Firqat al-Ghuraba
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Firqat al-Ghuraba | |
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فرقة الغرباء | |
Leaders | Omar Diaby |
Dates of operation | Unknown-Present |
Headquarters | Harim, Idlib Governorate, Syria |
Ideology | Islamism |
Part of | Syrian Civil War
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Firqat al-Ghuraba is an active
Background
The group was established by Omar Diaby who is originally from France of
Leadership
The group, consisting of 80-100 fighters, was established in the Latakia Governorate of Syria after Diaby entered Syria. Most of the fighters reportedly were from France.
Tensions rose between ISIL and al-Nusra in early 2014. Diaby chose to remain neutral in the conflict until more details would be made available, and said that he would ally with neither due to reports of violations against civilians by both ISIL and al-Nusra.[5]
Despite this, the group itself at one point in time was believed to be part of al-Nusra, and Diaby has criticized ISIL calling the group reactionary, and believing the group is composed only of untrained and ignorant youths that lacked religious education calling their actions deviant behaviour, while viewing al-Qaeda as more sophisticated and scholarly.
He also criticized ISIL's use of graphic imagery in videos saying it only incites rage, however he justified ISIL's November 2015 Paris attacks, saying it was justified based on a Quranic verse saying "transgress for equal transgression" in response to French military operations. It is also believed that the group lost many of its members in defections to ISIL.
The group and its leader have had tensions with
History
In mid 2015, Diaby was believed to have been killed but later reappeared in early 2016.[6]
In 2017, despite losing many of its original members in defections to ISIL, the group reportedly saw an increase in membership from defectors from ISIL after the group's decline in territory.[7]
Tensions with Hayat Tahrir al-Sham
In 2018, tensions broke out between
The court reportedly ruled in favor of HTS, and HTS also claimed that Diaby had violated the court's rulings by releasing information about the case before its conclusion and his refusal to hand the daughter over to HTS, which had been coordinating with Belgian and Turkish intelligence to negotiate her return to her mother. However Diaby claimed that it was an incorrect ruling as Belgium is not an Islamic country, and that she must be raised an Islamic country.
In May 2018, Diaby was arrested by HTS but later released in August 2018, after his release, Firqat al-Ghuraba made a statement that downplayed the tensions with HTS and did not release any information on the case, however Diaby still refused to release the daughter to HTS and he was again arrested in late October.
In November 2018, tensions over the custody of the fighter's daughter between HTS and Firqat al-Ghuraba continued, with HTS arresting several fighters from Firqat al-Ghuraba at the group's headquarters, and several fighters from Firqat fought back against HTS but were encircled and arrested, during the raid fighters from al-Qaeda's Syrian branch the
Following the fatwa from the scholar of HTS, an al-Qaeda affiliated scholar released a Fatwa opposing HTS's ruling and instead claimed that she should be placed in the custody of the Guardians of Religion Organization, which HTS claimed was protecting kidnappers in Firqat al-Ghuraba. Another HTS official claimed Firqat al-Ghuraba was extorting ransom for the girl from her mother demanding 50,000 Euros but the mother couldn't afford it, and later sent money to Firqat al-Ghuraba in an attempt to get the group to release her daughter.
By 24 November 2018, HTS and the Guardians of Religion Organization jointly agreed that the daughter would be released to her mother, and that HTS would drop kidnapping charges against Diaby and that the judges would declare him innocent on an account of ignorance, and that he had wrongfully interpreted the will of the fighter, by demanding money from the mother.
However, after the incident, Diaby has remained in HTS custody.[3][8]
References
- ^ Aaron Y. Zelin (30 June 2014). "Syria: The Epicenter of Future Jihad". The Washington Institute for Near East Policy. Retrieved 29 October 2019.
- ^ "Syrian Civil War factions". Google Docs.
- ^ MEMRI. 30 November 2018. Retrieved 29 October 2019.
- ^ Noor Nahas (22 August 2018). "Hayat Tahrir al-Sham Attempting to Consolidate Power Ahead of Idlib Offensive". Bellingcat. Retrieved 29 October 2019.
- ^ "Fighters in Syria recruited 'for a cause'". Al Jazeera. 30 November 2014. Retrieved 29 October 2019.
- ^ Andrew McGregor (30 July 2016). "'The Spielberg of French Islamism': A Profile of Omar Diaby (a.k.a. Omar Omsen)". Aberfoyle International Security. Archived from the original on 4 March 2017. Retrieved 29 October 2019.
- ^ "Exclu- Syrie: les djihadistes français d'Omar Omsen concurrencent l'Etat islamique". FranceSoir. August 1, 2018.
- Long War Journal. Retrieved 29 October 2019.