Ajnad al-Sham Islamic Union
{{Short description|Alliance of Sunni Islamist groups during the Syrian civil war}}
{{Distinguish|Ajnad al-Sham}}
{{Missing information|their history before 2016|date=November 2016}}
{{infobox war faction
| name = Ajnad al-Sham Islamic Union
الاتحاد الإسلامي لأجناد الشام
| war = Syrian Civil War
| image = Ajnad al-Sham Islamic Union Logo.jpg
| caption = Official logo of Ajnad al-Sham Islamic Union
| ideology = Sunni Islamism{{cite web|url=http://carnegieendowment.org/syriaincrisis/?fa=54758|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140315100843/http://carnegieendowment.org/syriaincrisis/?fa=54758|url-status=dead|archive-date=March 15, 2014|title=Damascus Preachers and the Armed Rebellion|publisher=Carnegie Endowment for International Peace|date=5 March 2014|accessdate=24 April 2014}}
| leaders = Faysal al-Shami {{KIA}}{{cite web|url=https://www.almasdarnews.com/article/top-rebel-commander-killed-in-darayya-amid-syrian-army-advance/|title=Top rebel commander killed in Darayya amid Syrian Army advance|author=Leith Fadel|work=Al-Masdar News|date=26 February 2016|accessdate=26 February 2016|archive-date=8 August 2016|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160808133826/https://www.almasdarnews.com/article/top-rebel-commander-killed-in-darayya-amid-syrian-army-advance/|url-status=dead}}
Abu Muhammad al-Fatah (until November 2015){{cite web|url=http://carnegieendowment.org/syriaincrisis/?fa=54750|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140315100738/http://carnegieendowment.org/syriaincrisis/?fa=54750|url-status=dead|archive-date=March 15, 2014|title=The Ajnad al-Sham Islamic Union|publisher=Carnegie Endowment for International Peace|date=4 March 2014|accessdate=17 December 2015}}
| clans =
| headquarters =
| area = Rif Dimashq Governorate
| size = 15,000 (self-claim, 2014)Jennifer Cafarella and Genevieve Casagrande, [http://www.understandingwar.org/sites/default/files/Syrian%20Armed%20Opposition%20Powerbrokers_0.pdf Syrian Armed Opposition Powerbrokers], Middle East Security Report 29, March 2016, Institute for the Study of War
| partof = Unified Military Command of Eastern Ghouta (2014–15){{cite web|url=https://www.enabbaladi.net/archives/54442|title=Abu Mohammed al-Fateh resigns from the leadership of the Islamic Union of Ajnad al-Sham|work=Enab Baladi|date=30 November 2015}}
| predecessor =
| successor =
| allies = {{flagicon|Syrian opposition}} Free Syrian Army
{{flagicon image|Flag of Ahrar ash-Sham.svg|size=20px}} Ahrar al-Sham
| opponents = Syrian Armed Forces{{cite web|url=http://www.dailystar.com.lb/News/Middle-East/2014/Jan-28/245577-syria-army-edges-forward-in-aleppo.ashx#axzz2zqDOonDo|title=Army makes first push toward Aleppo in a year|publisher=The Daily Star|date=28 January 2014|accessdate=24 April 2014|archive-date=4 October 2018|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20181004073228/http://www.dailystar.com.lb/News/Middle-East/2014/Jan-28/245577-syria-army-edges-forward-in-aleppo.ashx#axzz2zqDOonDo|url-status=dead}}
Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant
| battles = Syrian Civil War
- Siege of Darayya and Muadamiyat{{cite web|url=https://www.almasdarnews.com/article/islamist-offensive-darayya-ends-failure/|title=Islamist offensive in Darayya ends in failure|first=Leith|last=Fadel|date=21 June 2016|publisher=al-masdar News|accessdate=25 June 2016|archive-date=21 June 2016|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160621144158/https://www.almasdarnews.com/article/islamist-offensive-darayya-ends-failure/|url-status=dead}}
- Beit Jinn offensive
- Southern Damascus offensive (January–February 2018)
}}
The Ajnad al-Sham Islamic Union ({{langx|ar|الاتحاد الإسلامي لأجناد الشام|al-ittihad al-islami li-ajnad al-sham}}, "Islamic Union of the Soldiers of the Levant") was an alliance of Sunni Islamist groups affiliated with the Muslim Brotherhood{{cite web|url=https://www.almodon.com/arabworld/2017/8/11/%D9%81%D9%8A%D9%84%D9%82-%D8%A7%D9%84%D8%B1%D8%AD%D9%85%D9%86-%D9%88-%D8%A3%D8%AC%D9%86%D8%A7%D8%AF-%D8%A7%D9%84%D8%B4%D8%A7%D9%85-%D8%B5%D8%B1%D8%A7%D8%B9-%D8%A7%D9%84%D8%AD%D9%84%D9%81%D8%A7%D8%A1|title="Legion of Rahman" and "Ajnad al-Sham": Allied conflict|work=Al-Modon|author=Omar Bahaa al-Din|date=11 August 2017}} that was active in the Rif Dimashq Governorate during the Syrian Civil War.
History
File:Ajnad al-Sham Islamic Union fighter.png, 20 June 2015]]
In early November 2013, a large number of Sunni Islamist rebel groups in the wider Damascus region announced the formation of the “Greater Damascus Operations Room”, excluding Jaysh al-Islam and the most radical jihadis al-Nusra Front and the Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant. Later that month, five of the larger and most locally well-established groups within the Operations Room—the Habib al-Mustafa Brigades and Battalions, the Amjad al-Islam Gathering, the Sahaba Brigades and Battalions, the Youth of Huda Battalions and the Shield of the Capital Brigade—declared the creation of the Ajnad al-Sham Islamic Union. Abu Muhammad al-Fatah, commander of the Youth of Huda Battalions, was appointed as leader of the formation.
The group was initially allied with Jaysh al-Islam—the largest rebel group in eastern Ghouta—with Islamic Union leader Abu Muhammad al-Fatah being the deputy of Jaysh al-Islam leader Zahran Alloush in the Unified Military Command of Eastern Ghouta. The two groups subsequently came into conflict over control of smuggling tunnels in 2015. Jaysh al-Islam attacked the Islamic Union's headquarters several times between 2015 and early 2016. As a result, Ajnad al-Sham Islamic Union fighters based in eastern Ghouta, including the entire Habib al-Mustafa Brigades and Battalions, announced their "full incorporation" into the al-Rahman Legion, though reiterating that its fighters based in the western Damascus suburbs of Darayya and Muadamiyat as well as in southern Damascus would still operate under the Ajnad al-Sham Islamic Union banner and were not a part of this merger.{{cite web|url=https://now.mmedia.me/lb/en/NewsReports/566633-damascus-rebels-merge-amid-jaysh-al-islam-intimidation|title=Damascus rebels merge amid Jaysh al-Islam "intimidation"|author=Albin Szakola|date=19 February 2016|publisher=|accessdate=11 April 2016|archive-date=4 April 2016|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160404201620/https://now.mmedia.me/lb/en/NewsReports/566633-damascus-rebels-merge-amid-jaysh-al-islam-intimidation|url-status=dead}} The Ajnad al-Sham Islamic Union fighters who joined the Rahman Legion were barred from leadership positions and their weapons were seized and redistributed among other Legion members.
On 26 February 2016, Syrian Army Special Forces killed the second leader of the Ajnad al-Sham Islamic Union, Faysal al-Shami ("Abu Malek"), after intense clashes in the Darayya Association Quarter.
On 19 March 2017, Ajnad al-Sham Islamic Union fighters who left Darayya and Muadamiyat between August and October 2016 as part of the evacuation deal to Idlib joined the Sham Legion,{{cite web|url=https://twitter.com/ShamLegion/status/843410923545137152|title=فيلق الشام on Twitter|publisher=}} reducing the presence of the Ajnad al-Sham Islamic Union to two pockets in the Damascus and Rif Damascus areas.
After the completion of the Beit Jinn offensive in January 2018 and the Southern Damascus offensive the following month, Ajnad al-Sham Islamic Union presence was further reduced to a single pocket in the southern outskirt of Damascus.
In May 2018, the remaining members evacuated to Idlib. Following the evacuation, the groups ceased to be active.
See also
References
{{Sister project links |commons=Category:Syrian Civil War (2011-present)|n=Category:2011 Syria anti-government protests|wikt=no|b=no|q=no|s=no|v=no|species=no|display=the Syrian civil war}}
{{Reflist}}
{{Syrian Civil War}}
Category:Anti-Assad factions of the Syrian civil war
Category:Anti-ISIL factions in Syria