File talk:Authenticity and Development Front.png

Until re-directed, this is the best place for info on the group. I'll add:

They don't get mentioned much. Thomas Van Linge's Syria map shows areas under their control (to list below). The Wikipedia article for them says
 * The Authenticity and Development Front (Asala wa-al-Tanmiya) is a US-backed alliance of rebel groups that have been active during the Syrian Civil War, and includes Islamists, military defectors, and civilian rebels.[3][4] The Authenticity and Development Front is funded by Saudi Arabia.[13] Although the alliance uses FSA flags and symbols, it doesn't identify itself as part of the Free Syrian Army.[14] One of the groups that was involved is the Harakat Nour al-Din al-Zenki, which was also part of the Army of Mujahedeen,[3] though the Army of Mujahedeen announced on 4 May 2014 that the Nour al-Din al-Zanki Islamic Brigades had withdrawn from the coalition.[15] Another group involved in the coalition is the Ahl al-Athar Brigade.[2] The Authenticity and Development Front operated American made BGM-71 TOW captured from the Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant.[16] 

They have a video page at Youtube, not huge. This video of them praying leads to it. They're pretty good at developing beards.

That's about all I know, aside from their name appearing on a wall in the rebel-conquered village of Kharata, Latakia, during the infamous 2013 "Operation to Liberate the coast," aka Latakia Massacres, in which Islamist rebels slaughtered hundreds of Alawi citizens and abducted hundreds more. FSA claimed to be there, may have been. ISIS, JaN, Ahrar al-Sham, and 2 other groups were blamed by HRW, on good evidence. These guys were not mentioned by HRW. But one wall says "Allahu Akbar, western front of something, something (part of?) Authenticty and Development Front." Suggests but doesn't prove presence. Suggests but doesn't prove involvement in the massacre. See Translation Requests --Caustic Logic (talk) 08:52, 4 November 2015 (UTC)


 * The video showing their graffiti, 0:50, and it's also got their logo in the corner - but alternating with another group's logo (unidentified). Earlier video without the graffiti, but with the same flipping logos - Another Latakia video with the same. --Caustic Logic (talk) 07:28, 5 November 2015 (UTC)
 * Main graffiti video, older rebel posting, August 9. This HRW cites as "allegedly shows FSA fighters in the village of Kharata," and it does, auto translated: “FSA dips in the Syrian coast and frees the village of turning shabiha Assad 08/09/2013” But the logo and graffiti say FAD, which the HRW report totally missed. --Caustic Logic (talk) 04:22, 30 November 2015 (UTC)


 * Another video (now pulled) from them, previously catalogued: جبهة الأصالة والتنمية || اللواء الأول معارك إقتحام جبل دورين في اللاذقية رائع جدا جدا... (Front originality and Development | | First Brigade storming Mount Doreen battles in Latakia very very cool ... **) 7:10, August 7. Dead soldiers near the end. Did not find another copy under the same name. A related First Brogade channel came up. --Caustic Logic (talk) 08:23, 20 November 2015 (UTC)

Areas: None, really. Oldest copy (2 July 2014) of situation map shows (I think colors not always easy to call) joint presence in some cities - Deraa, Douma, parts of Aleppo. No actual swathes of territory - more like a claim in as many major cities/fronts as possible - Aleppo, Damascus, another border city. Nothing in the Homs area. (note there, at the time, a pocket of ISIS right next to Rastan...) Most current version (2 November, 2015) shows: No presence in Aleppo, but in nearby Mare, Darat Izza. They're now in Jisr al-Shughour along with the army of conquest folks, they'll have an area (shared with Nusra, FSA, Islamic Front). They're now in Houla, Homs, but nowhere in Deraa. Nor in Douma. They had one other small odd spot in Ghouta by Douma, still the same color. Looks like they're in Bir Qasab to the southeast. But it seems like a decreasing presence, and that's all in a year+ starting a year after the time frame in question. --Caustic Logic (talk) 13:59, 4 November 2015 (UTC)


 * This article by a pro-opposition academic in the UK describes the Front for Authenticity and Development] as "a pro-Saudi coalition of early defector officers (Abd al-Razzaq Tlass, Ammar al-Wawi), tribal-based groups (Basha’ir al-Nasr in Deir al-Zour), and apolitical Salafis (Ahl al-Athar). The FAD’s political platform is strikingly unambitious and presents no distinctly Islamist feature. Tellingly, this coalition is regarded with suspicion among Jihadi circles, which have described it as a Syrian version of the Sahwa councils set up by U.S. troops in Iraq in order to fight al Qaeda"


 * The Russians reported that the rocket used in the Khan-al-Assal sarin attack was similar to those made by the Basha'ir al Nasr group Pmr9 (talk) 17:51, 4 November 2015 (UTC)


 * Late note of thanks for that. That Abdulrazaq Tlass was involved in its formation is new to me. Wawi too, but I know nothing yet about him. --Caustic Logic (talk) 04:39, 30 November 2015 (UTC)