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Al-Nusra Front to Protect the Levant

Al-Nusra Front
جبهة النصرة cosm
Participant in the Syrian Civil War and the
Syrian Civil War spillover in Lebanon
Flag of Jabhat Fatah al-Sham.svg
Flag of the Al-Nusra Front (After July 2016)
Active 23 January 2012 – 28 January 2017
Ideology

Salafism

Groups See al-Nusra member groups
Leaders Abu Mohammad al-Julani (top emir)
Abu Abdullah al-Shami (senior member)
Ahmad Salama Mabruk  (senior member)
Abu Hajer al-Homsi  (top military commander)
Abu Omar al-Turkistani  (top military commander)
Headquarters
Area of operations  Syria (Primarily in Northwest Syria, around the Idlib and Aleppo Provinces)
 Lebanon
Size 10,000-20,000
Part of al-Qaeda
Mujahideen Shura Council (2014–present)
Army of Conquest (2015–17)
Originated as Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant Islamic State of Iraq
Became Flag of Hayat Tahrir al-Sham.svg Hayyat Tahrir al-Sham
Allies
Opponents

State opponents

Non-state opponents

Shi'ite groups

Islamic State and Islamic State affiliates

Battles and wars

Syrian Civil War

Syrian Civil War spillover in Lebanon

Military intervention against ISIL


Salafism

State opponents

Non-state opponents

Shi'ite groups

Islamic State and Islamic State affiliates

Syrian Civil War

Syrian Civil War spillover in Lebanon

Military intervention against ISIL

Al-Nusra Front or Jabhat al-Nusra (Arabic: جبهة النصرة‎‎), known as the Jabhat Fateh al-Sham (Arabic: جبهة فتح الشام‎‎, transliteration: Jabhat Fataḥ al-Šām) after July 2016, and also described as al-Qaeda in Syria or al-Qaeda in the Levant, is a Salafist jihadist terrorist organization fighting against Syrian government forces in the Syrian Civil War, with the aim of establishing an Islamic state in the country. The group announced its formation on 23 January 2012.

The United States designated Jabhat al-Nusra as a foreign terrorist organization, followed by the United Nations Security Council and many other countries. It was the official Syrian branch of al-Qaeda until July 2016, when it ostensibly split.

In early 2015, the group became one of the major components of the powerful jihadist joint operations room named the Army of Conquest, which took over large territories in Northwestern Syria. It also operates in neighbouring Lebanon. In November 2012, The Washington Post described al-Nusra as the most successful arm of the rebel forces.


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Wikipedia

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