Islamic Front (Syria)

Islamic Front
الجبهة الإسلامية al-Jabhat al-Islāmiyyah
Administration flag Official logo of the Islamic Front War flag
Leaders	Ahmed Abu Issa[1] Zahran Alloush  † Hassan Aboud  † Abul-Abbas al-Shami Abu Rateb Abu Omar Hreitan
Spokesman	Islam Alloush[2]
Dates of operation	22 November 2013–2015
Group(s)	Jaysh al-Islam Ahrar al-Sham Ansar al-Sham Northern Storm Brigade (former)
Headquarters	Idlib Governorate, Syria[3]
Active regions	Syria
Ideology	Syria as an Islamic state under Sharia[4] Islamic fundamentalism[5] Sunni Islamism[6]
Size	50,000[7]–70,000[8] (Mar. 2014)
Part of	Syrian Revolutionary Command Council (2014–2015)[citation needed]
Allies	Saudi Arabia  Turkey  Qatar Army of Mujahedeen[9] Al-Qaeda[10] Ajnad al-Sham Islamic Union Sham Legion Alweiat Al-Furqan[11] Authenticity and Development Front Syrian Turkmen Brigades Harakat Nour al-Din al-Zenki
Opponents	State opponents  Syria Syrian Armed Forces National Defence Forces  Iran Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps Non-state opponents Shi'ite groups Hezbollah Kata'ib Hezbollah Liwa Fatemiyoun Asa'ib Ahl al-Haq Al-Abbas Brigade Peace Companies Kata'ib Sayyid al-Shuhada Liwa Zainebiyoun Syrian-affiliated groups Ba'ath Brigades Palestine Liberation Army Syrian Resistance Liwa Al-Quds Arab Nationalist Guard Jaysh al-Muwahhideen People's Protection Units Army of Revolutionaries Jihadist groups Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant[12] Jund al-Aqsa
Battles and wars	Syrian Civil War Rojava–Islamist conflict Inter-rebel conflict during the Syrian Civil War 2014 Latakia offensive 2014 Idlib offensive Battle of Al-Malihah Battle of Morek Battle of Idlib (2015) Battle of Zabadani (2015) Rif Dimashq offensive (September 2015)
Preceded by Syrian Islamic Front

The Islamic Front (Arabic: الجبهة الإسلامية, al-Jabhat al-Islāmiyyah) was a Sunni Islamist rebel group involved in the Syrian Civil War,^[1] which was formed by the union of seven separate groups on 22 November 2013.^[13] Its three largest components were Ahrar ash-Sham, the al-Tawhid Brigade and Jaysh al-Islam. The alliance was achieved by expanding the preceding Syrian Islamic Front alliance. It was described as "an umbrella organization rather than a full union", with constituent factions continuing to serve under their own distinct leaderships.^[14]

The Islamic Front wanted to transform Syria into an Islamic state after the planned overthrow of the government of President Bashar al-Assad.^[15] It refused to recognise most formal structures of the Syrian opposition, such as the Syrian National Council.

The alliance fragmented over the course of 2014. On 24 December 2014, the Islamic Front factions in the Aleppo Governorate formed the Levant Front alliance with other armed groups in northern Syria.^[16] In 2015, the Salafist group Ahrar ash-Sham – a major component of the Islamic Front alliance – joined with jihadist groups under the Army of Conquest operations room umbrella, successfully campaigning against the Syrian Arab Army in the northern districts from March to September 2015. The group continued its nominal membership of the Islamic Front alliance, despite its more jihadist orientation. By early 2015, the Islamic Front was being described as virtually defunct, with the largest member groups Ahrar ash-Sham and Jaysh al-Islam remaining separate entities, and the smaller IF factions (Liwa al-Haqq, Suqour al-Sham Brigade and Kurdish Islamic Front) being absorbed into Ahrar ash-Sham.^[17]