JANUARY BRIEFS
JANUARY BRIEFS
NEW OPPOSITION COALITION JAISH AL-MUJAHIDEEN ANNOUNCED IN ALEPPO
Nicholas A. Heras
Syrian rebel groups based in and around the strategic northwestern city of Aleppo announced the formation of the Jaish al-Mujahideen (Jihadist Army) on January 3. [1] Jaish al-Mujahideen was reportedly formed following a series of discussions between various armed groups in conjunction with the formation of the umbrella organization Jabhat al-Islamiya, which was announced in November 2013 (al-Akbar [Beirut], January 6; see MLM Briefs, November 2013). Jaish al-Mujahideen has reportedly been fighting against the Islamic State of Iraq and Syria (ISIS) in and around Aleppo in coordination with the Free Syrian Army (FSA) and Jabhat al-Islamiya in a campaign to dislodge ISIS from the Aleppo governorate (An Nahar [Beirut], January 5; al-Masry al-Youm [Cairo], January 4). [2]
Jaish al-Mujahideen is an Islamist coalition with close operational ties to the Islamic Front. The organizations that compose Jaish al-Mujahideen are generally reported to be active combatants against the Syrian military in Aleppo governorate. The group is pragmatic and seemingly prefers to maintain amicable relations with al-Nusra Front and welcomes defectors from the ISIS. In a statement released on January 4, the political bureau of Jaish al-Mujahideen said:
The groups that constitute the Jaish al-Mujahideen are the 19th Division of the FSA, the Nur al-Din al-Zinki Islamic Brigades, the Fastaqim Kama Umirt group and al-Nur Islamic Movement. The FSA 19th Division is made up of Liwa al-Ansar, Liwa Ansar al-Khalifa, Liwa Amjad al-Islam, al-Quds Brigades, Khan al-Assal Free Brigades, al-Shuyukh Brigade and Liwa al-Mujahireen. Fastaqim Kama Umirt includes the Aleppo City Battalion, Liwa Halab al-Shaba’a, Liwaa al-Islam and the Abu Amara Brigades (al-Akhbar [Beirut], January 6).
The Nur al-Din al-Zinki Brigades are allegedly the most powerful unit within Jaish al-Mujahideen. The group has its greatest concentration of fighters in the northwestern suburbs of Aleppo and the Salah al-Din neighborhood of the central area of Aleppo. The Nur al-Din al-Zinki Brigades, which are growing in size and fighting capability, are led by Shaykh Tawfiq Shahabuddin. Shaykh Tawfiq is one of four commanders of Jaish al-Mujahideen (al-Jazeera [Doha], January 19; January 15; al-Akhbar [Beirut], January 6).
Shaykh Tawfiq, 41-years old, was a camel-meat butcher in the region of Shaykh Salman, located north-west of Aleppo, prior to the Syrian uprising. He sold all his personal property when the armed insurgency in Aleppo commenced and gave the proceeds to the FSA. Shaykh Tawfiq was subsequently appointed as an FSA commander in the Shaykh Salman region, where his group quickly took control of the area from the Syrian government (al-Akhbar [Beirut], January 6). He has been an articulate advocate for the Syrian uprising and has frequently appeared as a guest commentator on al-Jazeera, where he has discussed topics ranging from the developments in the fighting for control over Aleppo to the political impact of the Geneva II conventions on the Syrian civil war (al-Jazeera [Doha], January 19; January 15). Other Syrian rebel leaders featured by al-Jazeera, including Liwa al-Tawhid’s former commander Abd al-Qadr al-Salah, Harakat Ahrar al-Sham’s leader Hassan Abboud, Liwa al-Islam’s leader Zahran Alloush, and Suqoor al-Sham’s leader Issa al-Shaykh, all emerged as key rebel commanders in the Syrian civil war in the months following the increased media attention (for more information on these leaders see: MLM Briefs, September 2013; October 2013; November 2013).
Under his leadership, the Nur al-Din al-Zinki Brigades participated in the September 2013 declaration made by 13 rebel groups that rejected the political leadership of the Syrian National Coalition (SNC) and called for the establishment of a Syrian state based on Shari’a law (Reuters, September 25, 2013; see also MLM Briefs, September 2013).
Jaish al-Mujahideen has demonstrated a willingness to fight ISIS and military forces loyal to the government of Bashar al-Assad, which appeals particularly to socially conservative Sunni Muslim communities in the suburbs of Aleppo. [3] It remains to be seen how long Jaish al-Mujahideen will remain a committed combatant against ISIS and what the role the Nur al-Din al-Zinki Brigades will have in the newly-formed coalition. Regardless, Shaykh Tawfiq’s rising standing as a publicly recognized leader within the armed opposition, particularly in Aleppo, combined with his organization’s active role in the fighting in the area, are very likely to make him one of the more important Syrian rebel leaders as the conflict continues.
Notes
1. “Aleppo-Declaration of the Establishment of the Mujahideen Army,” YouTube video, Free Syria News Center, January 2, 2014, https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=S95B6SxWRJw.
2. “The Free Syrian Army, 19th Division,” Free Syrian Army 19th Division YouTube page, https://ar-ar.facebook.com/ALFRKA19; “Statement of the Formation of the Free Syrian Army, 19th Division,” Sham Uqr Dar al-Islam YouTube page, June 21, 2013, https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=58HVfW7dJZM.
3. Author’s interview with Syrian activists from the city of Aleppo and the Aleppo governorate, Gaziantep, Turkey, January 17-19, 2014.
SINAI SALAFIST-JIHADIST GROUP ANSAR BAYT AL-MAQDDIS ESCALATES ATTACKS AGAINST EGYPTIAN STATE SECURITY TARGETS
Nicholas A. Heras
Over the last month, the militant Salafist organization Ansar Bayt al-Maqdis (ABM – Partisans of Jerusalem) has escalated its attacks on Egyptian state security targets in the Sinai and elsewhere in Egypt. ABM claimed responsibility for a series of bombings in Cairo on January 24 that killed four people and wounded 75 (Egypt Daily News [Cairo], January 25). The group had previously claimed responsibility for a December 24, 2013 suicide bombing attack against the Daqahliya Police Station in the Nile Delta city of Mansoura that killed 16 and wounded 134 (Ahram Online [Cairo], December 25, 2013). The group has been engaged in several campaigns targeting Egyptian security forces in the Sinai Peninsula, including a series of targeted assassination attempts against state security officers (for more information see Terrorism Monitor, November 28, 2013).
In November 2013, Egyptian authorities announced that they had arrested Shady al-Manei (a.k.a. Amir Shady), a mysterious and controversial figure who is reportedly one of the most powerful leaders of ABM in North Sinai. Al-Manei, reportedly 25, is believed to have helped found Ansar Bayt al-Maqdis in 2010 (McClatchy, October 8, 2013). He is also believed to have been an operative in another Sinai militant Salafist organization, Tawhid wa’l-Jihad (Divine Unity and Jihad). Tawhid wa’l-Jihad claimed responsibility for the October 2004 bombing of the South Sinai resort towns of Taba and Nuweiba that killed 34 people and wounded 159 (BBC, October 9, 2004). The Egyptian government alleged that al-Manei was one of the planners of the Taba bombings, the assassination of Lieutenant Colonel Muhammad Mabrouk Abu Khattab of Egypt’s National Security Agency and the kidnapping of seven Egyptian soldiers in May 2013 (al-Nabaa [Cairo], November 22, 2013; Reuters, May 22, 2013). Al-Manei was arrested in connection with the Taba bombings in 2005 and subsequently released by ex-President Muhammad Mursi in 2012 (see Terrorism Monitor, November 28, 2013). [1] Egyptian security forces also assert that al-Manei has strong connections with Gaza-based Salafist militant groups and al-Qaeda, and that he admitted to organizing the October 2013 attack on the Coptic Church of the Virgin in the Geziret al-Warraq district of Cairo that killed four people and wounded 18 (Gomhuria Online [Cairo], November 23, 2013; al-Ahram [Cairo], October 21, 2013).
The announcement of al-Manei’s arrest contradicts a statement from Egyptian security forces in December 2013 that said al-Manei was present in the area west of the northeastern Sinai city of Rafah on the Egypt-Gaza border and that he was a major target of an Egyptian military operation in the area (al-Youm al-Sabah [Cairo], December 21, 2013; Mansoura News [Cairo], December 20, 2013). Regardless of his current whereabouts, al-Manei is an important militant Salafist personality in the Sinai and a member of the powerful North Sinai Bedouin tribe al-Sawarka, whose territory is concentrated mainly along the Egyptian-Israeli border areas from the city of Arish to Rafah on the Egyptian-Gaza border and south to the area around the large town of Shaykh Zuweid and the Jabal al-Hamal mountain range, both of which are major centers for militant activities in the North Sinai region (McClatchy, October 8, 2013; al-Akhbar [Beirut], August 23, 2012; al-Akhbar [Beirut], August 21, 2013). Members of the Sawarka tribe have tacitly sought to work with Egyptian security forces and provide recruits for Salafist organizations in the Sinai such as Ansar Bayt al-Maqdis (see Terrorism Monitor, October 31, 2013).
Al-Manei, charged by the Egyptian state with organizing an extensive series of attacks against local and foreign targets, embodies a trend of local Bedouin resistance against the Egyptian state that adopts the ideology of international jihad. The conflict in the Sinai, led by seasoned Salafist fighters who are members of local Bedouin tribes such as the Sawarka, threatens to be an intractable battle without an easy military or political solution. As demonstrated by the recent bombings elsewhere in Egypt, the conflict cannot be contained within the territory of the Sinai.
Note
1. “Prime Suspect in Mabrouk Assassination Apprehended,” Egyptian State Information Service, November 23, 2013, https://allafrica.com/stories/201311250830.html.
