Jaish al-Islam (Syria)
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Jaish al-Islam ( Arabic جيش الإسلام, DMG Ǧayš al-Islām 'Army of Islam') is an armed Islamist Syrian group supported by Saudi Arabia , which was founded on September 29, 2013 in Duma , a city east of Damascus . The group fought against the forces of the Syrian dictator Bashar al-Assad until the end of March 2018 , before finally abandoning the suburb of Damascus after negotiations. She is charged with several crimes, including against the religious minority of the Alawites .
The group is not to be confused with a Palestinian organization of the same name .
history
The group emerged from an amalgamation of over 50 opposition groups led by Liwa al-Islam . Jaish al-Islam, according to its own statements, consists mainly of Syrian citizens, is financially and logistically supported by Saudi Arabia and is the largest rebel group in Eastern Ghouta . In March 2018, Jaish al-Islam still ruled the Syrian city of Duma and some southern suburbs of Damascus. The group is not part of the Free Syrian Army . At the beginning of 2018, the group consisted of 10,000 to 15,000 members. After the leader of the group Zahran Allusch was killed in an air raid in 2015, Essam al-Buwaydhani leads Jaish al-Islam.
In autumn 2015, the Islamists were accused of locking members of the religious minority of the Alawites, including women and entire families, as hostages in cages and placing them in important positions in the area they occupied in order to target air strikes by the Syrian and Russian armed forces prevent. In addition to this crime, the militia are also charged with being involved in the 2013 kidnapping of human rights lawyer Razan Zaitouneh and her husband, as well as two other secular activists.
At the end of March 2018, after all other units in the enclosed Eastern Ghouta had given up in the days before, the group was the last anti-government group in Duma . However, they too agreed to an evacuation a little later and the Syrian government announced on April 1, 2018 that the fighters and their families were to be evacuated to Jarābulus .
On March 23, it was reported that Jaish al-Islam was releasing 3,500 prisoners and 3,000 seriously wounded civilians from Al-Touba prison in the militia-occupied city of Duma as part of an agreement with the Syrian government. Most of them were kidnapped by the Islamist group during the attack on the Adra region north of Duma a few years ago.
Individual evidence
- ↑ Syria: Nuns lament the unworthy capture of civilians by rebels
- ↑ Foreign Policy Foreign Policy October 1, 2013: And on Sept. 29, at least 50 groups operating mainly around Damascus merged into Jaish al-Islam ("the Army of Islam") Liwa al-Islam, which is the central player in the Army of Islam
- ↑ Asharq Al-Awsat: "Syria: Jaysh Al-Islam rejects Geneva II conference" aawsat.net November 2013
- ↑ www.theguardian.com The guardian November 7, 2013: Saudi Arabia to spend millions to train new rebel force. Syrian, Arab and western sources say the intensifying Saudi effort is focused on Jaysh al-Islam
- ↑ Foreign Policy In addition to its training program in Jordan, Saudi Arabia also helped organize the unification of roughly 50 rebel brigades into "the Army of Islam" under the leadership of Zahran Alloush, a Salafist commander whose father is a cleric based in the kingdom .
- ↑ www.telegraph.co.uk The Telegraph 5 December 2013: They published a document saying they were no longer part of the Free Syrian Army's Supreme Military Council, the military wing of the western-backed Syrian National Coalition.
- ↑ Deutsche Welle It is the largest rebel faction in the eastern Ghouta region, with an estimated 10-15,000 members. The group is now headed by Essam al-Buwaydhani.
- ^ Caged Hostages From Syrian President's Sect Paraded Through Rebel-Held Suburb
- ↑ Dominic Johnson: "Eastern Ghouta falls - with one exception" taz of March 26, 2018
- ^ "State media report the start of the rebels' withdrawal from the Duma" Der Standard from April 2, 2018
- ↑ Breaking | Jaish Al-Islam to release 3500 captives from Douma's largest prison.