Senior Member Of The SMC Defects To ISIS And Details Foreign Involvement In the Oppostion

Earlier today I came across the following video, posted on the Eretz Zen YouTube channel, featuring Saddam al-Jamal, the former leader of the Supreme Military Council of the Free Syrian Army's Eastern Front, who recently joined the Islamic State of Iraq and al-Sham.  In this clip he details foreign involvement with the Syrian opposition

The above video is just part of a a much longer 30 minute long video recorded by the Islamic State of Iraq and al-Sham, which can be found here.  I've had the complete video translated, with some duplicate lines and statements removed for brevity's sake.

Revealing the biggest conspiracy to target our brethren in ISIS
Confessions of leaders and officers of Liwa Ahfad Al Rasoul
Grandsons of the prophet brigade
0:24 What about the support given by some western and Arab countries to the Staff Board, the military council and the Syrian Coalition?
0:32 Is this support free? Only to help Syrians get rid of tyrant Assad? What about the closed meetings in Ankara between highest leaders of the FSA and the Arabic and Western Intel?
0:51 What are their goals and plans?
0: 56 What’s the reason behind this fervent media campaign by the agent TV channels against the ISIS?
1:05 All these questions and others will be answered by Saddam al Jamal, the former revolutionary leader of the Eastern Front in the Staff Board, and leader of Liwa Allah Akbar of the Ahfad al Rasoul, which is one of the biggest brigades in eastern Syria.
1:28 After he discovered this plot against Islam and Muslims and the ISIS.
1:39 He surrendered to the ISIS and disclosed info of plans made by the infidel West and some treacherous Arab countries against theproject of Al Ummah, the Nation.

2:04 Part Two
2:06 In the name of God, most gracious, most merciful. My name is Sddam al Jamal, the former revolutionary leader of the Eastern Front in the Staff Board, and leader of Liwa Allah Akbar of the Ahfad al Rasoul. I declare my dissociation from the Staff Board and the Military Council and the Syrian Coalition, and my dissociation from the general leader of Grandsons of the Prophet Brigades, Major Maher Noaimi, and from Ragheb al-Tohma, leader of Ahfad al Rasoul in Deir Ezzor. And I declare my repentance, and I do not fear from Allah any blame. I address a call to my brethren in the FSA to dissociate themselves from the military councils, the Staff Board and the [Syrian] Coalition, which call them to fight our brethren the Islamists and to prevent the Sharia of Allah from being established in the land.
2:55 How were you offered to join the conglomerate of Ahfad al Rassoul?
3:07 When the Staff Board was formed, we met Maher [Noami] there, in Turkey. It was suggested to form the conglomerate of al Ahfad, and that it will receive support. You know, support given to the FSA was little, so we were looking for someone to supply us with arms and ammo. Based on this we, and Liwa al Umma- The Nation Brigade-and Qua’qua’ joined [the Ahfad].
3:30 What’s the goal behind forming this conglomerate?
3::34 Originally, the Ahfad was meant to be part of the FSA, without any agenda or [political] ambitions, and that it would be supported without any return, only to fight the Assad regime. However, we discovered later that this project has an agenda and long-term objectives. Obviously it is supported by Qatar.
4:06 Who are the intel that sponsored this project?
4: 10 It's Qatari. In general, all the intelligence services of the world were participating in the project of the FSA.
4:20 Can you name those intel services?
4: 20 Jordanian intel, Saudi intel, Emirati intel, and Qatari intel. And, obviously, Western intel services are also present.
4:33 Can you name the Western intel?
4: 35 Obviously, the US, Britain, France, those are the main intel services present in the meetings of the Staff [Board] and the Military Councils.
4:50 Is al Ahfad exclusively funded by Qatar?
4:51 At the beginning of the Syrian revolution, the file was handled by Qatar. After a while, they switched to Saudi Arabia, under the claim that Qatar no longer wants to support the Muslim Brotherhood since they are a failed project in Syria.So, the Saudi intelligence services took over the file during the last period of the Syrian revolution. Obviously, the main goal of this project is to fight the Islamists in the Sham and preventing establishing of Sharia, though they wouldn’t openly declare this. The project was prepared for a later period, till it materialize through supporting it with money and ammunition.
6:00 Did they offer you huge sums of money?
6:01 Sure, they fund the Staff Board, who then distribute money to the battalions and brigades.
6:07 Can you give an estimate of this money?
6:10 Recently, the Staff Board was offered a sum of 450,000 USD in the form of relief aid, as far as I know, it was paid by the USA. The money was later distributed to the battle fronts, to the leader of the military council and the leader of the revolutionary council. The money was split between these two councils.
6:47 Who has given you the shipment of arms and ammo lately?
6:50 A first lieutenant of the Staff Board, I remember his name was Haitham.
7:13 After receiving the last arms shipment, did you meet with them?
7:14 Yes, we held many meetings, especially after the latest disputes between Ahfad al Rassoul and ISIS. We were ignorant of the [project] as we didn’t know that we were infidels and apostates after we used to meet with the apostates of Qatar and Saudi Arabia and with the infidels of Western nations such as America and France in order to receive arms and ammo or cash.
7:47 What was the main discussion point in those meetings with the intelligence services?
7:46 The meetings were dominated by showing blind confidence in the FSA. The most frequent question by the intelligence services was: why are you growing this beard. I replied that this a sunnah of our prophet Muhammad. They wanted to know other reasons. Qatari and American intel were present in those meetings.
8:16 Did they ask those kind of questions during the meeting or after it?
8:20 They asked those questions in front of everyone in the meeting. They also ask why we shave the mustache.
8:35 Did they ask other questions?
8:38 They asked why we are fighting Bashar, what objectives we have. We answered that after the fall of Bashar, we will give up arms and return to normal life.
9:00 What were the main questions?
9:01 All of the above, besides asking whether there was any presence of the Islamists and the extremists or the terrorists. They wanted to know if there were foreign fighters in Deir Ezzor. We denied this presence, but it looks like they knew of it and they would tell us that they knew about foreign fighters, maybe they got this info through their spies.
9:42 What intelligence that used to focus on these questions?
9:45 American and Saudi, all of them ask the same questions, even the Jordanian.
9:53 Did they ask you separately?
10: 00 Somewhat, but they were not secret meetings.
10:10 Did they ask you openly to fight the Islamists?
10:13 Those countries, especially Saudi Arabia, give weapons and ammo to to a faction that controls a certain area, only to make sure that the Islamists don’t take it over. Their arch enemy is Islam and Sharia.
10:54 Does this mean that they declared their rejection of establishing Sharia?
10:58 Yes, then how do you explain supplying and funding the FSA while denying it to Al Nusra Front and ISIS? They do know that ISIS would establish Sharia.
11:17 Tell us about the last meeting.
11:18 The last meeting included all the FSA leaders in the east areas, Hasaka, Raqqa and Deir Ezzor, as well as the leaders of Aleppo front, They held meetings with each front separately, eastern and northern, on the first and second days. On the third they met with both fronts in a single meeting, which was sponsored by Prince Salman.
12:03 Whos is Prince Salman?
12:05 Prince Salman occupies the position of Saudi Deputy Defense Minister, and he is currently responsible for the Syrian file, I told you before that Qatar was responsible, but he took over the file from them. Of course, Prince Salman is known as the brother of Prince Bandar [bin Sultan] of the house of Saud. Those present include the Jordanian, Qatari, and Emirati intelligence services as well as Salim Idriss. There were no international intel services that were not present. Maher Noami, Muhannad Tallaa’ and Muhammad Abboud, Jabhat al Asala wa al Tanmiya was also present.
12:54 What did Prince Salman ask you?
12:57 He asked all the attendees in general to …………
13:03 Did he ask you openly to fight the Islamists?
13:05 On the first day he asked those who have plans to attack Assad positions to present their needs of arms, ammo and money. There was a plan to take full control of the eastern area, just to deny those areas to the Islamists. The suppliers did not openly say this, but they insisted that we capture almost all eastern Syria, including oil fields. They asked us to organize ourselves, select a leadership, set up training camps, and pay regular salaries. They asked that all FSA factions unify under the umbrella of the Revolutionary Council or the Military Council.
14:58 What did Salim Idriss say during this meeting?
15:00 He said that the Prince [Salman] had come to support us and supply us with ammo and money, and that he wants the various factions to unite under the umbrella of the Staff Board, and without any other names or labels, in which case all countries will support us.
15:37 What did Ragheb Tohme said during this meeting?
15:40 He was commander in the city [of Deir Ezzor] He also has close ties with Ahmed Jarba, chief of the Coalition prior to the forming of the Coalition, and he received support from Jarba. For me, I had never any contacts with the Coalition or its head Jarba. Prior to the dispute between ISIS and Al Ahfad, Yaser al Qate, Firas Kharaba, Iyad Kharaba, and Walid Shadad got a phone call from Ragheb Tohme to go and meet him in Turkey. They went and he paid 3-5 m SYP. Jarba had already gave 150,000 USD to Tohme, but I don’t know about what happened else during their meeting in Turkey. After they came back from Turkey, problems started to appear in Deir Ezzor.
17:05 Can you say that Jarba was behind the problems in Deir Ezzor?
17:07 I told you Jarba and Tohme have close ties, and Jarba is the favourite man in Syria by Saudi Arabia, Prince Salman and the international intel, he even lacks any [university] degrees and he was imposed on everyone without getting anyone’s approval.
17:32 What do you know about the Raqqa plan?
17:30 It was planned to deploy 500 fighters to liberate it from Salmiya to Raqqa.
17:45 Do this mean they planned to target ISIS in Deir Ezzor?
17:50 Sure, their original objective was to liberate AL Raqq [of ISIS] and continue along the line. Ragheb Tohme knew of this plan, and this is why he recalled them to Turkey and gave them money. When the problem started, Maher phoned and asked us to help [al Ahfad]. The relationship with them worsened after this, and later Maher asked why we did not help al Al Ahfad, I replied that I didn’t know the Ahfad in Raqqa. I said to him also that I was in Raqqa 5 days prior to the problem, and knew well the basis of the problem, namely, ISIS found alcohol in one of the al Ahfad’s vehicles.
The second reason of the problem was that Al Ahfad fighters stopped one of the ISIS’s members at a checkpoint, he was accompanied by a woman who was wearing niqab. Ahfad fighters asked that the woman remove the niqab. After we refused to help al Ahfad, I started receiving angry calls from ….. and he threatened that we will be dismissed by Al Ahfad’s leadership, I then replied that this does not matter to me, let them dismiss us, let them say I am with Qaeda.
The following day he phoned me and said that we didn’t support him and let him down, and he vowed to fight ISIS even alone. I replied that this is not of my business. He added that he will set up a training camp in Turkey and offered to give us support if we join him, and that he will train the fighters and form Special Forces. For me, if in the future some faction will fight ISIS, it will be the Special Forces.
21:25 Will there be a new shipment of arms in this period?
21:27 The countries said that the last shipment was only to boost the morale, but in the coming days a bigger shipment will arrive.
21:35 What kind of weapons they said they would send?
21:42 They always promised to send anti-aircraft missiles, but they sent none, all they sent was 14,5 mm anti-aircraft guns, shoulder fired OSA anti-armor and anti-personnel grenades.
22:09 Who will receive the next arms shipment?
22:15 As far as I know, the shipment would be sent by America and France and Western countries in general, but nobody will receive it. Those countries want to give the weapons to fighters that they call the right hands, ie, fighters who will be trained abroad. They will not give it to any faction inside Syria. They want to receive 25-50 fighters and train them abroad, without disclosing the location of the training camp, whether it was Turkey or Jordan. And when they ask for fighters for training, they at first ask for full information on them, starting from his birth date and so on. They have been asking for this info for the last 9 months.
23:06 Did they ask you this?
23:07 Yes, they did.
23:09 What did they ask exactly?
23:11 When we asked for anti-aircraft missles, and night-vision goggles, they refused to send them, saying that we give these weapons to select elite troops only, after we train them outside Syria. We will then hand them those weapons as well as night-vision snipers and modern anti-armor missiles.
23:50 Are there any FSA fighters who are being trained outside Syria?
23:52 Yes, the FSA, of course, especially from southern Syria. I know since I was in the Staff Board. In Ghouta, Damascus and Dara’a, many groups got trained in Jordan at the hands of the Jordanian intelligence services and Western ones. Everyone knows that when we say Jordan this means Israeli intelligence services. Israel is present in Jordan. All people know that. The media activist Abdu Abu Yazan was ordered by Maher Noami to appear on Al Arabiya TV channel and speak against ISIS, and say that ISIS attacked the FSA and Al Ahfad, which is contrary to the truth. Now he is on the ISIS’s wanted list. Everyone knows that ISIS found alcohol with the Ahfad in Raqq.
The Staff Board held a meeting, Feras Kharaba and Bashir Tohmeh were present, and they discussed the subject of the fight between ISIS and the FSA, especially in Deir Ezzor, Ragheb al Bashir stood up in the meeting. Jarba, head of the Coalition was present in the meeting. They wanted to know if there was a reliable faction that can fight ISIS in the eastern area, and it was suggested that this faction will receive all kinds of support. At this point, Ragheb stood up and said that he, along with Feras Kharaba, are ready to fight ISIS. Feras told them during the meeting that he had 300 fighters. He also told them that they would be able to face ISIS if they convinced Saddam to join them.
26:21 Do you mean that Ahfad started the dispute and problems in Raqqa and Deir Ezzor?
26:23 Yes, they did, In Deir Ezzor the same persons, namely, Feras Kharaba got orders from Ragheb al Tohme, aka Abu Bashir, to start the problem with ISIS. In the last meeting, which was attended by FSA leaders, and headed by Abu Furqan, who is a retired General in the Turkish Intelligence, he said that we have credible information that ISIS is related to Bashar Assad. At first, many people got convinced by this claim.
28:04 This is the devilish plan to target ISIS, through convincing the FSA that it is part of Assad regime and must be fought.
29:30 It’s an honor to come to ISIS and show repentance.
30: 55 Saddam, how did you think of ISIS before repenting and surrendering yourself?
31: The world and Military Council always told us that ISIS are terrorists and takfiris.
31:12 After surrendering yourself, what do you say about these claims?
31:14 After Allah granted me the honor of repentance, I found that all these claims are false and baseless. The treatment I received here is unbelievable, and they considered me more than a brother, and treated my according to the Sharia.

Released on November 23, 2013

Update December 5th Dan Layman of the Syrian Support Group contacted me with the following details

The supposed defection of the Saddam al-Jamal, commander of the Allahu Akbar brigade, to ISIS was not a wholly voluntary act. ISIS has been in constant combat with over 15 FSA units in northern Syria throughout the past few months in an effort to expand their zones of total control. The Ahfad Al-Rasoul brigade, of which the Allahu Akbar Brigade was an affiliate, is one of these units. Because of the existing tensions with Allahu Akbar's parent unit, ISIS stormed an Allahu Akbar command post post in Deir Ezzour, taking the brigade's weapons cache and killing several fighters, including the brother of Saddam Al-Jamal. Having lost his brigade, his weapons, and his brother, Mr. Al-Jamal pledged allegiance to ISIS to protect himself. Ideological factors were not at play.

You can contact the author on Twitter @brown_moses or by email at brownmoses@gmail.com

Analyzing Events in Azaz - A Detailed Look At ISIS' Takeover

A guest post by Aymenn Jawad Al-Tamimi.

The northern border town of Azaz in Aleppo Governorate recently came to the forefront of media attention in light of clashes in the town between the Islamic State of Iraq and ash-Sham (ISIS) and the local FSA-banner battalion called Northern Storm. So what is the full story behind this conflict?

The ISIS presence in the town can be observed as far back as the beginning of July, when I detailed ISIS’ expansion into rural northern Syria with particular focus on border areas. At the time, the entry of ISIS members with an apparent intention to establish headquarters in Azaz provoked both protests and counter-protests.

Local activists in Azaz and/or those connected to such people have set up a number of Facebook pages, including two by the name of ‘Shabab Halab_Azaz’ (SHA: one which has always been against the ISIS presence in Azaz and has been deleted; another whose stance is more ambiguous), ‘Ahrar Azaz’ and ‘Azaz Media Center.’

The latter two groups originally hosted the ISIS banner on their pages but have recently removed them following multiple denunciations of ISIS. In an interview with those behind the anti-ISIS SHA, I asked about the presence of ISIS banners on Ahrar Azaz and Azaz Media Center’s pages and whether this meant that they were originally sympathetic to ISIS. They denied that this was the case, affirming that “at least 90% [of people] don’t know the meaning of the banner.”

While I doubt the claim that neither Ahrar Azaz nor the Azaz Media Center was aware of the meaning of the banner, one can accept the idea that they were not pro-ISIS but at the same time not initially against the group’s entry into Azaz.

Indeed, on 31 July, Ahrar Azaz shared a statement put out by the Azaz Media Center, indicating that ‘we- the Azaz Media Center- are not affiliated with any brigade or battalion.’ In short, one can say that Azaz on the whole had mixed feelings about ISIS when it first came to the town in July, similar to the situation in other Aleppo towns like al-Bab and Manbij.

Originally, so the activists behind the anti-ISIS SHA explain to me, ISIS did not have a “military presence” in Azaz. Rather, Azaz had a services office where responsibilities for providing shelter and medical treatment were entrusted to ISIS members, who also used the office as a means to engage in da’wah outreach to the local population.

That ISIS was able to establish itself in Azaz initially through provision of services comes as no surprise. As I have documented elsewhere, the group wields significantly greater financial clout than other rebel factions and can thus more readily provide aid to locals, even as the extent of social services do not quite match that of the other al-Qa’ida affiliate in Syria Jabhat al-Nusra.

The strategy of building support through da’wah, it should be noted, is a standard tactic of ISIS. Below, for example, are two scenes of recent da’wah outreach by ISIS, one from the Aleppo town of Manbij, and another from Raqqa. During Ramaḍān, ISIS in Azaz offered contests in Qur’an and Sunnah recitation. In late August, a photo emerged of ISIS outreach to locals in their da’wah office in Azaz, again on the basis of Qur’an recitation (Figure 3).

Figure 1: ISIS da’wah meeting in Manbij from late September

Figure 2: Screenshot of an ISIS da’wah meeting beside a bouncy castle in Raqqa, from a video released by Al-‘Itiṣām Media, which is one of two official ISIS media outlets (the other being al-Furqān Media)

Figure 3: ISIS da’wah outreach in late August in Azaz

It thus appears that so long as ISIS was trying to build its presence in Azaz through da’wah, there were no major problems in daily relations in Azaz between ISIS and Northern Storm, who had cooperated in the takeover of Mannagh airbase that was ultimately led by ISIS. ISIS’ military presence, my activist sources inform me, only came about through reinforcements sent to Azaz when “the problem happened”: namely, the dispute in mid-September between Northern Storm and ISIS over a doctor of German citizenship working in Azaz.

According to ISIS supporters, the man was actually working as a spy and taking photos of ISIS’ headquarters in Azaz. Northern Storm fighters not only allegedly helped this man take photos and escape but also killed two members of ISIS when ISIS tried to arrest him.

It should be noted though that the local hospital in Azaz released a statement after the clashes broke out, denying that he had been taking photos of ISIS’ headquarters. Rather, his photography was solely concerned with taking photos of the sick being treated in the hospital.

Further, the statement describes how ISIS gunmen entered the hospital demanding that the German doctor be handed over, and when the “workers and doctors refused to have him arrested, they opened live fire on the doctors and the people, striking terror in them. So one of the civilian sick came to them and said: ‘How can you open fire on us when we and you are Muslims?’ They said: ‘You are infidel dogs.’ And they fired at his chest, and there were not two meters between the killer and the one slain.”

In any event, ISIS proceeded on 18 September to send in military reinforcements, and then besiege and storm Northern Storm’s HQ, taking dozens of prisoners in the process. At the same time, the head of Northern Storm’s Azaz press office was assassinated by ISIS (Hazim Azizi), and Azaz Media Center’s crew members in the town were taken prisoner. On the other side, Northern Storm received reinforcements from its own rank-and-file elsewhere, as well as from low rank fighters in some other FSA-banner brigades, most notably Liwa al-Tawheed (LAT), whose leadership entered Azaz in order to negotiate a compromise between ISIS and Northern Storm.

In general, the LAT leadership in Aleppo governorate has enjoyed good relations with ISIS. In August, both ISIS and LAT in the Jarabulus area were signatories to a joint statement denouncing the Kurdistan Workers’ Party (PKK)- seen as synonymous with the main Kurdish political party in Syria (the PYD)- as an agent of the Assad regime, and called for the necessity of cleansing the highway between Manbij and Hasakah of the PKK checkpoints. In a similar vein, below is a snapshot of a friendly arm wrestling match between an ISIS muhajir and an LAT fighter as part of a family day of fun organized by ISIS in Aleppo.

Figure 4: The arm wrestling match in Aleppo between ISIS and LAT

Though local activists reported that negotiations between LAT commanders and ISIS were breaking down at around 5:00 p.m. local time on 19 September, LAT eventually brokered a compromise between ISIS and Northern Storm, whereby ISIS was supposed to withdraw from Northern Storm’s headquarters within 48 hours, and both sides should exchange all prisoners within 24 hours. Further, all disputes should be referred to the Shari’a committee (in Aleppo) and LAT was to enforce the ceasefire agreement by setting up a checkpoint in Azaz to prevent further clashes in the town.

As per the agreement, ISIS released nine prisoners in its custody, but on 22 September, Northern Storm issued a statement accusing ISIS of not adhering fully to the terms of the agreement, stating that the group had not released all its prisoners, among them an activist for the Azaz Media Center by the name of Mohammed Nour, an accusation also affirmed by Ahrar Azaz, which noted that ISIS had not released all detainees despite a time lapse of more than 60 hours.

In response, ISIS released a statement on 23 September with a number of accusations against Northern Storm, including helping members of regime forces to escape Mannagh airbase, supporting the ideology of democracy, collaboration with security firm Blackwater, American intelligence and Senator John McCain, defending a German spy, and banditry. One should also note that the statement refers to the town as their ‘emirate’- a term ISIS also applies to its northern border stronghold of Jarabulus.

Evidently, ISIS had no intention any longer of a power-sharing agreement or compromise with Northern Storm. Indeed, no mention had been made of ISIS’ returning of Northern Storm’s headquarters as per the ceasefire agreement. Further, it is clear that ISIS had begun to reinforce its positions in Azaz with rooftop snipers, as local activists reported the assassination of one Mustafa Ali Rajoob by sniper-fire on 22 September.

The situation continued to deteriorate as some FSA-banner battalions of unspecified affiliation announced in the early hours of 24 September a ‘Battle of Nahrawan’ against ISIS- named after the fourth rightly-guided Caliph Ali’s battle with takfiri Kharijites in modern-day Iraq. This initiative was quickly dropped in fear of ISIS’ military capabilities.

Meanwhile, even as photos were released of locals still in ISIS custody despite the ceasefire agreement, ISIS carried out a series of raids on homes of suspected anti-ISIS activists in Azaz, arresting three detainees whose names can be ascertained: Mohammed Janad, Mohammed Rajoob, and Yasir Salbiya.

On 26 September, ISIS released a new statement giving a 48-hour deadline for remaining Northern Storm members to ‘repent’ and hand over their arms, with the deadline beginning from 8:00 p.m. local time on 26 September. On the same day, gunfire was heard in the town, indicating a renewal of conflict as ISIS sources claimed the ‘repentance’ of a number of Northern Storm fighters.

It should be highlighted that this call for ‘repentance’ was issued by ISIS under the ‘region of Azaz,’ and thus applies not only to the town itself but also the surrounding countryside where some Northern Storm remnants had taken refuge. ‘Repentance’ (tawbah in Arabic) is a recurring theme in ISIS discourse, and was similarly used to refer to the defection of PKK members in Tel Abyaḍ following the PKK’s expulsion from the town by a coalition of FSA-Ahrar ash-Sham-ISIS.

It would appear that activists then tried to mediate between the two groups without success, while on 29 September, a statement appeared from ISIS announcing an extension of the deadline for ‘repentance’ by another 48 hours. Even so, evidence emerged from ISIS sources of additional military reinforcements (see images below), intending to deal a decisive blow to remnants of Northern Storm still refusing to surrender.

Figure 5: Part of an additional ISIS military convoy heading to the Azaz area. Note the tanks. Photo first appeared 29 September

Figure 6: ISIS military convoy at the entrance to Azaz (1 October)

By 2 October, ISIS sources announced that the deadline for ‘repentance’ was now over, and reports emerged of ISIS subjecting Northern Storm fighters who had still not surrendered to mortar and tank-fire bombardment in the surrounding countryside. Further, ISIS sources claimed that these Northern Storm fighters were now taking refuge with Kurdish YPG militias.

It would seem that this claim is corroborated by the fact that on 3 October, local activists asserted that the ‘Free Army’ had destroyed an ISIS tank in the village of Ma’areen in the Azaz area. However, this village is actually under the control of the YPG. The fighting continues until now, with a video released on 6 October purporting to show ISIS firing at the two YPG-controlled villages of Ma’areen and Qastal Jando.

On the same day, the town of Azaz saw some anti-ISIS demonstrations, with calls for the removal of ISIS from the town. In response, ISIS appears to have used gunfire to disperse protestors.

Regardless of the truth of this allegation from Azaz Media Center, it is the case that both sides corroborate the subsequent arrest of a number of individuals in Azaz accused by ISIS of being Northern Storm supporters (and they are described as such in one of Azaz Media Center’s video descriptions).

One striking question in light of events after the ceasefire agreement is where are LAT and other battalions to come to the aid of Northern Storm (or ‘McCain Storm,’ as ISIS sources now deride the group) in any meaningful way. Rather, there was merely a mellow statement released on 3 October calling for ISIS to withdraw to its original bases in Azaz and for both sides to respect the ceasefire and refer disputes to Aleppo’s Shari’a committee. Indeed, as one activist posting put it, “Why has Liwa al-Tawheed abandoned Northern Storm?”

A number of the signatories of the 3 October statement are members of what has been termed the ‘Islamic Coalition’ in media in rejection of the opposition-in-exile and in favor of Shari’a as the main source of legislation in a future Syria. Pace the widespread narrative such as in this Washington Post article, it is not a formal coalition of any kind and is not led by Jabhat al-Nusra, which merely saw its local representative in Aleppo sign the statement to reaffirm long-standing positions of Jabhat al-Nusra.

The key to understanding the inaction lies in the decision of the Aleppo Shari’a committee, whose authority is taken seriously by ‘Islamic Coalition’ battalions like LAT, at the end of September to condemn Northern Storm as a criminal organization and bar it from bearing arms, on the grounds of spreading fitna (discord) between FSA-banner battalions and ISIS.

This condemnation was no doubt partly bolstered by Northern Storm’s well-established reputation for banditry, similar to the image problem suffered by the Northern Farouq brigades, whose criminality facilitated their expulsion from northern localities like Manbij and Tel Abyaḍ.

To sum up, ISIS’ seizure of control of the town of Azaz is a unilateral power grab similar to the group’s takeover of Jarabulus in mid-June, aiming to strengthen ISIS’ hold on inflow of aid and goods from Turkey. Paranoia over the activities of a man of Western citizenship may well have driven the actions of ISIS in Azaz, but the evidence more likely suggests that the dispute was a mere pretext.

Second, it should not be assumed that anti-ISIS sentiment in Azaz automatically translates to support for Northern Storm, even as supporters of the latter undoubtedly exist in Azaz. What is clear at this stage is that many residents simply feel disillusioned. In fact, as the anti-ISIS SHA activists made clear from the beginning, the solution to Azaz’s problems is neither Northern Storm nor ISIS, but the withdrawal of all armed factions and reform of the local council.

Northern Storm’s prior actions reflect a wider problem for FSA-banner battalions of generally non-ideological leaning in the north of the country: namely, a reputation for criminality contrasting with the outreach efforts of Islamist groups. Aware of the trends, these FSA-banner groups have tried to assert a more Islamic face, as when Northern Storm declared support for the ‘Islamic Coalition’ saying that Shari’a was its goal all along.

In a similar vein, Farouq incorporated the banner of Dar al-Islam (the white flag with black Shahada) into its emblem and in its dispute with ISIS in the town of al-Bab tried to emphasize it does not support anything contrary to Islam and Shari’a. However, these efforts to regain support through a more religious image have largely proven unsuccessful.

In terms of the future, it is unlikely that ISIS will be dislodged from Azaz anytime soon, at least so long as other militias beyond the YPG remain unwilling to help the Northern Storm remnants. Meanwhile, as elsewhere, ISIS understands very well that outreach to the younger generation in Azaz will be key to perpetuating ISIS’ hold on the town as a border stronghold.

Thus did a video emerge showing children in Azaz holding the ISIS banner in front of the group’s headquarters in the town and chanting the ISIS slogan “bāqīya” (“remaining”), which derives from ISIS leader Sheikh Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi’s audio message in mid-June that rejected Sheikh Aymenn al-Ẓawahiri’s insistence on separation but cooperation between Jabhat al-Nusra and ISI[S] in Syria and Iraq. Anti-ISIS activists in Azaz have parodied the slogan, releasing a photo of the town with the caption “Azaz remaining.”

Figure 7: Photo of Azaz parodying ISIS’ slogan “bāqīya”

In short, Azaz’s fate is identical to that of Jarabulus, which saw the deposition of the local FSA-group- ‘The Family of Jādir’- by ISIS in mid-June and has remained an ISIS stronghold ever since, with a crackdown on Kurdish PYD activists in July after the ISIS/Nusra-YPG clashes in Ras al-Ayn. There is no sign of a revolt against the group’s rule in Jarabulus as it has proceeded to manage proto-state institutions such as schools for children. Expect photos and videos of such institutions as below to be released by ISIS from Azaz over the coming months.

Figure 8: ISIS-run school in Jarabulus: “Martyrs of Jarabulus”

Aymenn Jawad Al-Tamimi is a student at Brasenose College, Oxford University, andx a Shillman-Ginsburg Fellow at the Middle East Forum. His website is http://www.aymennjawad.org. Follow on Twitter at @ajaltamimi