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Banner for the Al Nusrah Front, a jihadist group in Syria. Image from the SITE Intelligence Group. |
The Al Nusrah Front for the People of the Levant, an al Qaeda-linked terror group operating in Syria, has taken credit for another suicide attack against President Bashir al Assad’s security forces. The terror group claimed the suicide attack in Mhardeh near the city of Hama in one of three statements that were released on jihadist web forums today. The statements were translated by the SITE Intelligence Group.
Al Nusrah said the attack targeted “a military security detachment” in Mhardeh, which “is considered one of the areas that are fighting the Sunni villages.”
“Its population is 40,000 Christians, and it also forms a huge gathering of military, security, and shabih [thug] forces, and launches campaigns of storming and shelling against the surrounding Sunni villages,” that statement said, according to SITE.
Al Nusrah has claimed credit for numerous suicide attacks in Syria. On June 30, the terror group issued a series of communiques detailing its attacks, including three suicide bombings.
Earlier this week, Al Nusrah claimed it executed a joint operation with the Al Sahaba Battalion, a well-known Free Syrian Army formation that operates in the Syrian capital of Damascus.
There are several other al Qaeda-linked terror groups operating in Syria, including al Qaeda in Iraq, the Abdullah Azzam Brigades, and the Al Baraa Ibn Malik Martyrdom Brigade [see LWJ report, Army of Islam fighter from Gaza killed in Syria, for more details]. A group calling itself the Omar al Farouq Brigade also has appeared in Syria, and has called on Turks to join its ranks.
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