Al Nusrah Front, allies launch new offensives against Syrian regime

The Al Nusrah Front, al Qaeda’s official branch in Syria, and its rebel allies have launched multiple new military offensives against the Syrian regime. Their most significant effort is focused on the city of Jisr Al Shughur in the Idlib province.

The jihadists have established a coalition named the “Battle of Victory” to coordinate their efforts during a major push into the city. The alliance is modeled after the Jaysh al Fateh (“Army of Conquest”) coalition that overran the city of Idlib late last month, but includes a different configuration of groups.

In addition to the Al Nusrah Front, the “Battle of Victory” coalition includes Ahrar al Sham, Jaysh al Islam, Ansar al Din, and Ansar al Sham. Other groups may be participating in the battle as well.

Ahrar al Sham is an al Qaeda-linked organization which was seeded with senior al Qaeda veterans in its ranks. Ansar al Din is also part of the al Qaeda network, as its leaders have been openly loyal to the emir of the Islamic Caucasus Emirate (ICE), another al Qaeda-affiliated group.

Member groups in the “Battle of Victory” coalition have been streaming photos and videos from the fighting on their official Twitter feeds since the offensive began. The images are stamped with each group’s logo, as well as a new brand created for the coalition. The Jaysh al Fateh alliance did the same during the battle of Idlib, with each group using two brands on its propaganda — its own, plus the Jaysh al Fateh logo.

The “Battle of Victory” alliance’s logo can be seen above. Images from the member groups’ propaganda can be seen below.

The newly announced coalition is part of a deliberate strategy to pool the resources of various rebel groups. Sheikh Abdallah Muhammad al Muhaysini, an influential al Qaeda-linked ideologue in Syria, has long advocated for this course. Muhaysini plays a prominent role in Jaysh al Fateh, and quickly endorsed the “Battle of Victory” grouping.

The Nusrah Front also launched an attack on the Al Qarmeed military camp in Idlib. A suicide bomber detonated a bomb packed into an armored vehicle at the beginning of the assault. A video of the suicide attack, as well as photographs, have been published by Al Nusrah’s so-called “correspondents” network.

Al Nusrah is claiming responsibility for the assault on Al Qarmeed as part of the Jaysh al Fateh coalition, and the organization has posted maps showing jihadists advancing on regime positions in and around the camp. Al Nusrah and its allies are attempting to consolidate their control over northern Syria, pushing Bashar al Assad’s regime and its allies out of their remaining strongholds in the province of Idlib.

Elsewhere, rebels have reportedly launched attacks on the al Ghab Plain in Latakia. Al Nusrah and other insurgents are involved in heavy fighting against Assad and Iranian-backed forces in the southern province of Dara’a as well.

Images from newly launched offensives

These images were posted by Al Nusrah Front’s “correspondent” Twitter feed for Latakia. The photos show the brand for Al Nusrah’s “correspondent” network in the upper left hand corner and the “Battle of Victory” logo in the upper right hand corner. The images show Al Nusrah’s fighters preparing for battle in Jisr Al Shughur, and then attacking regime checkpoints around the city:

Ansar al Din posted these photos, including the “Battle of Victory” logo in the upper right hand corner:

Jaysh al Islam posted this photo showing its fighters shelling Jisr Al Shughur:

Ansar al Sham posted several videos of its fighters taking part in the assault on Jisr Al Shughur. Below are screen shots taken from the videos, which show the group using a tank and other weapons during the attack:

Ahrar al Sham has also tweeted videos from the fighting. Its fighters are using a tank captured from the regime, as well as mortars:

The images below were posted by Al Nusrah Front’s “correspondent” Twitter feed for Idlib. The photos are all branded with the logos for both Al Nusrah’s “correspondent” network and Jaysh al Fateh.

This map purportedly shows the regime controlled areas in and around the Al Qadeer camp (in red) and the jihadists’ positions (in green) prior to the battle:

Al Nusrah claims this map shows the jihadists’ advances on the camp as the battle progressed throughout the first day:

A suicide bomber opened the way for other fighters by blowing himself up in an explosives-laden vehicle:

The next two images show the Al Nusrah Front using captured tanks during the fighting:

Other images from the fighting at the Al Qadeer camp:

Thomas Joscelyn is a Senior Fellow at the Foundation for Defense of Democracies and the Senior Editor for FDD's Long War Journal.

Tags: "Battle of Victory", Ahrar al Sham, Al Nusrah Front, Al Qaeda, idlib, Jaysh al Fateh, latakia, Syria