Some of the first jihadist-produced images from the newly-launched offensive in Aleppo were posted by Ansar al Din, an al Qaeda-affiliated organization. Ansar al Din is a member of the Ansar al Sharia coalition, which is one of the two alliances fighting against the Assad regime’s forces in the city. The Al Nusrah Front, al Qaeda’s official branch in Syria, and Ahrar al Sham, an al Qaeda-linked group, lead the Ansar al Sharia alliance.
Ansar al Din was formed in 2014 and its founding groups included the Jaish wal Muhajireen awl Ansar (JMA), Sham al Islam, Al Katibah al Khadra, and Fajr al Sham. The State Department added the JMA and Sham al Islam to the US government’s list of specially designated global terrorists in September 2014. A large contingent of jihadists from the Caucasus serve as JMA leaders and fighters. Sham al Islam is mainly comprised of fighters from North Africa and was founded by ex-Guantanamo detainees from Morocco. Saudis led Al Katibah al Khadra, before it was folded into the JMA.
Below are the first round of images posted by Ansar al Din on its official Twitter feed. The images are all marked with Ansar al Sharia’s logo in the top right hand corner, and Ansar al Din’s logo in the top left hand corner.
Are you a dedicated reader of FDD's Long War Journal? Has our research benefitted you or your team over the years? Support our independent reporting and analysis today by considering a one-time or monthly donation. Thanks for reading! You can make a tax-deductible donation here.
2 Comments
I find these pictures a bit shocking. Not the violence or pro-jihadist flags; those are worn out symbols of a horde of angry children. I am shocked that the land these people are fighting for is a desolate span of ruined buildings and arid land incapable of supporting agriculture. Yes, I know there is oil under the ground but I am fairly certain that the same people who are barely capable of aiming a mortar and shoot at their enemies with rifles in such an imprecise a way that they look like a comical parody of what the west thinks terrorists look like. These boobs would have a tough time setting up commerce on even a small scale let alone plan international trade in order to sustain their caliphate. They are killing all their subjects and dhimmi!
It would make sense to just let them kill each other until they burn out like a flame on a wick gasping for the last bits of precious wax.
These black banners, seen on some photos – aren’t they official flags of Caucasus Emirate?