Listed as a terrorist organization by the United States, Nusra Front was excluded from Syria’s February cessation of hostilities truce and Russian Federation and the United States are also discussing closer coordination to target the group.
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The U.S. has been targeting Jabhat al Nusra in Syria, as well as the Khorasan Group, under the justification that they are part of al Qaeda.
In 2013, IS (Daesh) leader Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi announced al-Nusra were part of his “network”, only for al-Julani to say the next day that the group’s allegiances were to al-Qaeda leader, Ayman al-Zawahiri.
“Their Al Qaeda affiliation seems to have been one of the main stumbling blocks, including for some leaders of big groups like Ahrar al Sham”, he continued, referring to a major Islamist hard-line group that was one of Al Nusra Front’s main battlefield allies.
“We have stopped operating under the name of al-Nusra Front and formed a new body…This new formation has no ties with any foreign party”, he said in a recorded message broadcast on Al-Jazeera’s Arabic channel.
“Al-Qaeda is playing a critically important role in shaping this development and their thinking and strategizing will remain crucial for this new Jabhat Fateh al-Sham movement”, he said.
Jabhat al-Nusra fighters march toward the northern village of Ais in Aleppo province, Syria, in this file photo posted online by the group on April 1, 2016.
On Thursday, Russia announced the start of the “humanitarian operation” in Aleppo in collaboration with the Syrian regime, while Assad said rebels who surrendered within three months would be amnestied.
Al-Nusra believes it can “confront certain rebel factions over ideological differences but without rejecting the existence of all other groups in principle”, he added.
Members of the Nusra Front gather before moving toward their positions during an offensive to take control of Ariha from forces loyal to Syrian President Bashar Assad on May 28, 2015.
It appeared to be an attempt to appeal to Syrians who have long had deep misgivings about Nusra’s links with al Qaeda and the presence of foreign jihadists in its ranks.
Al-Qaida’s affiliate in Syria has managed to build a large base of support among insurgents in the war-torn country, and has had some success in persuading regional governments it should be seen as a useful partner in the conflict raging in Syria, by marketing itself as the moderate alternative to Islamic State extremists.
The reason for the split, and the reason al-Qaeda endorsed it, was to “remove the pretext used by powers, including the US and Russian Federation, to bomb Syrians”.
Several safe corridors to exit the city have now been opened for the estimated 250,000 civilians still trapped in the rebel zone and all militants ready to lay down their arms.
It has been al-Qaeda’s branch in Syria and one of the most powerful armed groups fighting the government. He said Kurdish forces from the nearby Sheikh Maqsoud district had also taken advantage of the fighting to advance into a housing complex in Bani Zeid.
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The State Department said the group is still being judged by its past actions.
