Jabhat Ghuraba al-Sham

The Ghuraba al-Sham Front (Arabic: جبهة غرباء الشام‎ Jabhat Ghurabā’ ash-Shām, "Strangers/Foreigners of the Levant") was a group of fighters, active during the Syrian civil war, in favor of a non-religious state.[1] The group formerly had around 2,000 men, but in May 2013 it clashed with Islamic fundamentalist groups and most of its fighters dispersed.[1] Ghuraba al-Sham's arsenals were confiscated by the Islamists and by late 2013 it had only has around 100 fighters in its ranks.[1] The group consisted of a mixture of secularists and Islamists.[1] The name of the group has since changed.[5] There was a battalion within the group called the Loyalty Battalion made up entirely of women.[10]

Ghuraba al-Sham Front
جبهة غرباء الشام Strangers of the Levant Front
Leaders	Sheikh Omar[1] Hasan Jazra  [2] Nizar al-Khatib ("Abu Laith")[3] Hasan al-Banawi ("Abu Juma")[4]
Dates of operation	2011[1][5]– November 2013 (defunct)
Headquarters	Aleppo
Active regions	Aleppo Governorate[1]
Size	2,000 (until May 2013) ~100 (since May 2013)[1]
Part of	Free Syrian Army[6]
Allies	16th Division[7]
Opponents	Syrian Armed Forces Al-Nusra Front[8] Al-Tawhid Brigade[8] Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant[5] Ahrar al-Sham Aleppo Sharia court
Battles and wars	Syrian Civil War Battle of Aleppo (2012–2016) Inter-rebel conflict during the Syrian Civil War

In November 2013, Hasan Jazra, the commander of Ghuraba al-Sham, was publicly executed by members of the Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant in the town of Atarib. Islamist groups had accused Ghuraba of looting and collaborating at times with the Syrian government.[2]

One of the group commanders, Nizar al-Khatib, also known by his nom de guerre "Abu Laith", formed the Descendants of Messengers Brigade after the dissolution of Ghuraba al-Sham, and continued to fight ISIL.[9] In January and February 2014, the Descendants of Messengers Brigade forged an alliance with the Kurdish Front amid battles against ISIL in northern Aleppo,[11] and in March 2014, it changed its name to the Dawn of Freedom Brigades.[3]

In April 2016 the German police arrested an unnamed 41 year old Syrian man accused of crimes against international law like torture and looting, committed while he was a leader of the group in 2012/2013.[12]

See also

• List of armed groups in the Syrian Civil War
• Ghuraba al-Sham (jihadist group)

References

1. "Special Report: Syria's Islamists seize control as moderates dither". Reuters. 19 June 2013. Retrieved 24 April 2014.
2. "Battles rage around Damascus, jihadists slay rival rebel leader". The Daily Star. Beirut. 28 November 2013. Retrieved 24 April 2014.
3. Mustafa Mohamed (8 September 2016). "Leader in the opposition: The Syrian regime ordered the formation of "rebel army"". Arabi 21.
4. "Dissident from the "rebel army": We set up the army to fight the regime and the United States turned its course to cover up the failure of the Syrian opposition training program". Rojava News. 24 February 2016.
5. "Scores die as rebel factions fight in Aleppo". Al Jazeera English. 13 October 2013. Retrieved 24 April 2014.
6. "RPT-INSIGHT-Beheadings and spies help al Qaeda gain ground in Syria". Reuters. 6 December 2013. Retrieved 24 April 2014.
7. "Archived: Aleppo during 2013 .. victories .. failures .. and major events .. make Halim Hirana ." All4Syria. 9 January 2014.
8. "Warring Syrian rebel groups abduct each other's members". Times of Israel. Jerusalem. 18 May 2013. Retrieved 24 April 2014.
9. ""Encourage" faces "descendants of the messengers" and "strangers of the Levant" in Aleppo .. Details of the events in the neighborhoods of Haidariyah and Hananu housing". Aksalser. 11 October 2013.
10. "Using Women to Win in Syria". Al Monitor. 29 September 2013. Retrieved 24 April 2014.
11. "The Kurdish Front Brigade begins the second phase of the battle of dignity to control Izzaz". ARA News. 14 February 2014.
12. "Völkerstrafrecht: SEK nimmt mutmaßlichen Kriegsverbrecher aus Syrien fest" (in German). DER SPIEGEL. 6 April 2016. Retrieved 6 April 2016.