A promotional video for the Islamic Front's Ahrar ash Sham has been released video. The title, Qisat Thurah or "Story of Revolution", tells an abridged history of the Syrian Revolution and operations of Ahrar ash Sham since their formation in late 2011.
The video shows footage from the onset of the revolution; showing regime forces and police firing on protesters. The video then shifts to when the revolution became violent and Ahrar's formation. The video then begins to show several IED bombings undertaken by Ahrar, including one on a large regime convoy.
The video then shifts to showing Ahrar members in captured territory taking down pictures of Syrian dictator Bashar al Assad before switching to a video showing a drive-by assassination. The video continues on with more bombings, groups swearing bayah (allegiance) to Ahrar, and capturing more territory of Assad (including an airbase).
Before ending, the video shows heavy fighting in the south. The last video we see is from whenever Ahrar assisted Jabhat al Nusrah, al Qaeda's official affiliate in Syria, the Syrian Revolutionaries Front and the Free Syrian Army inQuneitra in southern Syria. What was left out was mention of the death of 20+ leaders of Ahrar, including their emir, Hassan Abboud (I would assume this video was made before).
Abboud and many other leaders werekilled in a car bombing in Idlib. Since then, several jihadist groups in the al Qaeda network have released eulogy statements honoring the killed leaders. Al Nusrah released a statement, the Caucasus Emirate also released one quickly thereafter. It is also rumored that the East Turkestan Islamic Party, a group composed of ethnic Uyghurs based in the tribal regions of Pakistan, also released a statement but I have yet to see any validity to this. Several al Qaeda figures also took to Twitter to send their condolences to Ahrar. This should come as no surprise as Ahrar is very close to al Qaeda in Syria.
Mohamed Bahaiah, also known as Abu Khalid al Suri. Bahaiah was both a cofounder of Ahrar al Sham and senior al Qaeda operative until he was killed in a suicide attack in February. Al Suri served as one of Ayman al Zawahiri's chief representatives in Syria before he was killed. Dr. Abdallah Muhammad al Muhaysini, an al Qaeda-linked Saudi cleric, was featured in a celebratory video with Muslim Shishani, a Chechen with al Qaeda ties himself, and a leader of Ahrar in March. The video, shown below, was taken after Muslim Shishani's group, several Islamic Front groups (including Ahrar), and Jabhat al Nusra were able to capture an Assad base in Latakia province.
The video shows footage from the onset of the revolution; showing regime forces and police firing on protesters. The video then shifts to when the revolution became violent and Ahrar's formation. The video then begins to show several IED bombings undertaken by Ahrar, including one on a large regime convoy.
The video then shifts to showing Ahrar members in captured territory taking down pictures of Syrian dictator Bashar al Assad before switching to a video showing a drive-by assassination. The video continues on with more bombings, groups swearing bayah (allegiance) to Ahrar, and capturing more territory of Assad (including an airbase).
Before ending, the video shows heavy fighting in the south. The last video we see is from whenever Ahrar assisted Jabhat al Nusrah, al Qaeda's official affiliate in Syria, the Syrian Revolutionaries Front and the Free Syrian Army inQuneitra in southern Syria. What was left out was mention of the death of 20+ leaders of Ahrar, including their emir, Hassan Abboud (I would assume this video was made before).
Abboud and many other leaders werekilled in a car bombing in Idlib. Since then, several jihadist groups in the al Qaeda network have released eulogy statements honoring the killed leaders. Al Nusrah released a statement, the Caucasus Emirate also released one quickly thereafter. It is also rumored that the East Turkestan Islamic Party, a group composed of ethnic Uyghurs based in the tribal regions of Pakistan, also released a statement but I have yet to see any validity to this. Several al Qaeda figures also took to Twitter to send their condolences to Ahrar. This should come as no surprise as Ahrar is very close to al Qaeda in Syria.
Mohamed Bahaiah, also known as Abu Khalid al Suri. Bahaiah was both a cofounder of Ahrar al Sham and senior al Qaeda operative until he was killed in a suicide attack in February. Al Suri served as one of Ayman al Zawahiri's chief representatives in Syria before he was killed. Dr. Abdallah Muhammad al Muhaysini, an al Qaeda-linked Saudi cleric, was featured in a celebratory video with Muslim Shishani, a Chechen with al Qaeda ties himself, and a leader of Ahrar in March. The video, shown below, was taken after Muslim Shishani's group, several Islamic Front groups (including Ahrar), and Jabhat al Nusra were able to capture an Assad base in Latakia province.
Ahrar continues to work with al Qaeda and other al Qaeda affiliated groups in Syria. Just recently, Ahrar and al Nusrahworked with the Free Syrian Army and the Syrian Revolutionaries Front to take al Hara hill and several surrounding villages in Daraa province. Ahrar also worked with these very same groups to take the Quneitra border crossing with the Israeli-held Golan Heights in late August.
Despite having a large portion of their leadership knocked out, Ahrar continues to be a powerful force within the Islamic Front and on the battlefields of Syria. The promotional video above showcases just a small portion of their battles in Syria.
-- Caleb