person:abdullah suleiman ali

Abdullah Suleiman Ali: Syria’s Southern Front shows signs of disintegration
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The military operation in the northern suburb of Quneitra, code-named “Give Good Tidings to the Patient," is the last indication that the Southern Front is still alive and has not breathed its last yet.

All indications and information coming from the Syrian south’s capital show that this front has entered a dark era since the MOC [Military Operations Center in Jordan] washed its hands clean of it and decided to stop supporting it. As a result of the tensions between the armed factions — which suddenly found themselves out of work — the polarization attempts of some extremist factions and reconciliation attempts with the Syrian army, we can say that the Southern Front is witnessing the first signs of disintegration and division. It is likely that radical changes will affect the structure of its factions and the nature of its alliances soon.

This new situation has had a negative effect on security and livelihoods in Daraa governorate, after the MOC stopped its work. Disputes prevailed in the relations between factions and local parties supporting them. This was obvious in the increasing assassinations that claimed the lives of a significant number of military, judicial and Sharia leaders, mainly the Dawn of Freedom Brigades’ leader Yasser al-Khalaf, House of Justice deputy leader Sheikh Bashar Kamel al-Naimi and the assassination attempt of Ansar al-Islam deputy leader Abu Bilal al-Joulani.

The conduct of some factions raised questions about their motives and reasoning. For instance, why did Al-Mothana Islamic Movement — one of the largest factions in the south — refrain from participating in the recent military operations? This caught the attention of some activists and made them wonder about the movement’s inclinations and the possibility that it might have secretly pledged allegiance to the Islamic State. Al-Mothana Islamic Movement had declared in a past statement that the allegiance pledges that IS receives in the areas under its control are Sharia-compliant ones.

A media activist told As-Safir, “After the MOC suspended its work and halted supplies, several leaders and militants withdrew from the battlefield and returned to their civil lives. They felt frustrated, and gave up their weapons.”

He asserted that “most of these leaders are seeking asylum in Europe to escape the deteriorating security situation, and they are afraid of being targets of upcoming assassinations.” He added that “the leader of Usud al-Sunna Battalion, who is called Abu Amr Zaghloul, has reached Germany asking for asylum.”

According to @saleelalmajd, a Twitter account that is widely followed, a number of factions from the Southern Front secretly pledged allegiance to Ahrar al-Sham, but will be announced later on. For their part, the Hawks of Houran Brigade and the Majd al-Islam Brigade announced that they joined Jaish al-Islam headed by Zahran Alloush.

The peculiar case of Syria’s al-Qadam neighborhood - Abdullah Suleiman Ali
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A media activist in the Yarmouk refugee camp, who spoke on condition of anonymity, told As-Safir that he has been noticing over the past few months the increasing number of fighters joining IS, especially after the group increased the wages of the men joining its camp. Each fighter is being paid now about 80,000 Syrian pounds [$424], which is prompting many young people to fight in its ranks even if not convinced of its ideology.

Abdullah Suleiman Ali: Jabhat al-Nusra competes with Ahrar al-Sham in Idlib
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Factions affiliated to the Army of Conquest have yet to agree on a unified approach to manage the province of Idlib, months after taking over it. This [lack of agreement] was exploited by Jabhat al-Nusra to fulfill its ambition of establishing an emirate of its own, ruled and managed solely by it.

Jabhat al-Nusra knows that the only competitor that threatens its dream of building an emirate is the so-called “Sharia authority for managing the liberated areas in Idlib.” Therefore, it sought, from the outset, to target this authority, either by assassinating some of its leaders or by dismantling the institutional system governing its operations. The most important point in this respect giving this competition a deeper dimension is that the party dominating the Sharia authority is Ahrar al-Sham Islamic Movement, which is supposed to be one of Jabhat al-Nusra’s closest allies.

The last chapter of these attempts was the attack by Jabhat al-Nusra and its ally, Jund al-Aqsa, on three Free Police stations affiliated with the Sharia authority. A military force with SUVs and heavy machine guns affiliated to the two above mentioned factions stormed the Sharia Court building and Kafr Nabl police station in Jabal al-Zawiya on July 8, concurrently with a similar attack on two police stations in Khan Shaykhun city and the town of Kafr Sajna in the countryside of Idlib.

Et ce chef-d’œuvre:

Some activists noted that Jabhat al-Nusra mosques deliberately bring forward or postpone the adhan timing, so as not to coincide with that of other mosques. These practices raised a lot of confusion, especially as they demonstrated beyond any reasonable doubt that Jabhat al-Nusra does not recognize the legitimacy of other factions and believe it is the only faction qualified to operate under the Islamic Sharia.

Abdullah Suleiman Ali: Is Jabhat al-Nusra behind Ghouta demonstrations?
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Syrian citizens who live in areas controlled by armed factions have several reasons to demonstrate against the factions’ practices, which do not conform with the habits and customs of the Syrian people. Such demonstrations have been happening almost daily. But a new phenomenon has emerged recently. Demonstrations and counter-demonstrations have become weapons used by faction leaders against each other as long as the conditions do not allow for direct fighting.

The citizens in eastern Ghouta in Damascus have been demonstrating against Jaish al-Islam and the Unified [Military] Command, demanding an improved livelihood and the release of citizens from “repentance” detention centers, which are teeming with hundreds of people. The gunmen have monopolized the food warehouses for themselves. Prices have risen to beyond what most people can afford, resulting in extreme poverty.

Making matters worse, Jaish al-Islam leader Zahran Alloush and his entourage are controlling their areas in Ghouta with an iron fist, using all sorts of repression and abuse tactics — whether against the people or against the factions that disobey them — as happened with Jaish al-Umma several months ago. Prisons have been filled with detainees, who are being tortured regardless of whether they are fighters, civilians or media activists.

This situation drove the people of Ghouta to demonstrate against Alloush and to demand their basic right of a decent livelihood. The demonstrators even tried to break into the food warehouses in Douma, braving the shots fired by heavily armed warehouse guards.

Abdullah Suleiman Ali: Jabhat al-Nusra is trying to postpone Qalamoun battle :: English | جريدة السفير
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In the meantime, the emergence of Abu Samir al-Urdoni, the former general commander of Jabhat al-Nusra, after about a year and a half from his sudden disappearance, has many connotations that may influence the Qalamoun battle.

Jabhat al-Nusra received a great morale boost after it took control of all Idlib and Jisr al-Shughur in northern Syria in the past few weeks. It could use that boost to make advances on the ground. But al-Nusra does not want to fight the Qalamoun battle or at least does not think that the battle’s timing is suitable now.

A source close to al-Nusra said: “The Qalamoun battle is more linked to several events taking place in east Qalamoun, along the Syrian desert, down to the provinces of Daraa and Quneitra in the south. The [events] in the north may have zero effect on Qalamoun because the two areas are not contiguous.”

Abdullah Suleiman Ali: Idlib in the eye of the storm :: English | جريدة السفير
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In a partial confirmation to what As-Safir had published about the intention of some pro-al-Qaeda factions to regroup and unite in a single entity, Jaish al-Fath announced yesterday, just hours after the fall of Idlib city, that “Jaish al-Fath is not just an operations room to lead the battle but an integrated army having its own leadership and members [...] [Jaish al-Fath] will continue its conquests soon.” It should be noted that Jaish al-Fath was formed about 10 days ago in preparation for the Idlib battle. Jaish al-Fath included Jabhat al-Nusra, Ahrar al-Sham, Jund al-Aqsa, Jaish al-Sunna and Failaq al-Sham. It was said that Jaish al-Fath was a joint operations room to lead the battle. Afterward came an announcement that it was an “army, not just an operations room,” confirming that Idlib fell into the hands of al-Qaeda and its factions, and that the Free Syrian Army (FSA) factions have no presence there. To impose its presence, Jabhat al-Nusra is operating under the leadership of pro-al-Qaeda factions, suggesting that the Raqqa scenario is now most likely.

As-Safir Newspaper - Abdullah Suleiman Ali: New alliance could signal end of Islamic Front :: English
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A new phase of sorting and restructuring has started among Syria’s jihadist groups. If the headline of the preceding phase was the divorce between Jabhat al-Nusra and the Islamic State (IS), then the headline for this phase will be yet another divorce — this time between Jaysh al-Islam and Ahrar al-Sham. This will mark the end of the alliance known as the Islamic Front after it lost its regional cover to continue.

Jaysh al-Islam, led by Zahran Alloush, is taking steady steps to complete the split with Ahrar al-Sham, after the two allied under the umbrella of the Islamic Front in response to a Saudi demand. Through this alliance, Riyadh wanted to stand in the way of the Geneva peace talks and prevent it from being used as a platform to declare a “war on terrorism” as per the request of the Syrian and Russian delegations.

As-Safir Newspaper - Abdullah Suleiman Ali: ISIS on offense in Iraq :: English
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As if the Syrian arena is not complicated enough, the ISIS “expansion” strategy came to make it even more complicated. It led to the overlap of the warring parties in both countries.
It should be pointed out that the Iraqi army is not alone in standing against ISIS in Iraq. There is also the Ansar al-Islam organization, noting that this organization now has a branch in Syria, in particular in the Aleppo countryside. And there is information that Ansar al-Islam and Jabhat al-Nusra are cooperating against ISIS.
Abu Dhar al-Iraqi, the ISIS emir in al-Mayadin in the province of Deir ez-Zour, was captured by Jabhat al-Nusra and released in April as part of a deal between the two parties. He said in videotaped testimony that Jabhat al-Nusra’s grand mufti, Abu Maria al-Qahtani, asked him to communicate with the leaders of Ansar al-Islam to re-establish an al-Qaeda branch in Iraq.
Moreover, two weeks ago Qahtani issued a statement apologizing to Iraq’s Sunnis for the crimes in which he participated when he was an ISIS official. He specifically apologized to Ansar al-Islam, which makes it likely that the two parties are truly cooperating.

As-Safir Newspaper - Abdullah Suleiman Ali: New Syrian jihadist body formed to fight ISIS :: English
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Twelve of the largest armed factions in the eastern region agreed to form what they called “the Shura Council of the Mujahedeen of the Eastern Area.” That name was shortened to the acronym Mishmish, taking the first letter of each word in Arabic. Mishmish was formed to face the current phase and “the great challenges now threatening the eastern region in general, especially the city of Deir ez-Zor, which is under siege from all sides,” according to the video statement announcing the council’s formation.

The factions that signed the statement are: Jabhat al-Nusra in the eastern region, the Army of Islam, Ahrar al-Sham, the Army of Ahl al-Sunni wal Jamaa, Jabhat al-Asala wal Tanmiya, al-Qaaqaa, Jabhat al-Jihad wal Bina, Bayareq al-Shaaitat, Liwa al-Qadisiya, the Army of Maoata al-Islami, the Army of al-Ikhlas and the Muhajirin and al-Ansar Brigade.