Ansar al-Sham
| Supporters of the Levant Brigade | |
|---|---|
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Ansar al-Sham Participant in the Syrian civil war |
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Ansar al-Sham Logo
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| Active | September 2012 – 7 February 2017 |
| Ideology | Islamism |
| Leaders | Abu Omar al-Jamil (overall leader) Abu Musa al-Shishani (Military Commander) |
| Headquarters | Jabal al Akrad, Latakia |
| Area of operations |
Latakia Governorate Idlib Governorate |
| Strength | 2,500(March 2014) |
| Part of | Jaysh al-Islam (2016–17) |
| Became | Tahrir al-Sham (2017) |
| Opponents | |
| Battles and wars | |
Ansar al-Sham (Arabic: كتائب أنصار الشام, Supporters of the Levant) was an armed insurgent organisation that has been active during the Syrian civil war.
Founded in September 2012 by a Latakian veteran of the Afghan Jihad known as Abu Omar, Ansar al-Sham brought together a wide range of mostly Syrian fighters in North Latakia Governorate on a general Islamist platform. The group's military leader is a Chechen known as Abu Musa al-Shishani, and it maintained good relations with a wide variety of other opposition groups in the area, from the Free Syria Army to Al-Nusra Front. In December 2012, Ansar al-Sham joined with other insurgent groups to found the Syrian Islamic Front umbrella organisation, in November 2013 the SIF was dissolved and Liwa al-Haqq, Ansar al-Sham and Ahrar ash-Sham joined the broader Islamic Front alliance.
It played a lead role in the 2014 Latakia offensive against the Syrian Government.
On 15 December 2016, the group declared that it decided to completely merge under Jaysh al-Islam's Idlib branch. On 25 January 2017, Jaysh al-Islam's Idlib branch joined Ahrar al-Sham, thus Ansar al-Sham also joined.
On 7 February 2017, Ansar al-Sham joined Tahrir al-Sham.
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