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Jabhat al-Nusra are the group becoming associated with some of the most violent images coming
out of Syria; public executions, beheadings, suicide bombings, and so on. But they're an
incredibly secretive group who cover their faces. Their leader so far has refused to
appear on video at all, he only releases audio statements. So who are this group? What do
they want and how much support do they have?
The front of defence for the people of greater Syria, or Jabhat al-Nusra made their first
public statement in January last year. They claimed they were the Syrian Mujahideen from
various Jihadi fronts returning to avenge the deaths of Syrians. They also claimed responsibility
for a spate of suicide bombings and car bomb attacks. It was in May 2012 though that they
really came into mainstream coverage after a double bombing in Damascus that killed 55
people. But their history goes way back beyond that to the early 2000s. A large number of
the fighters had come through the training camps of Abu Musab al-Zarqawi. He was a Jordanian
militant in Afghanistan and then Iraq. Zarqawi sent his followers out around the Middle East
to recruit for the fight in Iraq. It's alleged that a lot of the funding for it came from
sympathisers in Saudi Arabia and Syria itself. It was a structure that flourished in Syria
until the regime really cracked down on it in 2007. By that time Zarqawi was dead but
despite arrests and assassinations by the Syrian Intelligence Services some of his followers
escaped to Iraq and Zarqawi's networks were never destroyed. One of those to flee was
thought to be Abu Mohammad al-Julani, the leader of Jabhat al-Nusra. Although he has
a name the actual identity of the leader is a closely guarded secret. In fact there's
still debate as to whether he's Syrian or Iraqi. He's never appeared in a video and
attends most of his meetings with his face covered. However it is known that al-Julani
had experience in Iraq which allowed him to recruit top Iraqi experts and Syrian Jihadists
from the group at the Islamic State of Iraq. Initially it was hard to determine whether
or not Jabhat al-Nusra were related to al-Qaeda or just a branch of the Islamic state of Iraq,
a relationship which has recently come to the fore. More on that in a bit. According
to The Killing Foundation's report at the start of this year al-Julani had recruited
5,000 fighters meaning that they aren't the largest group but they do have thousands more
loosely affiliated members. Support for Jabhat al-Nusra was swelled by disillusionment with
the lack of progress by the Free Syrian Army and the West's refusal to intervene. They
were seen as a more effective group that refuse help from the West and that's partly because
they think Western help could upset their ultimate aim of overthrowing President Assad
to replace him with an Islamic state and implement Sha'ria law. They also carry out missionary
and humanitarian work through Qism al-Ighatha. As an aside and before we get back to the
grim stuff this is one of the weirdest shows of support for al-Nusra that we've seen. It's
a video of video game footage describing itself as dedicated to the group. On a much more
serious note the actions of Assad's forces also build support for al-Nusra. When atrocities
like the massacres in Bayda and Baniyas happen they fuel sectarian hatred and push people
towards more extreme groups. Their experience in Iraq has also allowed them to get ahead.
They have better weapons, more sophisticated tactics and the patience to engage in a war
of attrition. Videos of them attacking airbases, reportedly taking on a chemical weapons factor
and other military targets have also emerged. Despite committing to attack military targets
rather than civilian ones and to avoid sectarian violence some horrific videos have emerged
showing beheadings, executions, sectarian violence in mosques and civilians being targeted
- all carried out by groups claiming to be linked to al-Nusra. And after all the suicide
bombings the US declared them to be a terrorist group. Blogger Brown Moses chartered the development
of a new group, the Islamic State of Iraq al-Sham which finally confirmed the ties between
the Islamic State of Iraq and Jabhat al-Nusra. The leader of al-Qaeda Ayman al-Zawahri installed
the Islamic State of Iraq's Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi as the new leader. Suddenly videos started
emerging left, right and center claiming association with this merged group. But the merger doesn't
necessarily mean the end for Jabhat al-Nusra, some reports have been claiming that fighters
are leaving because of the links with al-Qaeda but others suggest that in some parts of the
countries, especially the West they're still going from strength to strength. So Jabhat
al-Nusra do have ties to al-Qaeda through the group the Islamic State of Iraq al-Sham.
That should make the revolution even more complicated inside Syria because if the group
Jabhat al-Nusra win the conflict then Syria could well be turned into an Islamic state.
It was previously an entirely secular one. If another group win the conflict in Syria
they are still going to have the problem of Islamic extremism to contend with inside this
once secular country. Let us know your thoughts about all of this in a comment we would love
to hear what you think and hit subscribe if you haven't already. We'll see you guys again
next time.