View source for Ahfad al-Rasul Brigades

{{Short description|Qatari-backed Syrian rebel group (2012–2014)}}
{{infobox war faction
| name             = Ahfad al-Rasul Brigades
| native_name      = ألوية أحفاد الرسول
| native_name_lang = ar
| war              = [[Syrian civil war]]
| image            = Ahfad al-Rasul logo.png
| caption          = Official logo of the Ahfad al-Rasul Brigades
| active           = July 2012–early 2014 (defunct)<ref name="CEIP" />
| ideology         = [[Sunni]] [[Islamism]]<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.fairobserver.com/article/alwiya-ahfaad-ar-rasool-growing-force-syrian-armed-opposition|title=Alwiya Ahfaad ar-Rasool: A Growing Force in the Syrian Armed Opposition &#124; Fair Observer° |publisher=Fairobserver.com|date=25 September 2012|accessdate=19 May 2014}}</ref>
*[[Salafism]] (factions)<ref name=heresy>{{cite web|url=http://brown-moses.blogspot.com/2012/12/video-appears-to-show-syrian-army.html|title=Video Appears To Show A Syrian Army Soldier Executed By Ahfad al-Rasul Brigade For Heresy|author=Brown Moses|author-link=Brown Moses|date=31 December 2012}}</ref>
**[[Salafist jihadism]] (factions)
[[Syrian nationalism]] (factions)
[[Secularism]] (factions)
| leaders          = *Col. Ziad Haj Obaid ({{small|until September 2013}})<ref name="ISW">{{cite web|url=http://www.understandingwar.org/sites/default/files/The-Free-Syrian-Army-24MAR.pdf |title=The Free Syrian Army|last=O'Bagy|first=Elizabeth|publisher=[[Institute for the Study of War]]|date=24 March 2013|accessdate=19 May 2014}}</ref>
*[[Saddam al-Jamal]] ({{small|until November 2013}})<ref name=defect>{{Cite web|url=https://www.aljazeera.com/indepth/features/2013/12/syrian-fighter-defects-qaeda-linked-group-201312158517493207.html|title=Syrian fighter defects to Qaeda-linked group|work=[[Al Jazeera English]]|author=Basma Atassi|date=17 December 2013}}</ref>
*Abu Mazin{{KIA}}<ref name=vice>{{Cite web|url=https://www.vice.com/da/article/mv5eev/ar-raqqah-syria-isis|title=Watching Syrian Rebels Fight Among Themselves for the City of Raqqa|work=[[Vice Media|Vice]]|author=Alice Martins
|date=23 September 2013}}</ref>
| headquarters     =
| area             = [[Syria]]
*[[Idlib Governorate]]<ref name="ctc270813">{{cite web|url=http://www.ctc.usma.edu/posts/the-non-state-militant-landscape-in-syria|title=The Non-State Militant Landscape in Syria|last=Lund|first=Aron|publisher=[[CTC Sentinel]]|date=27 August 2013|accessdate=19 May 2014|archive-date=7 October 2013|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20131007045801/http://www.ctc.usma.edu/posts/the-non-state-militant-landscape-in-syria|url-status=dead}}</ref>
*[[Aleppo Governorate]]
*[[Latakia Governorate]]
*[[Raqqa Governorate]]<ref name=aje15sept>{{cite web|url=http://www.aljazeera.com/news/middleeast/2013/09/201391417428835847.html|title=The end of the rebel alliance?|publisher=[[Al Jazeera English]]|date=15 September 2013|accessdate=19 May 2014}}</ref>
*[[Hasakah Governorate]]
*[[Rif Dimashq Governorate]]
*[[Damascus Governorate]]
*[[Daraa Governorate]]
*[[Quneitra Governorate]]
*[[Deir ez-Zor Governorate]]
| size             = 7,000–9,000<ref>{{cite news|title=Syria crisis: Guide to armed and political opposition|url=https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-middle-east-24403003|publisher=BBC|date=13 December 2013}}</ref>
| partof           = [[Syrian Islamic Liberation Front]] (2012-2013)<br>
{{Flagicon image|Al-Liwaa.svg}} [[Euphrates Islamic Liberation Front]] (2014)<ref>{{cite web|url=http://the-arab-chronicle.com/new-face-syrian-rebellion/#|title=The new face of the Syrian rebellion|publisher=The Arab Chronicle|date=5 March 2014|accessdate=21 May 2014|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140425020814/http://the-arab-chronicle.com/new-face-syrian-rebellion/|archive-date=2014-04-25|url-status=dead}}</ref><br>{{flagdeco|Syrian Opposition}} [[Supreme Military Council (Syria)|Supreme Military Council]] (2012–14)<ref name=aje15sept/><br>{{flagdeco|Syrian Opposition}} [[Free Syrian Army]] (2012)<ref name="ISW"/>
| predecessor      =
| successor        = *Idlib branch [[Syrian Revolutionaries Front]]
*Northern Aleppo branch: Army of Grandsons
*Deir ez-Zor branch: 77th Division
| allies           = {{flag|Qatar}}<br>{{flag|France}} <small>(Allegedly)</small><br>{{Flagicon image|Al-Liwaa.svg}} [[Kurdish Islamic Front]] (formerly)<ref name=aq/><br>{{flagicon image|Flag of Ahrar ash-Sham.svg}} [[Ahrar ash-Sham]]<ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.washingtonpost.com/world/middle_east/syrian-kurds-struggle-for-autonomy-threatens-rebel-effort-to-oust-%20%20assad/2013/07/26/a34ecac4-f491-11e2-81fa-8e83b3864c36_story_1.html|title=Syrian Kurds' struggle for autonomy threatens rebel effort to oust Assad|work=New York Times|date=26 July 2013|accessdate=19 May 2014}}</ref><br>{{flagicon image|Flag of the Al-Nusra Front.svg}} [[Al-Nusra Front]]<ref name=aq>{{Cite web|url=https://www.longwarjournal.org/archives/2013/07/qatar-funded_syrian_rebel_brig.php|title=Qatar-funded Syrian rebel brigade backs al Qaeda groups in Syria|work=[[Long War Journal]]|author=Bill Roggio|date=26 July 2013}}</ref> (until August 2013)<ref name=defect/><br>{{flagicon image|Flag of Ansar al-Islam.svg}} [[Ansar al-Islam in Kurdistan|Ansar al-Islam]]<ref name=bomb>{{Cite web|url=https://www.reuters.com/article/us-syria-crisis-explosion/bomb-explosion-hits-security-area-of-damascus-activists-idUSBRE89A1CB20121011|title=Bomb explosion hits security area of Damascus: activists|work=[[Reuters]]|date=12 October 2012}}</ref><br>{{flagicon image|People's Protection Units Flag.svg|border=no}} [[People's Protection Units]] (occasionally)<ref name=kurds>{{cite web|url=http://www.washingtoninstitute.org/policy-analysis/view/the-fractious-politics-of-syrias-kurds|title=The Fractious Politics of Syria's Kurds|work=[[The Washington Institute for Near East Policy]]|author=Barak Barfi|date=18 December 2013}}</ref>
| opponents        = {{flag|Syria}}<br>{{flag|Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant}} (since August 2013)<br>{{flagicon image|Flag of the Al-Nusra Front.svg}} [[Al-Nusra Front]] (since August 2013)<ref name=defect/><br>{{flagicon image|Flag of Ahrar ash-Sham.svg}} [[Ahrar al-Sham]] <small>(2013)</small><br>{{flagicon image|People's Protection Units Flag.svg|border=no}} [[People's Protection Units]] (2012–14)<ref name=aq/>
| battles          = [[Syrian civil war]]
*[[Raqqa campaign (2012–13)]]
*[[Battle of Ras al-Ayn (2012–13)]]
*[[Rojava–Islamist conflict]]
*[[2013 Latakia offensive]]
*[[Inter-rebel conflict during the Syrian Civil War]]
| groups           =
}}
The '''Ahfad al-Rasul Brigades''' ({{langx|ar|ألوية أحفاد الرسول}} ''Al-wiat Aḥfād ar-Rasūl'', "Grandsons of [[Muhammad|the Prophet]] Brigades") was a [[Syria]]n [[Syrian opposition|rebel group]] fighting against the Syrian government in the [[Syrian Civil War]]. It was funded by the [[Qatar]]i government.<ref name="CAP">{{cite web|url=http://www.americanprogress.org/issues/security/report/2013/05/14/63221/the-structure-and-organization-of-the-syrian-opposition/|title=The Structure and Organization of the Syrian Opposition|publisher=[[Center for American Progress]]|date=14 May 2013|accessdate=19 May 2014}}</ref><ref>{{cite web|author=Basma Atassi|url=http://www.aljazeera.com/indepth/features/2013/12/syrian-fighter-defects-qaeda-linked-group-201312158517493207.html|title=Syrian fighter defects to Qaeda-linked group - Features|publisher=Al Jazeera English|accessdate=19 May 2014|date=16 December 2013}}</ref>
==Structure and member groups==
Its notable subgroups included the Justice Battalion, the Golan Martyrs Battalion, the Golan Hawks Battalion, the [[Mountain Hawks Brigade|Falcons of Mount Zawiya Brigade]],<ref name="ISW"/> and the Qalamoun Liberation Front.<ref>{{Cite web|url=http://www.al-monitor.com/pulse/security/2013/09/syria-christians-maaloula-jihadists-opposition-army.html|title=Syrian Christian Village Besieged by Jihadists|work=Al-Monitor|author=Sohaib Enjrainy|date=5 September 2013|access-date=2017-05-04|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20130910235822/http://www.al-monitor.com/pulse/security/2013/09/syria-christians-maaloula-jihadists-opposition-army.html|archive-date=2013-09-10|url-status=dead}}</ref> By August 2013, the group had coopted some 50 groups from across Syria; however, it was strongest in [[Idlib Governorate]].<ref name="ctc270813"/> Its leader, [[Colonel]] Ziad Haj Obaid, was on the Arms Committee of the [[Supreme Military Council (Syria)|Supreme Military Council]].<ref name="ISW"/> The [[Maghaweir al-Thowra|Allahu Akbar Brigade]], based in [[al-Bukamal]] in the [[Deir ez-Zor Governorate]], was also part of Ahfad al-Rasul. In July 2013, [[Al Jazeera Media Network|Al Jazeera]] reported that the Allahu Akbar Brigade consisted of around 800 fighters.<ref name=defect/>
==History==
On 11 October 2012, the Ahfad al-Rasul Brigades, in coordination with [[Ansar al-Islam in Kurdistan|Ansar al-Islam]], conducted a bombing of Syrian military compounds west of the [[Umayyad Square]] in [[Damascus]].<ref name=bomb/>
In December 2012, the Ahfad al-Rasul Brigades [[capital punishment in Syria|executed]] a [[Syrian Army]] officer on allegations of [[heresy]]. By this time, the group was described as a [[Salafist jihadist]] group independent from the [[Free Syrian Army]].<ref name=heresy/>
In July 2013, the Ahfad al-Rasul Brigades, along with [[Ahrar al-Sham]] and the [[Kurdish Islamic Front]], announced that they would fight alongside [[al-Qaeda]]'s [[al-Nusra Front]] against the [[People's Protection Units]] (YPG) in northern Syria.<ref name=aq/>
In August 2013, clashes erupted between the Ahfad al-Rasul Brigades and the [[Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant]] in the city of [[Raqqa]]. On 13 August, ISIL [[suicide bomber]]s detonated 4 [[car bomb]]s at the Ahfad al-Rasul Brigades' headquarters at the Raqqa [[train station]], killing 6 Ahfad al-Rasul fighters, including two commanders, Abu Mazin<ref name=vice/> and Fahd al-Kajwan, and 6 civilians.<ref name=death>{{Cite web|url=http://www.3ksalser.com/?page=view_articles&id=01e647c702b3e0e34916cab98ce7ac50|title=The death of the commander of the descendants of the Prophet and the civilians in the bombing that targeted the train station in Al-Raqqa|work=Aksalser|date=14 August 2013}}</ref> By the next day, ISIL fighters fully captured the headquarter.<ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.newsdeeply.com/syria/articles/2013/08/16/in-raqqa-islamist-rebels-form-a-new-regime|title=In Raqqa, Islamist Rebels Form a New Regime|work=[[Syria Deeply]]|author=Alison Tahmizian Meuse|date=16 August 2013}}</ref> Clashes also erupted in [[al-Thawrah|Tabqa]].<ref name=death/> By 17 August, ISIL had defeated Ahfad al-Rasul in Raqqa and expelled it from the city.<ref name=vice/><ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.aksalser.com/?page=view_articles&id=34f248008e9def7744ca1759b91d5c4a&ar=843842874|title="The Grandfather of the Apostle" announces the end of its operations against the "State of Islam in Iraq and the Levant"|work=Aksalser|date=17 August 2013}}</ref> During the conflict between ISIL and the Ahfad al-Rasul Brigades in Raqqa, the group organized protests against both ISIL and [[Ahrar al-Sham]], and viewed Ahrar al-Sham as allowing ISIL to defeat the group due to their lack of intervention in the conflict, while Ahrar al-Sham also shared the view of ISIL, of the Ahfad al-Rasul Brigades as being a common enemy. However, the Ahfad al-Rasul Brigades announced an end to its conflict with ISIL on 17 August, and resumed cooperation with it.<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://www.aymennjawad.org/14151/the-islamic-state-of-iraq-and-al-sham|title = The Islamic State of Iraq and al-Sham}}</ref>
The [[inter-rebel conflict during the Syrian Civil War|fighting]] soon spread to the [[Deir ez-Zor Governorate]], and tensions also rose between Ahfad al-Rasul and the al-Nusra Front. In November 2013, [[Saddam al-Jamal]], commander of Ahfad al-Rasul's Allahu Akbar Brigade, defected to ISIL.<ref name=defect/> Following al-Jamal's defection, 4 subunits of Ahfad al-Rasul also defected to ISIL.<ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.longwarjournal.org/archives/2013/12/4_battalions_from_qa.php|title=4 battalions from Qatar-backed Islamist brigade defect to wage 'armed jihadist struggle'|work=Long War Journal|author=Bill Roggio|date=5 December 2013}}</ref>
By early 2014, the Ahfad al-Rasul Brigades was described as defunct, with many subunits rebranding themselves as members of the [[Syrian Revolutionaries Front]].<ref name="CEIP">{{cite web|author=Aron Lund|url=http://carnegieendowment.org/syriaincrisis/?fa=54522|title=Syria's Southern Spring Offensive|publisher=Carnegie Endowment for International Peace|date=14 February 2014|accessdate=19 May 2014}}</ref> The [[Latakia Governorate]]-based Brigade of the Chargers, formerly part of Ahfad al-Rasul, received [[BGM-71 TOW]] [[anti-tank missile]]s in early 2014, and became the [[1st Coastal Division]] in late 2014.<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://syriainbrief.wordpress.com/2018/01/02/the-cias-tow-program-a-list-of-rebel-groups-involved/|title=The CIA's TOW program: A list of rebel groups involved|work=Syria in Brief|date=2 January 2018}}</ref> Reports appeared in early 2017 that possible remnants of the Ahfad al-Rasul Brigades have reappeared as the Army of Grandsons in the northern [[Aleppo Governorate]] to fight ISIL as part of [[Operation Euphrates Shield]].<ref>{{Cite news|url=https://twitter.com/badly_xeroxed/status/834120150077026306|title=Коуди Роша on Twitter|newspaper=Twitter|access-date=2017-02-23|language=en}}</ref>
==See also==
* [[List of armed groups in the Syrian Civil War]]
==References==
{{Reflist}}
==External links==
* {{Twitter}} {{in lang|ar}}
{{2011 Syrian uprising}}
[[Category:Anti-government factions of the Syrian civil war]]