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Analysis: Rebel In-Fighting — Far More than “Al Qa’eda” Jabhat al-Nusra v. “US-Backed” Brigade

Headlines from Syria on Monday are led by the media’s portrayal of “Al Qa’eda” defeating the “US and West” in the country’s rebellion.

The foundation for the drama is the dissolution of the rebel brigade Harakat Hazm after three months of fighting with the Islamist faction Jabhat al-Nusra in northwest Syria. The fighters of Harakat Hazm, which has received US-made heavy weapons and was promoted in US media in early 2014 as the face of the “moderate” rebellion, have reformed within the rebel bloc Levant Front.

Reuters declares that “one of the last remnants of non-jihadist opposition” lost the fight against “more powerful Al Qa’eda insurgents”. The Washington Post pronounces, “Hazm’s defeat will muddle the wider [US-led] effort to combat extremism by leaving large swaths of northern Syria that had once been controlled by moderates in the hands of Nusra.”

Pro-Assad media have eagerly picked up the theme, “The Last of the ‘Moderates’ – Harakat Hazzm Disbands to Join Islamists” —- walking hand-hand with the US outlet The Daily Beast, “Main U.S.-Backed Syrian Rebel Group Disbanding, Joining Islamists”

The reality of Jabhat al-Nusra’s fighting with Harakat Hazm, which began last November and culminated in this weekend’s clash on a base in Aleppo Province, is far more complex. It began not as an ideological struggle but as a local conflict with claims of corruption, kidnapping, and murder.

Sources on the ground summarize:

We have a fight of some Jabhat al-Nusra extremists — most of them not locals — against some criminals that escalated in Aleppo Province because the root of the evil managed to get their organizations involved.

We are talking kinda personal conflicts in the context of factions — weird and dangerous.

We will have a full analysis later; however, other exaggerations and distortions in the media accounts are notable.

While Jabhat al-Nusra controls areas in northwest Syria — and while it has exacerbated conflict with enforcement of its rule which has been opposed by civilians and activists — it is far from the largest rebel group.

That bloc is the Levant Front, which the fighters of Harakat Hazm joined. The umbrella organization includes the Islamic Front bloc and almost all of Syria’s largest factions, including Ahrar al-Sham and Jaish al-Islam.

If Jabhat al-Nusra confronted the Levant Front, then the notion of an all-out struggle within the rebellion might have some merit. However, Jabhat al-Nusra continues to accept the authority of the Levant Front, even if it is not formally part of the organization.

The Islamist group also continues to fight alongside other rebel factions in northwest Syria. Earlier this month, the combined effort inflicted a significant defeat on the Assad regime, repelling an offensive in northwest Syria with the loss and capture of hundreds of regime troops and Hezbollah and Iranian fighters.


Claimed Video: Ahrar al-Sham Bomb Kills Brigadier General Ali Darwish in Damascus

Video claiming to be of the assassination of regime Brigadier General Ali Darwish in Damascus:

The rebel faction Ahrar al-Sham has claiming the killing of Darwish, a member of the Joint Chiefs of Staff.

Reports: Victorious Kurds Burn Houses in Tel Hamis in Eastern Syria After Expelling Islamic State

Claims are circulating on social that victorious Kurdish forces burned houses in Tel Hamis in eastern Syria after expelling the Islamic State.

Tel Hamis, located on a main route to Islamic State-held territory in northwest Iraq, was taken last week as the Kurdish militia YPG pushed back the jihadists in Hasakeh Province.

Ali al-Harith, a journalist in Hasakeh, said YPG fighters torched dozens of houses in about two dozen villages around Tel Hamis: “If the villages were burned in the fighting, then why did the burning happen [Sunday] morning when the battle was finished days ago?”

Other activists had said the homes were damaged by missile fire.

The official YPG Twitter account published photographs —later deleted — of its fighters posing in front of villages near Tel Hamis as smoke rose from houses in the background on Sunday. One caption declared, “Today we take revenge for the blood of our brothers,” while another explained, “A direct picture taken minutes ago of the destruction and burning of the village Husseini where many of our comrades were martyred.”

The photographs were later deleted from the account.

The house burnings come in the wake of the YPG’s successful takeover of Tel Hamees on Friday after a week-long campaign, supported by airstrikes from the US-led international coalition against the former IS-held town, reported the pro-Kurdish news agency ARA News.

Opposition Coalition Reiterates Refusal to Meet UN Envoy De Mistura

The Syrian National Coalition has repeated the refusal of rebel and opposition groups to meet UN envoy Staffan de Mistura, including discussion of his plan for a six-week freeze to fighting in Aleppo.

Over the weekend, de Mistura and Syrian Foreign Minister Walid al-Moallem announced a “fact-finding mission” from Damascus would be despatched to Aleppo.

Syria Feature: UN Envoy and Assad Regime Agree to “Fact-Finding Mission” in Aleppo

The opposition has been angered that de Mistura, changing the UN’s position, has said that President Assad is essential to any political solution in Syria. They have rejected his Aleppo plan because it does not cover any other areas of the country.

The Coalition cited Sunday’s statement by a newly-formed Aleppo revolutionary commission: “We refuse to meet with Mr. Staffan de Mistura if it is not on the basis of a comprehensive solution to the Syrian crisis through the exit Bashar al-Assad and his inner circle, and the prosecution of war criminals.”