...Liwa al-Islam (Brigade of Islam) was established by Zahran Alloush, the son of Saudi-based religious scholar Abdullah Mohammed Alloush, after Syrian authorities released him from prison in mid-2011 where he had been serving time for his Salafist activism. The group claimed responsibility for carrying out the July 2012 Damascus bombing that killed Defense Minister Dawoud Rajiha, Deputy Defense Minister Asef Shawkat, and Assistant Vice President Hassan Turkmani. It was a driving force behind actions in the Damascus region. It cooperated and conducted joint operations with al-Nusra. In Sptember 2013 Saudi Arabia engineered Liwa al-Islam's merger with fifty other more or less Salafist groups as a counterweight to al-Nusra, which the Learned Elders of Islam considered was growing too powereful..., is undergoing a military reorganization in Syria’s north after the group’s defeat in East Ghouta.
Jaish al-Islam leadership, currently based in Jarabulus of north Aleppo, has launched a recruiting campaign among refugees and evacuees from various Syrian areas to join their ranks for a $200 monthly salary.
Recruiters roamed tens of villages and towns in the sprawling countryside of Jarabulus and Afrin city, setting up offices to enroll the recruits . Militants of minor rebel groups in the area were also targeted by the campaign.
The strive to enlist more fighters and annex smaller factions was coupled with deals to purchase weapons and ammunition from local armed militias.
The group’s leader, Issam Buwaydani, toured the area days earlier and met with Syrian refugees and evacuees, vowing to carry out the fight against his enemies; namely the Islamic State
...formerly ISIS or ISIL, depending on your preference. Before that al-Qaeda in Iraq, as shaped by Abu Musab Zarqawi. They're very devout, committing every atrocity they can find in the Koran and inventing a few more. They fling
Allaharound with every other sentence, but to hear the pols talk they're not
reallyMoslems....
and Kurdish militia, but without mentioning the Syrian Army.
Jaish al-Islam left their longtime stronghold of Douma last month after accepting a surrender deal with the Syrian government. This came after the government troops waged a powerful assault in which they have retaken most of the East Ghouta region