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Jaish al-Mujahideen: The Anti-ISIS Army that Was Destroyed by HTS
Built to fight ISIS and Assad simultaneously, the Mujahideen Army lasted three years before HTS wiped out all its positions in a single night in January 2017.
Confirmed2 chapters2014-01— 2017-01
The Mujahideen Army was one of the clearest examples of the US attempting to cultivate a moderate armed opposition in Syria — and of those efforts being destroyed not by the Assad regime, but by the jihadist movement that ultimately dominated northwest Syria.
01
Chapter 01custom01 / 02
2014-01—2016Western Aleppo Governorate, Syria
Formation as an Anti-ISIS Force
January 2014 — Aleppo Governorate
The Mujahideen Army was announced in January 2014, formed primarily from several Aleppo-area factions: Division 19, the Fastaqim Union (Fastaqim Kama Umirt), and the Nour al-Din al-Zenki Islamic Brigades. Its formation was explicitly anti-ISIS at a moment when ISIS was attacking and absorbing other rebel factions across northern Syria. The group received US training (50 fighters trained in Qatar) and BGM-71 TOW anti-tank missiles, and was supported financially by Saudi Arabia (which preferred them to Muslim Brotherhood-linked groups). At its peak, it commanded several thousand fighters and dominated the western Aleppo countryside and the key Turkey-Aleppo supply routes. The Carnegie Endowment's Syria researcher Charles Lister assessed it as 'significantly weakened' by August 2014 after ISIS attacks and defections to rival factions.
Confirmed(88%)Sensitivity: high
02
Chapter 02custom02 / 02
2017-01-23—2017-01-24Atarib and Western Aleppo Countryside
Overrun by HTS in a Single Night
January 23–24, 2017 — Atarib and Western Aleppo
On the night of January 23–24, 2017, Jabhat Fatah al-Sham (Hayat Tahrir al-Sham, the former al-Nusra) launched a massive surprise assault on Jaish al-Mujahideen positions in Atarib and the western Aleppo countryside. HTS forces captured all the Mujahideen Army's bases, weapons stores, and territory in a single night of fighting. Survivors were captured or fled; many were executed. In December 2016, the Mujahideen Army had merged with Thuwar al-Sham and Banner of Islam Movement to form Jabhat Ahl al-Sham — but this consolidation proved insufficient against HTS's overwhelming assault. The attack illustrated HTS's strategy of eliminating all independent armed factions in northwest Syria, regardless of their anti-Assad credentials.
Confirmed(90%)Sensitivity: high
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