Army of Conquest

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Army of Conquest
جيش الفتح[1]
Participant in the Syrian Civil War
Emblem of the Jaish al-Fatah.svg
Active 24 March 2015[2] – present
Ideology Sunni Islamism[3]
Groups Note: Branches outside of Idlib contain different member groups
Headquarters Idlib, Syria
Area of operations Idlib Governorate
Hama Governorate
Latakia Governorate
Homs Governorate
Qalamun Mountains
Quneitra Governorate
Daraa Governorate, Syria
Strength 10,000+ fighters (in Idlib)[7]
Allies Jaish al-Haramoun
Battle of Victory
Saraya Ahl al-Sham
Jund al-Malahm
Northern Homs Countryside Operations Room
Opponents

Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant
Hezbollah[8]
Syrian Armed Forces

Battles and wars

Syrian Civil War

The Army of Conquest[11] (Arabic: جيش الفتح‎, Jaish al-Fatah, JaF) is a military operations coalition in the Syrian Civil War that consists of numerous Syrian Islamist rebel factions mainly active in the Idlib Governorate, with some factions active in the Hama and Latakia Governorates.[3] It declared its formation on 24 March 2015.[2] On the same day, a pro-opposition source claimed that about fifty Syrian government soldiers defected to the new operations room.[2] The Army of Conquest captured Idlib City on 28 March 2015.[12] In the following months, they spearheaded an offensive that drove out government forces from almost all of Idlib Governorate.[13] Following this success, additional branches of the Army of Conquest were established in other parts of Syria.

Composition and organization[edit]

The Army of Conquest coalition was partially modeled upon the success of the Southern Front of the Free Syrian Army,[14] and in turn newer coalitions, like the Battle of Victory, were modeled on the Army of Conquest.[15] Ahrar ash-Sham is the largest group in the Army of Conquest.[16] Other prominent Islamist factions in the operations room include the Al-Qaeda affiliate Al-Nusra Front[17] and the Muslim Brotherhood of Syria linked Sham Legion, however the operations room collaborates with more moderate Free Syrian Army factions such as Knights of Justice Brigade.[4] "It is forbidden to mention the name of any faction" when conducting operations between the coalition's members.[18] Al-Ahram Weekly reported that "Jabhat Al-Nusra and Ahrar Al-Sham represent 90 per cent of the troops. The Saudis and Qataris are to provide funding for 40 per cent of the coalition’s needs".[19]

Expansion to other parts of Syria[edit]

In early May 2015, the Army of Conquest formed a new branch in Western Qalamoun, called Jaish al-Fatah al-Qalamoun.[20] On 1 October 2015, after defeats by pro-Assad forces, Jaish al-Fatah al-Qalamoun was replaced by an independent faction called Saraya Ahl al-Sham, which aims to unite all rebels factions in Western Qalamoun.[21]

Also in June, the al-Nusra Front issued a statement calling on the opposition in the Eastern Ghouta area of Damascus to form a similar coalition,[22] but this call was rejected by the Unified Military Command of Eastern Ghouta,[23] a grouping which includes the most prominent factions in the area.

Battles[edit]

Date Battle Place Against Result
24–28 March 2015 Second Battle of Idlib Idlib  Syria Victory
23–25 April 2015 Battle of Jisr al-Shughur Jisr al-Shughur  Syria Victory
4 May–21 June 2015 Qalamoun offensive Qalamun Hezbollah
 Syria
Defeat
18 May 2015 Battle of Al-Mastumah Al-Mastumah  Syria Victory
28 May 2015 Battle of Ariha Ariha  Syria Victory
16–26 June 2015 Quneitra offensive (2015) Quneitra Governorate  Syria Indecisive
25 June-10 July 2015 Daraa offensive (June–July 2015) Daraa Governorate  Syria Defeat
28 July-28 August 2015 Al-Ghab Offensive Idlib Governorate  Syria Victory
28 July-Ongoing Siege of Al-Fu'ah and Kafarya Idlib Governorate  Syria Ongoing
March-9 September 2015 Siege of Abu al-Duhur Airbase Idlib Governorate  Syria Victory
October- 2015 Northwestern Syria Offensive Hama Governorate  Syria Ongoing

See also[edit]

References[edit]

  1. ^ Al Rifai, Diana (29 May 2015). "Fighters wrest town in Idlib from Syrian forces". Al Jazeera English. Retrieved 30 May 2015. 
  2. ^ a b c "News Update 3-25-15". Syria Direct. Retrieved 25 March 2015. 
  3. ^ a b "Rebels seek to storm Idlib amid chemical fears". NOW. 25 March 2015. 
  4. ^ a b "'Army of Conquest' rebel alliance pressures Syria regime". Daily Mail. AFP. 28 April 2015. Retrieved 2 May 2015. The coalition, whose formation was announced in March, comprises a range of mostly jihadist and Islamist groups, the most prominent being Al-Qaeda affiliate Al-Nusra Front and the powerful Islamist Ahrar al-Sham [...] Other important members include Faylaq al-Sham, a coalition of Muslim Brotherhood-linked battalions, and Jund al-Aqsa, a small jihadist group. 
  5. ^ "Al Qaeda and allies form coalition to battle Syrian regime in Idlib". Long War Journal. 24 March 2015. 
  6. ^ "Taliban-Aligned Uzbek Suicide Bomber Attacks Shi'ite Village In Syria". Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty. 21 September 2015. Retrieved 21 September 2015. 
  7. ^ "The Syrian Rebellion Observatory". Facebook. 29 March 2015. Retrieved 4 April 2015. 
  8. ^ "Syrian rebels combat ISIS, Hezbollah in Qalamoun". ARA News. 15 May 2015. 
  9. ^ a b "Jihadist coalition captures checkpoints around city of Idlib". Long War Journal. 27 March 2015. 
  10. ^ "Al Qaeda and allies form coalition to battle Syrian regime in Idlib". Long War Journal. 24 March 2015. 
  11. ^ "Syria: Islamist Rebels Advance in Fierce Clashes for Idlib". Arutz Sheva. 27 March 2015. 
  12. ^ "Qaeda, allies seize Syria's Idlib city in blow to regime". AFP. 28 March 2015. Retrieved 4 April 2015. 
  13. ^ Rifai, Ryan (6 June 2015). "Syrian group claims control of Idlib province". Al Jazeera. Retrieved 25 June 2015. 
  14. ^ "In Syria, Support for Rebel Unity Carries Risks". Stratfor. 30 April 2015. Retrieved 1 May 2015. With the Southern Front success as a model, rebel backers then sought to deploy similar methods in the north. 
  15. ^ Jocelyn, Thomas (23 April 2015). "Al Nusrah Front, allies launch new offensives against Syrian regime". Long War Journal. 
  16. ^ "Syrian rebels fight Syrian army near Assad heartland". Newsweek. Reuters. 30 April 2015. Retrieved 1 May 2015. As the biggest group in Army of Fatah, Ahrar al-Sham appears to hold the key to preventing infighting. 
  17. ^ Kim Sengupta (12 May 2015). "Turkey and Saudi Arabia alarm the West by backing Islamist extremists the Americans had bombed in Syria". The Independent. 
  18. ^ "Syrian Insurgent gains expose Assad Weaknesses" New York Times. "Muayad Zurayk, an activist in Idlib city, attributed the opposition's success in the province to the joint operations room [...] "All operations stemming from the coordinated command center are done in the name of Jaish al-Fatah," he said, referring to the unified command. "It is forbidden to mention the name of any faction.""
  19. ^ "Gulf allies and ‘Army of Conquest". Al-Ahram Weekly. 28 May 2015. 
  20. ^ Pollard, Ruth (9 May 2015). "New coalition shakes Syria's Assad regime". The Sydney Morning Herald. Retrieved 9 May 2015. The model is now being copied in areas such as the Qalamoun – the mountain ranges between Lebanon's Bekaa Valley and Syria 
  21. ^ "Syria rebels form new Qalamoun coalition". NOW. 1 October 2015. 
  22. ^ Yousef, Sarbaz (11 June 2015). "Nusra demands Syrian rebels to unite against Assad in Damascus". ARA News. Retrieved 11 June 2015. 
  23. ^ sohranas. "The Unified Military Command of the Eastern Ghouta refuses the invitation of Jabhat al- Nusra to establish "al- Fateh Army in the Ghouta" calling it to disband its judicial councils and join "the Unified Command"". Syrian Observatory For Human Rights. Retrieved 26 June 2015. 

External links[edit]