Talk:Jabhat Al-Nusra

More murder...
50 Christians murdered: Facebook -- Petri Krohn (talk) 22:24, 21 December 2012 (UTC)
 * Didn't find anything more detailed right away. One site mentions 50 Christians killed, in total, in Homs as of Dec. 14, last year. --Caustic Logic (talk) 00:08, 22 December 2012 (UTC)
 * Based on another Facebook posting it seems these people were only kidnapped. In Syria, what's the difference? -- Petri Krohn (talk) 21:38, 22 December 2012 (UTC)
 * 125-235 Alawites only kidnapped in Aqrab. Still not heard from since Dec. 11.

Quilliam Foundation
Good add, CE. I was thinking this new report needed to be added, but clearly I didn't do it yet. This page is soooo inadequate for such a big aspect but hey, atleast it exists, unlike most others that should. Quilliam Press Release, Jan.8: QUILLIAM RELEASES NEW STRATEGIC BRIEFING ‘JABHAT AL-NUSRA’ A video: Compiles CNN report featuring Quilliam's Benotman, a slightly more heroic Al-Jazeera report, and a snarky Addounia one. [http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=v-NBvpfU83c Jabhat al-Nusra (Nusra Front): Reports on Terror Group from CNN & Al-Jazeera... Purpose Explained!]

Articles

 * BBC, Jan 17: Syria: Islamist Nusra Front gives BBC exclusive interview
 * Al-Jazeera, Jan.13 (w/video): Jabhat al-Nusra says it stands for 'justice'
 * Al-Monitor: Jabhat al-Nusra's Goals Extend Beyond Syria
 * Al-Monitor: Jabhat al-Nusra and the Syrian Opposition’s Failure
 * Guardian, July 30: Al-Qaida turns tide for rebels in battle for eastern Syria
 * Long War Journal (Al-Jazzera video) Al Nusrah Front plans Islamic state
 * just aired PressTV docu "Al Qaeda - the Lebanon chapter" might be interesting to watch in this context. Link here as reminder to myself to watch it on occasion. --CE (talk) 03:49, 11 March 2013 (UTC)

Merger
From Kavkaz Center:

Jabhat Al-Nusra merges with Al Qaeda in Iraq and pledges allegiance to Ayman al-Zawahiri
 * Publication time: 10 April 2013, 17:47

The Mujahideen of the Islamic State of Iraq (Al-Qaeda in Iraq) announced the merger with Jabhat Al-Nusra (the Victory Front or the Support Front for the People of Sham) and the creation of the Islamic State of Iraq and Sham, writes UmmaNews. The appropriate appeal of the Emir of Al-Qaeda in Iraq, Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi, was posted in Islamic segment of the Internet. In the 21-minute long audio Emir al-Bagdaadi announced that Jabhat Al-Nusra is an offshoot of Al Qaeda in Iraq, and the Emir of the Victory Front in Syria gave bayat, or oath of allegiance, to the leader of Iraqi Jihad: "It is time to announce to the Levantine people and the whole world that Jabhat al-Nusra is merely an extension and part of the Islamic State of Iraq", said Emir al-Baghdadi. According to him, now the Islamic State of Iraq will be renamed as the Islamic State of Iraq and Syria, and the Victory Front will be part of it. Al-Jazeera writes in this connection that now Emir of Iraq will lead Jihad not only in Iraq but also in Syria. In response, Emir of Jabhat Al-Nusra Abu Mohammad al-Golani sent a counter message and said that Syrian Mujahideen give an oath of allegiance (Bayat) to the leader of al-Qaeda, Ayman al-Zawahiri: "The sons of al-Nusra Front pledge allegiance to Sheikh Ayman al-Zawahiri", media quoted the statement of Emir of the Victory Front. In an interview with AP a senior leader of the Shiite/apostate Iraqi intelligence said that the puppet regime, they say, "has always known that Al Qaeda in Iraq is directing Jabhat Al-Nusra". The anonymous puppet said the Syrian and Iraqi Mujahideen announced their union because of "political, logistical and geographical circumstance". Al-Qaeda, reportedly, provides 50% of its budget to fund the Mujahideen in Syria. According to the ringleader of the intelligence, the Shiite apostate regime of Iraq will take "strict security measures" to prevent the further merger of the fronts. Al-Jazeera notes in this regard that the union of Jabhat Al-Nusra with al-Qaeda and the oath of allegiance of Syrian Mujahideen to Ayman al-Zawahiri will cause strong concern in the ranks of the secular rebels, as well as the West and puppet Arab regimes. Bilal Saab, director of the Institute for Near East and Gulf Military Analysis, North America, said that the oath of allegiance of Syrians to Emir of Al Qaeda and the creation of the United Front of Jihad in Iraq and Syria will make the Mujahideen "even more formidable force". "I think you're going to have a pooling of resources, a more massive influx of fighters coming from Iraq into Syria. It will help them better position themselves in the period after Assad. It will certainly better help them defeat the Syrian regime more quickly", said Saab. "It does matter for them that they're getting more materiel and more people and more expertise, especially Iraqi veterans who have really been vetted on the battlefield and who have fought coalition forces since 2003", he added. Shiite prime minister Nouri al-Maliki said in an interview published in the western press on Tuesday that the Islamic State of Iraq and Sham "can be more dangerous to both our countries than anything we've seen up to now". AP indicates that the Islamic State of Iraq and Sham can become a "dominant player" in the Syrian Jihad and, after the overthrow of Assad in Syria, to take power into their own hands. Meanwhile, the Jewish analyst Aaron Zelin, who works in the Washington Research Institute, referring to his sources, says that the establishment of the Islamic State of Iraq and Sham was conceived and carried out by the General Command of the Al-Qaeda in Afghanistan-Pakistan. Western intelligence community claims that Sheikh al-Zawahiri personally ordered the merger of Al Qaeda in Iraq and Jabhat Al-Nusra in Syria. Department of Monitoring Kavkaz Center

Breaking apart?

 * Is Jabhat al-Nosra breaking apart? – Aron Lund for Syria Comment, May 22nd, 2013
 * After Abu Mohammed al-Joulani’s strange semi-rebuttal to Abu Bakr on April 10, both groups fell silent, and everybody seemed to be waiting for an explanation. None came. Now, suddenly, several media reports have been published, suggesting that the dispute hasn’t been resolved but is in fact growing worse. In some of these reports, purported Jabhat al-Nosra fighters even talk about the group splitting apart or losing members, although they differ on who is leaving and for what reason.

Latests news, al-Nusra merges with FSA: Does this mean al-Nusra merges into FSA? ...or FSA merges into al-Nusra? ...or FSA merges into AQI / Islamic State of Iraq and Syria? Could be, that the mergers are those al Nusra members who do not want to be part of ISIS. -- Petri Krohn (talk) 21:09, 30 May 2013 (UTC)
 * Jabhat al-Nusra Merges with FSA in Aleppo

US trainers?
Here is a fresh Jabhat Al-Nusra propaganda video from traning camps in Daraa. Extremely well organized and disciplined. In resistance organisations I have previously seen this level of refinement only in Hezbollah videos. Makes me wonder who are the trainers and organizations of all this. Not Syrian, that we know. One signature clue would be the playground built by the trainers; is this Russian Spetsnaz, al Qaeda or US Navy Seals? I am no expert on military training, but I think the playground has a US feel to it.
 * Front victory - the martyrs of Daraa camps

Another clue is the foreign trainer seen unmasked but blurred at 7m 35s in the video. After the Boston bombing all conspiracy theorists were pointing to the khaki color tactical pants that the "Craft International" operatives were wearing at the bomb scene. Well, this guy is wearing the same pants. The question is, is this guy an American Craft International operative or is he a Qatari who just went to Craft International traning before he was sent to Syria? And yes, violence does solve problems. -- Petri Krohn (talk) 06:23, 28 May 2013 (UTC)

The video ("جبهة النصرة - معسكرات شهداء درعا" – Victory Front - the martyrs of Daraa camps) has been pulled from YouTube because "This video has been removed as a violation of YouTube's policy on violence." Copies are still available here, here, here, here, and here. -- Petri Krohn (talk) 09:15, 29 May 2013 (UTC)

Burning bodies?

 * Hezbollah fighters find Nusra’s tactics in Qusair ‘irritatingly familiar’ – The Daily Star, May 31, 2013
 * Besides the booby-trapped hideouts they leave behind, Nusra fighters have a disconcerting night-time ritual, they said.
 * “At night they burn the corpses that have accumulated during the day,” Abbas said.
 * “I still can’t find an explanation for this: What are they trying to do? Why are they hiding the identities of their fighters?” Jawad wondered.

More sources...
Does this mean all the other Jihadi goups are 100% Syrian? -- Petri Krohn (talk) 01:42, 8 June 2013 (UTC) The latest: -- Petri Krohn (talk) 23:22, 22 July 2013 (UTC) ...or make that 5000.
 * Majority of foreign fighters recently killed in Syria linked to front group for Al Qaeda – FoxNews, June 05, 2013
 * Over 500 ‘Al Qaeda militants’ escape Iraq’s Abu Ghraib in violent break-out – RT, July 22, 2013