قاعدة للجيش النظامي في ريف دمشق

وقال مدير المرصد لفرانس برس “قتل 31 من عناصر القوات النظامية بينهم ثلاثة عمداء ولواء اثر تفجير مبنى في ادارة المركبات يقع في ضواحي مدينة حرستا”، لافتا الى “انهيار المبنى بشكل كامل”.

واضاف ان “توقيت شن هذا الهجوم له دلالة” وخصوصا ان الجيش النظامي يشن عملية عسكرية واسعة النطاق للقضاء على مواقع مسلحي المعارضة في منطقة ريف دمشق.

واوضح استنادا الى معطيات اولية ان القنبلة وضعت “اما داخل المبنى واما في اسفله وتحديدا تحت نفق”، ملمحا بذلك الى ان مقاتلين معارضين تمكنوا من التسلل الى داخل القاعدة العسكرية.

فيما أفادت “سكاي نيوز عربيّة” عن مقتل أكثر من 75 من قوات الأسد والموالين له في تفجير المقر

November 17th, 2013, 7:47 pm

Akbar Palace said:

Amir from Tel Aviv,

How are you? I hope all is well.

“savages and lunatics” are running the Middle East. That’s true. The ones with power are fighting to stay in power and doing their best to “resist” freedom and democracy, not Zionism as they made us believe. Those brave Syrians who demonstrated in the streets, unarmed are the ones I am supporting. However, they have no power and no arms and no training. Unfortunately, the foreign jihadists are doing their dirty work.

Meanwhile Iran is backing the depot in Syria while fooling the West on their nuclear program. Other arab states are hanging on a thread. It seems to me Iran is the domino that needs to fall so that the region can heal from Afganistan all the way to Libya.

November 17th, 2013, 8:34 pm

Ghufran said:

Amir is right, this war is neither a revolution, nor Syrian, and yes people have realized that the evil of the regime was not as bad as this new collection of thugs with beards. I said that Syrians have failed because we were hoping for a new Syria free from all thugs but we ended with both the old thugs and the new, and more evil, Islamist terrorists. Only terrorists launch random mortar bombs at civilian areas to avenge losses on the battle field .
Here is Qadri Jamil talking about the humanitarian disaster on hand:
لا أفهم إصرار بعض السياسيين من هذا الطرف أو ذاك على الانتصار، الانتصار على من؟ في نهاية الأزمة، وإذا كانت الخسائر بهذا الحجم، فمن سيتمتع بالانتصار على أنقاض السوريين وأنقاض سورية؟ وهل سيكون هناك منتصر حقيقي؟ لا أعتقد أنه سيكون هناك منتصر حقيقي. والمعروف أنه في أوضاع من هذا النوع فإن أحسن صيغة للخروج من الأزمة هي صيغة «لا غالب ولا مغلوب»، وإن أحسن حل للخروج من هذه الأزمة هو المصالحة والمسامحة، ومن يعيق هذه العملية عادةً في كل التاريخ هم المتشددون في الطرفين الذين كانوا يريدون دائماً الانتصار ولا شيء سوى الانتصار، والانتصار بالنسبة لهم هو استمرار الحصول على الغنائم نتيجة الفوضى الموجودة، ويجب وضع حد لهؤلاء من الطرفين، وهم الذين يعيقون بدعم من بعض القوى الخارجية حل الأزمة السورية في الظروف الحالية.
Two years ago I said there will not be winners in this war, I just hope that people from all sides try to give Syrian children a chance, after all, children should not pay for the sins of adults.
Personally, I think that charity and humanitarian work will keep me occupied until I meet my creator but the war needs to stop or slow down before anybody, Syrian or not, can go to Syria, most people who want to volunteer their time and expertise will not travel to a war zone and risk getting killed or kidnapped, keep in mind that helping refugees outside syria,as essential as it is , remains a small fraction of the work needed. There are 3 million Syrian children in need today, two thirds of those are still in Syria.

November 17th, 2013, 9:03 pm

Akbar Palace,

Iranian dissident, former member of the nukes negotiating team, currently in prison, revealed that the Rouhani overtures to Obamanation are just a charrade and a play on time. Rouhani was simply charged by trying to find holes in the international sanctions hoping to gain some respite for the mullahs. When push cones to shove, Rouhani will either be swept away or will be forced to line up with those who have vested interests in the nuke program within the mullocracy. The dissident also revealed that the mullocrats have a parallel nukes program that none but few have access to. This parallel program has not been revealed to the IAEA and those in charge have no intention of relaxing control over it.

But, I guess Obama has no way of knowing any of that,

November 17th, 2013, 9:11 pm

don said:

A precision guided cruise missile attack on a government building in the suburbs of Damascus

November 17th, 2013, 9:44 pm

Death of Abdul Kader Saleh- Leader of Tawhid brigade in Aleppo after wounded several days ago.

Huge blow for FSA AROUND ALEPPO the commander of Al Tawid brigade in Aleppo has died in a turkish hospital after the Regime somehow got told there location of a secrete meeting Also killed was Yussef Al-Abbas (Intelligence chief senior commander in Aleppo) And Injured and still alive inside turkish hospital is Abdelaziz Salameh.

http://www.liveleak.com/view?i=c74_1384733129

November 17th, 2013, 10:20 pm

Syrian Army Overruns FSA positions Kills Many

http://www.liveleak.com/view?i=192_1384722977

November 17th, 2013, 10:27 pm

British Minister Of Faith and Communities: Christians in the Middle East are Undergoing Extinction due to Radicals

Wahhabi terrorist violence against Christians has put the very survival of the religion in some regions in peril. “We cannot stand idle,” says Baroness Warsi, who is the UK Minister for Faith and Communities. Christian populations are plummeting and the religion is being driven out of some of its historic heartlands. There is even talk of Christianity becoming extinct in places where it has existed for generations — where the faith was born. In Iraq, the Christian community has fallen from 1.2 million in 1990 to 200,000 today. In Syria, the horrific bloodshed has masked the hemorrhaging of its Christian population whose percentage dropped to 6% after being around 20% since 1946. In Egypt, 32 churches were looted, burned, and destroyed during the past few months.

http://www.liveleak.com/view?i=520_1384721952

November 17th, 2013, 10:31 pm

Syria – Map of the Syrian Arab Army’s Qalamoon Offensive

http://www.liveleak.com/view?i=d5b_1384721840

November 17th, 2013, 10:36 pm

BREAKING NEWS : IN ONE WEEK ALMOST 1000 criminals surrendered to the SAA 17/11/2013

within one week almost 1000 criminals have surrendred in several districts. They hijacked Syria with their ” fake revolution ” with promises of a free Syria. More will follow.

Surrender if you want to live

http://www.liveleak.com/view?i=040_1384717396

November 17th, 2013, 10:45 pm

Syrian army advanced in the southern Homs towards Qalamun

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yqOFPflCe2g#t=90

http://www.liveleak.com/view?i=854_1384738390

November 17th, 2013, 11:27 pm

Al-Qaida Leader Eliminated By The SAA

The “Emir” of the ISIL(Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant) in Al Raqqah , the Saudi Abu Turab Al Najdi has been killed by the SAA.

As you can see in the picture, this is the same monster who beheaded a 15 year old Shiite kid shown in the picture.

Justice served

http://www.liveleak.com/view?i=211_1384737107

November 17th, 2013, 11:41 pm

habib said:

In short: it is not going well for the Salafists, lol!

November 18th, 2013, 1:21 pm

Syria’s brutal war within a war gains momentum | Wisdom Speech said:

[…] Joshua Landis, director of the Center for Middle East Studies at the University of Oklahoma, writes that according to one former prisoner, the ISIS “emir” in Azaz is a 16-year-old who has personally taken part in the torture of captives. […]

November 18th, 2013, 2:45 pm

War within a war – الخبر.نت|al5br.net said:

November 18th, 2013, 7:16 pm

Syria's brutal war within a war gains momentum - CNN - HydAwaz.com said:

November 18th, 2013, 11:01 pm

Syria’s brutal war within a war gains momentum | godsonchima775 said:

November 19th, 2013, 2:55 am

Analysis: Syria’s war within a war – الخبر.نت|al5br.net said:

November 19th, 2013, 3:14 am

Class and Revolution: Syria and 1848 Compared | Democratic Revolution, Syrian Style said:

[…] one-half of the population dependent on U.N. food aid, fascist repression in both regime and ISIS-controlled areas of the country. In these circumstances, the proletariat is the weakest of all social classes […]

November 27th, 2013, 12:17 pm