Ahfad al-Rasul Brigades
Qatari-backed Syrian rebel group (2012–2014)
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The Ahfad al-Rasul Brigades (Arabic: ألوية أحفاد الرسول Al-wiat Aḥfād ar-Rasūl, "Grandsons of the Prophet Brigades") was a Syrian rebel group fighting against the Syrian government in the Syrian Civil War. It was funded by the Qatari government.[16][17]
- Col. Ziad Haj Obaid (until September 2013)[1]
- Saddam al-Jamal (until November 2013)[2]
- Abu Mazin †[3]
| Ahfad al-Rasul Brigades | |
|---|---|
| ألوية أحفاد الرسول | |
Official logo of the Ahfad al-Rasul Brigades | |
| Leaders |
|
| Dates of operation | July 2012–early 2014[4] |
| Active regions | Syria |
| Ideology | Sunni Islamism[7] Salafist jihadism (factions)[8] |
| Size | 7,000–9,000[9] |
| Part of |  Free Syrian Army[1][6]
 Euphrates Islamic Liberation Front (2014)[11] |
| Allies |  Qatar France (Allegedly) Kurdish Islamic Front (formerly)[12] Ahrar ash-Sham[13] Al-Nusra Front[12] (until August 2013)[2] Ansar al-Islam[14] People's Protection Units (occasionally)[15] |
| Opponents |  Ba'athist Syria Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant (since August 2013) Al-Nusra Front (since August 2013)[2] Ahrar al-Sham (2013) People's Protection Units (2012–14)[12] |
| Battles and wars | Syrian civil war |
Structure and member groups
Its notable subgroups included the Justice Battalion, the Golan Martyrs Battalion, the Golan Hawks Battalion, the Falcons of Mount Zawiya Brigade,[1] and the Qalamoun Liberation Front.[18] By August 2013, the group had coopted some 50 groups from across Syria; however, it was strongest in Idlib Governorate.[5] Its leader, Colonel Ziad Haj Obaid, was on the Arms Committee of the Supreme Military Council.[1] The Allahu Akbar Brigade, based in al-Bukamal in the Deir ez-Zor Governorate, was also part of Ahfad al-Rasul. In July 2013, Al Jazeera reported that the Allahu Akbar Brigade consisted of around 800 fighters.[2]
History
On 11 October 2012, the Ahfad al-Rasul Brigades, in coordination with Ansar al-Islam, conducted a bombing of Syrian military compounds west of the Umayyad Square in Damascus.[14]
In December 2012, the Ahfad al-Rasul Brigades executed a Syrian Army officer on allegations of heresy. By this time, the group was described as a Salafist jihadist group independent from the Free Syrian Army.[8]
In July 2013, the Ahfad al-Rasul Brigades, along with Ahrar al-Sham and the Kurdish Islamic Front, announced that they would fight alongside al-Qaeda's al-Nusra Front against the People's Protection Units (YPG) in northern Syria.[12]
In August 2013, clashes erupted between the Ahfad al-Rasul Brigades and the Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant in the city of Raqqa. On 13 August, ISIL suicide bombers detonated 4 car bombs at the Ahfad al-Rasul Brigades' headquarters at the Raqqa train station, killing 6 Ahfad al-Rasul fighters, including two commanders, Abu Mazin[3] and Fahd al-Kajwan, and 6 civilians.[19] By the next day, ISIL fighters fully captured the headquarter.[20] Clashes also erupted in Tabqa.[19] By 17 August, ISIL had defeated Ahfad al-Rasul in Raqqa and expelled it from the city.[3][21] During the conflict between ISIL and the Ahfad al-Rasul Brigades in Raqqa, the group organized protests against both ISIL and Ahrar al-Sham, and viewed Ahrar al-Sham as allowing ISIL to defeat the group due to their lack of intervention in the conflict, while Ahrar al-Sham also shared the view of ISIL, of the Ahfad al-Rasul Brigades as being a common enemy. However, the Ahfad al-Rasul Brigades announced an end to its conflict with ISIL on 17 August, and resumed cooperation with it.[22]
The fighting soon spread to the Deir ez-Zor Governorate, and tensions also rose between Ahfad al-Rasul and the al-Nusra Front. In November 2013, Saddam al-Jamal, commander of Ahfad al-Rasul's Allahu Akbar Brigade, defected to ISIL.[2] Following al-Jamal's defection, 4 subunits of Ahfad al-Rasul also defected to ISIL.[23]
By early 2014, the Ahfad al-Rasul Brigades was described as defunct, with many subunits rebranding themselves as members of the Syrian Revolutionaries Front.[4] The Latakia Governorate-based Brigade of the Chargers, formerly part of Ahfad al-Rasul, received BGM-71 TOW anti-tank missiles in early 2014, and became the 1st Coastal Division in late 2014.[24] Reports appeared in early 2017 that possible remnants of the Ahfad al-Rasul Brigades have reappeared as the Army of Grandsons in the northern Aleppo Governorate to fight ISIL as part of Operation Euphrates Shield.[25]
