The name of the group means "Soldiers of
Aqsa," referring to Islam's third most important mosque in
Jerusalem. They originally called themselves Sarayat al-Quds, which was a brigade operating under the
al-Nusra Front, and drew inspiration from numerous Salafi-Jihadist scholars. Their goal was to eliminate the
Assad regime and establish a state based on
Sharia Islamic law. They did not see
Syria as an independent state, rather as part of a larger
caliphate, protecting a
Sunni nation in Syria,
Iraq, and
Yemen. They differed from other militant groups, such as
ISIL, in their methodology. They refused to accuse someone of
apostasy (pronounced
Takfeer in Arabic). Such accusations allow rebels to deprive one another of their life and property, in other words, looting and killing. Militarily, they try to attack only areas they can maintain. They also had a strong background in bomb making and mortars. They only opted to use
suicide bombings as a last resort, and did not launch attacks against the West. The group was clandestinely established in 2013 by
Ahmed al-Sharaa as a
front organization. In early 2014, the group was reportedly composed of mostly non-Syrian
Arab fighters. By the end of the year, it had reportedly become a Syrian-majority group, partly because of defections from other Syrian rebel groups. On 7 January 2014, it was confirmed that 34 foreign ISIL and Jund al-Aqsa fighters had been executed in the previous few days by rebels in the
Jabal Zawiya area. ISIL retreated from
Mayadin in
Deir ez-Zor Governorate, without any fighting with rebel forces. East of
Rastan, in
Homs Governorate, ISIL attacked a rebel headquarters, killing 15 rebel fighters. During the day, it was revealed that during the previous evening, ISIL executed up to 50 prisoners in the Qadi al-Askar district of Aleppo. The dead included media activists, relief workers, and other civilians. According to the opposition
SOHR, 42 people were executed, including, 21 rebel fighters and five media activists. In February 2014, Jund al-Aqsa captured the town of
Ma'an and
massacred 21 Alawite civilians, two-thirds of them women and children. They launched another attack in March 2014, via suicide bombings that massacred another 20 civilians. They were also involved in an operation to seize a
Hama military airport in July of the same year. In March 2015, during the
capture of Idlib city, Jund al-Aqsa aided its allies in the
Jaish al-Fatah coalition by sending at least two suicide bombers of
Kuwaiti and
Saudi origins, which allowed the rebels to advance by capturing Qal’ah and Ayn Shib checkpoints. In July 2015, the group raided a Sharia court in
Kafr Nabl alongside
Jabhat al-Nusra. During the raid, al-Nusra and Jund al-Aqsa arrested several judges and seized documents from the court. The two groups also raided a police station in the town and closed several stores next to the court. SOHR claimed that Jund al-Aqsa joined the
2016 Idlib Governorate clashes and established checkpoints in support of al-Nusra. According to the 13th Division's media wing, their position was overran and 4 of their fighters were killed. In late August 2016, Jund al-Aqsa announced an
offensive in northern Hama Governorate. During this offensive, it used a drone to drop two small bombs on government forces. These bombs were mostly ineffective, but accurate to within 4 meters. In October 2016, clashes between Jund al-Aqsa and
Ahrar al-Sham escalated throughout the
Idlib Governorate, with both sides expelling each other from several towns and villages. During the clashes 800 other rebels reportedly defected to Jund al-Aqsa, increasing the group's strength up to 1,600 fighters. The next day, the al-Nusra Front raided houses throughout Idlib and captured 16 FIA fighters from the
Mountain Hawks Brigade. The rebels were captured on charges of participating in the
Turkish military intervention in Syria. As a result of the clashes, the group pledged allegiance to
Jabhat Fatah al-Sham. This group was a rebranded version of al-Nusra Front, only changing their name in July 2016. The leaders of Jabhat Fateh al-Sham (JFS) and Jund al-Aqsa signed their names in a text agreement to pledge their allegiance. However, shortly after, an agreement between JFS and Ahrar al-Sham was posted on the Syrian opposition website, stating that Jund al Aqsa would be dissolved and completely incorporated with JFS, whereby preventing it from reconstructing independently under any other name or form. The group has stated its continued loyalty to
Ayman al Zawahiri for his eminence as the sheikh of the modern mujahedeen, according to them. Within the past three years, the group has assisted al-Qaeda in toppling the
Syrian Revolutionaries Front and the
Hazzm Movement, two key Western-backed rebel organizations in Syria, as well as weaken a third called
Division 13. Some sources believe that the original rift from al-Nusra Front was part of a Qatar-led effort to rebrand al-Nusra Front, and provide it with new support, a move that could increase external aid for the terrorist group. Another analysis of Jund al Aqsa's rift and reunification states that it's a reflection of al-Qaeda's strategy of downplaying its official ties to these groups, and a strategy of diversifying its investments, especially with regards to affiliations with Qatar and Kuwait and the lack of political will in their countries to combat terrorism and terror financing. On 7 February 2017, Jund al-Aqsa attacked the headquarters of
Jaysh al-Nasr near the town of
Murak in northern Hama. Jund al-Aqsa captured more than 250 fighters from Jaysh al-Nasr. By 9 February, Jund al-Aqsa had captured 17 towns and villages from the Free Syrian Army and Tahrir al-Sham, in the northern Hama Province. On 13 February 2017, clashes erupted between the
Tahrir al-Sham and Liwa al-Aqsa (Jund al-Aqsa's new brand) in northern Hama and southern Idlib. It was rumored that Liwa al-Aqsa pledged allegiance to the
Islamic State, sparking the clashes with
Tahrir al-Sham, known as a staunch ISIL opponent. On 14 February 2017, Jund al-Aqsa executed more than 170
prisoners of war, including both HTS fighters, FSA fighters, and civilians. Kafr Nuboudah and Kafr Zita villages were the origin of the Jaysh Nasr members whom Liwa al-Aqsa executed according to
Moussa al-Omar. The casualties given for Jaysh Nasr were : fighters: fifty six, media reporters: three, and military chiefs : eleven, according to Moussa al-Omar. After Jund al-Aqsa committed the slaughter at Khan Shaykhun, only one person lived to tell the tale. On the next day, HTS captured the village of Heish from Jund al-Aqsa, and then besieged the retreating Jund al-Aqsa forces in
Khan Shaykhun and
Murak. On 19 February 2017, a convoy of Jund al-Aqsa members and their relatives tried to cross from the Idlib Province into the
Raqqa Governorate across a Syrian government supply route to Aleppo, stretching from
Ithriyah to
Salamiyah, in order to escape the rebel infighting in the restive
Idlib Governorate. However, they were ambushed by the
National Defence Forces, resulting in several deaths, with the rest of the militants surrendering themselves. On 22 February 2017, the majority of Liwa al-Aqsa's remaining fighters left their final positions in Khan Shaykhun to join ISIL in the Ar-Raqqah Province after a negotiated withdrawal deal with Tahrir al-Sham and the
Turkistan Islamic Party in Syria. On 23 February, the relatives of FSA prisoners executed by Liwa al-Aqsa accused the group of treating them worse than the Syrian regime ever did. On 9 July 2017, Tahrir al-Sham, utilizing over 1,000 fighters, performed raids in
Idlib Governorate against alleged ISIL and Jund al-Aqsa sleeper cells, arresting over 100 fighters. In March 2018, remnants of Jund al-Aqsa in
Sarmin, led by Abu Diab al-Sarmini, regrouped under the name of
Ansar al-Tawhid. Other Jund al-Aqsa cells would go on to form the
al-Qaeda-affiliated
Guardians of Religion Organization. Ansar al-Tawhid reportedly consisted of around 300 fighters.
Relationship with ISIL In 2014, it was reported that the group was receiving continuous funding from wealthy private
Gulf donors for their refusal to attack other rebel groups, part of which was the reason for their rift with al-Nusra Front and Ahrar al-Sham. They reformed after previously fighting the Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant, who hurt the group and also caused them to run into some debt. These Gulf donors, who financed them for this reason, refused to finance groups involved in intra-rebel fighting. On 17 February 2016, over 400 fighters and senior leaders of Jund al-Aqsa defected to al-Nusra Front. In the February
2016 Khanasir offensive, Jund al-Aqsa and ISIL temporarily cut off the Syrian government's supply route to Aleppo, sharing war booty captured from Syrian forces before retreating. In April 2016, fighters from the group sympathetic towards ISIL allegedly gratified the walls outside a girls' school with writings saying "Girls wear
Niqabs or we'll cut your necks - soldiers of the Caliphate". == Leadership ==