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Army of Conquest: The Coalition That Took Idlib
In three days in March 2015, the Army of Conquest accomplished what no rebel force had done before: capturing an entire Syrian provincial capital. It was the peak of rebel military power — and al-Qaeda was at its center.
Confirmed2 chapters2015-03-24— 2016
The Army of Conquest's capture of Idlib was a turning point that triggered Russia's military intervention in Syria six months later. It demonstrated the strategic ceiling of a rebel coalition with al-Qaeda at its core.
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Chapter 01custom01 / 02
2015-03-24—2015-06Idlib Governorate, Syria
Formation and the Fall of Idlib City
March 24–28, 2015
The Army of Conquest was announced on March 24, 2015. Its founding members were Jabhat al-Nusra (al-Qaeda's Syrian affiliate, the dominant military force), Ahrar al-Sham (the largest non-jihadist Islamist faction), Jund al-Aqsa, Jaish al-Sunna, Liwa al-Haqq, Ajnad al-Sham, and Faylaq al-Sham. Qatar, Turkey, and Saudi Arabia were the primary financial and logistical backers. Within four days of its formation, on March 28, 2015, Army of Conquest forces captured Idlib city — the only Syrian provincial capital ever fully taken by rebel forces during the entire war. The capture was accomplished through a rapid assault that overwhelmed the garrison after intense fighting. By June 2015, the coalition had driven government forces from nearly all of Idlib Governorate, including Jisr al-Shughour and Ariha.
Confirmed(95%)Sensitivity: high
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Chapter 02custom02 / 02
2015-09—2016Northwest Syria (Idlib, Hama, Latakia)
Russia Intervenes; Coalition Fragments
September 2015 – 2016
The Army of Conquest's victories in Idlib and its threat to Latakia — the Assad regime's Alawite coastal heartland — are widely credited as a primary trigger for Russia's military intervention in Syria on September 30, 2015. Russian air power fundamentally changed the battlefield calculus. The coalition launched a major offensive toward Latakia in October 2015, but Russian airstrikes decimated rebel advances and the Latakia offensive failed. Jabhat al-Nusra rebranded as Jabhat Fatah al-Sham in July 2016 — a declared break with al-Qaeda that fooled few observers — and then as Hayat Tahrir al-Sham in January 2017 by merging with remaining factions. The Army of Conquest as an operational entity fragmented through 2016 as HTS progressively subordinated or absorbed its member groups. The coalition had achieved its peak military success but never translated territorial gains into a viable political or state-building project.
Confirmed(90%)Sensitivity: high
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