Back جيش الإسلام (سوريا) Arabic Джэйш аль-Іслам Byelorussian Džajš al-Islám Czech Dschaisch al-Islam (Syrien) German Ejército del Islam Spanish Jaish al-Islām Estonian جیش الاسلام Persian Jaych al-Islam French צבא האסלאם (סוריה) HE Jaysh al-Islam ID

Jaysh al-Islam

Not to be confused with Army of Islam (Gaza Strip) or Islamic Army in Iraq.

Jaysh al-Islam
جيش الإسلام
Founding leaderZahran Alloush †[1]
Military leaderEssam al-Buwaydhani †(2015–2019)[2]
Abu Jamal (military chief)[3]
Political leaderMohammed Alloush[4][5]
SpokesmanIslam Alloush (former)[6][7]
Dates of operation2011–2013 (as Liwa al-Islam)
2013–Present (as Jaysh al-Islam)
Group(s)Eastern Ghouta (until 14 April 2018)
  • Military Council of Damascus and its Suburbs[8]

Eastern Qalamoun Mountains (until 25 April 2018)[9]

  • 8th Brigade[10]
    • Lions of the Asima Brigade[10]
  • 7th Group[11]

Southern Damascus

Headquarters
Active regions
IdeologySunni Islamism Syrian nationalism (since 2016)[20]
Size20,000–25,000[21] (May 2015)
18,000[22] (December 2016)
16,000 fighters in Ghouta[23][24] (February 2018)
Part ofSyrian Islamic Liberation Front (2012–2013)
Islamic Front
(2013–2016)[25][26][27]
Mujahideen Shura Council
(2014–2015)[28]
Syrian Revolutionary Command Council
(2014–2015)[29]
Unified Military Command of Eastern Ghouta
(2014–2015)[30][31]
Allies
Opponents
Battles and wars
Designated as a terrorist group by Syria
 Iran
 Egypt
Websitewww.jaishalislam.com Edit this at Wikidata
Preceded by
Brigade of Islam (Arabic: لواء الإسلام, romanized: Liwa al-Islam)

Jaysh al-Islam (Arabic: جيش الإسلام, romanized: Jayš al-ʾIslām, meaning Army of Islam), formerly known as Liwa al-Islam (Arabic: لواء الإسلام, Brigade of Islam), is a coalition of Islamist rebel units involved in the Syrian Civil War.

The group was part of the Free Syrian Army's Supreme Military Council until December 2013,[39] but in November 2013 started the Syrian Islamic Front and the next month broke with the SMC and the Free Syrian Army.[25][26][27]

Its primary base of operations was the Damascus area, particularly the city of Douma and the rest of the region of Eastern Ghouta,[13] where Jaysh al-Islam was the largest rebel faction,[40] as was Liwa al-Islam before.[41] Following the fall of Ghouta to Assad’s forces, Jaysh al-Islam retreated to areas controlled by the Turkish Backed Free Syrian Army, where it reportedly joined the FSA, after years of separation from FSA command.[42]

The group along with Ahrar al-Sham was among the main rebel groups supported by Saudi Arabia.[43] The group has promoted an Islamic state under Sharia law.[44] In 2015, its then leader claimed in an interview to be seeking for the Syrian government to be replaced by a “technocratic body that represents the diversity of the Syrian people.”[45]

  1. ^ a b O'Bagy, Elizabeth (24 March 2013). "The Free Syrian Army" (PDF). Institute for the Study of War. Archived (PDF) from the original on 27 March 2014. Retrieved 10 November 2013.
  2. ^ Kareem Shaheen and Agencies (25 December 2015). "Leader of powerful Syrian rebel group killed in airstrike". The Guardian. Archived from the original on 26 January 2016.
  3. ^ Ahmad Zakariyah (16 March 2017). "FSA Commanders confirm the Syrian revolution will continue until achieving its goals". RFS Media Office. Archived from the original on 13 October 2017. Retrieved 20 March 2017.
  4. ^ Lister 2015, p. 344.
  5. ^ "Syria conflict: Islamist rebel named opposition chief negotiator". BBC News. 20 January 2016. Archived from the original on 24 February 2016. Retrieved 24 February 2016.
  6. ^ Lister 2015, p. 168.
  7. ^ Ridha, Hassan (2 June 2017). "Former Jaish al-Islam spokesperson officially leaves group and returns to using his real name "Majdi Mustafa Na'meh"https://twitter.com/sayed_ridha/status/870639840219373568 …". Archived from the original on 5 March 2018.
  8. ^ "50 officers graduated from the Military Academy at its first East Balgoth". All4Syria. 14 July 2017. Archived from the original on 14 July 2017.
  9. ^ Aboufadel, Leith (25 April 2018). "Syrian military officially establishes full control over strategic Qalamoun Mountains". Archived from the original on 2 August 2018. Retrieved 25 April 2018.
  10. ^ a b "Jaysh Usud al-Sharqiya: Exiles of the Euphrates - bellingcat". 17 April 2017. Archived from the original on 19 April 2017.
  11. ^ Army Of Islam (10 June 2017). "#Damascus_countryside Jaish al Islam ...A field walk by the leader of 7th group, Abu Anas, to check the front of Eastern Qalamoun.pic.twitter.com/kiPpIz9WIr". Twitter. Archived from the original on 1 October 2017.
  12. ^ "Syrian Army exterminates prominent Jaish al-Islam commander". Al-Masdar. 17 April 2017. Archived from the original on 20 May 2017.
  13. ^ a b "Rise of Jaish al-Islam marks a turn in Syria conflict". Middle East Eye. 7 May 2015. Archived from the original on 9 May 2015. Retrieved 8 May 2015.
  14. ^ "Syria conflict: Essam al-Buwaydhani named leader of rebel group Army of Islam". International Business Times. 26 December 2015. Archived from the original on 5 January 2016. Retrieved 26 December 2015.
  15. ^ "عملية تبادل أسرى لدى عصابات الأسد في جنوب دمشق". Archived from the original on 1 September 2017. Retrieved 14 July 2017.
  16. ^ Barić, Joško (12 July 2017). "Syrian War Daily – 12th of July 2017". Archived from the original on 1 September 2017.
  17. ^ "Jaysh al-Islam militants completing pullout from southern Damascus". Al Masdar News. 7 May 2018. Archived from the original on 7 May 2018. Retrieved 7 May 2018.
  18. ^ "Syria crisis: Saudi Arabia to spend millions to train new rebel force". The Guardian. 7 November 2013. Archived from the original on 10 November 2013. Retrieved 10 November 2013.
  19. ^ a b "Insight: Saudi Arabia boosts Salafist rivals to al Qaeda in Syria". Reuters. 1 October 2013. Retrieved 8 May 2015.
  20. ^ Elizabeth Tsurkov (26 August 2016). "Jaish al-Islam: Rebels at the Gates of Damascus". Forum for Regional Thinking. Archived from the original on 1 September 2017.
  21. ^ "Islamist rebel leader walks back rhetoric in first interview with Western media". McClatchys. 20 May 2015. Archived from the original on 22 May 2015. Retrieved 20 May 2015. He claims that his Army of Islam has 10,000 fighters in the suburbs of Damascus and another 7,000 scattered elsewhere in Syria
  22. ^ "List of armed formations, which joined the ceasefire in the Syrian Arab Republic on December 30, 2016". Ministry of Defence of the Russian Federation. Archived from the original on 30 December 2016. Retrieved 30 December 2016.
  23. ^ Which rebel groups are fighting in Syria's eastern Ghouta? Archived 27 February 2018 at the Wayback Machine, Deutsche Welle, 20 February 2018
  24. ^ Explainer: Who's fighting whom in Syria's Ghouta? Archived 1 March 2018 at the Wayback Machine, BBC Monitoring, 22 February 2018
  25. ^ a b "The Dawn of Freedom Brigades: Analysis and Interview". 2 October 2014. Archived from the original on 10 June 2016. Retrieved 14 June 2016.
  26. ^ a b Lund, Aron. "Islamist Mergers in Syria: Ahrar al-Sham Swallows Suqour al-Sham". Archived from the original on 22 March 2016. Retrieved 14 June 2016.
  27. ^ a b "Leading Syrian rebel groups form new Islamic Front". BBC. 22 November 2013. Archived from the original on 25 January 2014. Retrieved 22 November 2013.
  28. ^ "New Syrian jihadist body formed to fight ISIS". Al Monitor. 28 May 2014. Archived from the original on 6 June 2014. Retrieved 3 June 2014.
  29. ^ "Translation: the Formation of the Syrian Revolutionary Command Council". Goha's Nail. 3 August 2014. Archived from the original on 14 August 2014. Retrieved 6 August 2014.
  30. ^ "Archived copy". Archived from the original on 4 March 2016. Retrieved 8 April 2016.{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: archived copy as title (link)
  31. ^ "The wars of the Eastern Ghouta grind on". The Daily Star Newspaper - Lebanon. Archived from the original on 16 July 2015.
  32. ^ "No regime offensive in Qalamoun, rebel official claims". NOW News. 18 November 2013. Archived from the original on 16 December 2013. Retrieved 19 November 2013.
  33. ^ Aron Lund (24 September 2013). "New Islamist Bloc Declares Opposition to National Coalition and US Strategy". Syria Comment. Archived from the original on 20 November 2013. Retrieved 7 November 2013.
  34. ^ a b "Dissatisfaction between civilians of eastern Aleppo after an attack by Fateh al-Sham on rebel warehouses". SOHR. Archived from the original on 7 December 2016.
  35. ^ "ISIL militants.. on way to Damascus". ARA News. 10 July 2014. Archived from the original on 14 July 2014. Retrieved 10 July 2014.
  36. ^ "Jihadists of ISIS and Qaeda attack Syrian rebels in Damascus". ARA News. 3 April 2015. Archived from the original on 5 April 2015. Retrieved 2 April 2015.
  37. ^ Jocelyn, Thomas (23 April 2015). "Al Nusrah Front, allies launch new offensives against Syrian regime". Long War Journal. Archived from the original on 28 April 2015.
  38. ^ Aboufadel, Leith (2 January 2019). "Old rivalries never die: Jaysh Al-Islam vows to fight HTS in northwest Syria". Archived from the original on 13 April 2019. Retrieved 8 January 2019.
  39. ^ Cite error: The named reference telegraph5dec was invoked but never defined (see the help page).
  40. ^ "Syria army 'tightens siege of rebel bastion near Damascus'". AFP. 3 May 2015. Archived from the original on 18 May 2015. Retrieved 11 May 2015.
  41. ^ "Largest Syrian rebel groups form Islamic alliance, in possible blow to U.S. influence". Washington Post. 25 September 2013. Archived from the original on 26 September 2013. Retrieved 7 November 2013.
  42. ^ Ashawi, Khalil (29 September 2018). "Far from home, a Syrian rebel group starts over". Reuters. Retrieved 19 September 2021.
  43. ^ "REPORT The Road to a Syria Peace Deal Runs Through Russia". Foreign Policy. Archived from the original on 14 February 2016. Retrieved 14 February 2016.
  44. ^ "THE SYRIAN OPPOSITION'S POLITICAL DEMANDS". Institute for Study of War.
  45. ^ "MAPPING MILITANT ORGANIZATIONS: Jaish al-Islam". Stanford University. 31 August 2017. Retrieved 5 March 2018.

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