The significant US operation against the Islamic State is part of the effort to degrade the terror group and keep it from gaining ground in areas held by Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF) in the wake of the Assad regime’s collapse. The attacks may also serve as a warning to the Syrian National Army (SNA) and Hayat Tahrir al-Sham (HTS) not to push too hard against the SDF, America’s flawed ally in Syria.
The foreign jihadists are operating within Jaysh al Fateh’s renewed offensive in Latakia, in which several Free Syrian Army groups are also taking part.
Jaish Muhammad is the latest foreign fighter group to join the Al Nusrah Front, al Qaeda’s official branch in Syria.
Iranian-backed Shia militias are fighting for Assad in Aleppo as regime forces, backed by Hezbollah and Russian airstrikes, try to push back jihadists and rebels in the northern province.
The photos mark one of the first times a Humvee has been captured by a jihadist group in Syria, and indicate that Iraqi militias have transported US-made military hardware from Iraq to Syria.
The new video shows the group’s role in the recent fighting at Jisr al Shughur. The Turkistan Islamic Party has long fought in Syria alongside the Al Nusrah Front, al Qaeda’s official branch in Syria.
Many jihadist groups, including those within al Qaeda’s network in Syria, have published videos of their forces celebrating in or near Jisr al Shughur in Idlib province.
The Turkistan Islamic Party, an al Qaeda-affiliated group that also operates in Afghanistan, Pakistan and China, operates in Syria under the moniker “Katibat Turkistani.”
The photos show its forces engaging Palestinian factions in the camp, including beheading two members of Aknaf Bayt al Maqdis, a group loyal to Hamas.
Fighting began when regime forces launched an offensive to cut off rebel supply routes and break the siege of two Shiite towns.
Al Qaeda’s official branch in Syria launched a double suicide attack in a predominately Alawite neighborhood of Tripoli.
Al Qaeda’s Syrian branch targeted Hezbollah positions near the Lebanese border in the Qalamoun region of Syria. Lebanese and Syrian sources say the positions have not fallen, and the fighting still rages, according to the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights.
The Treasury Department targeted six al Qaeda financiers and facilitators yesterday. Their work spans the globe, covering more than 10 nations from the Middle East to Southeast Asia.
The Al Nusrah Front, al Qaeda’s official branch in Syria, has threatened to kill a second Lebanese hostage. The group has already executed a Lebanese soldier who had been held in its custody since August.
The Al Nusrah Front, al Qaeda’s official branch in Syria, explained its decision to release more than 40 UN peacekeepers in a video released earlier this week. The group disputes published reports saying that it demanded to be taken off the UN’s list of designated terrorist organizations. And it says the hostages were freed in compliance with sharia law.
The Al Nusrah Front, al Qaeda’s official branch in Syria, has announced its responsibility for the detention of 45 UN peacekeepers in Syria. The group claims its actions are justified because the UN supposedly works “against Muslims.”