State Security Arrests 'Emir' of Islamist Syrian Rebel Group
by Naharnet Newsdesk 10 hours ago
State Security on Tuesday announced the arrest in the Bekaa province of a “former emir of the Ahfad al-Hamza Battalion of the Ahrar al-Sham Front.”
Identifying the detainee as Syrian national M.H., State Security said he was arrested after surveillance and after he raised suspicion that he had ties to terrorist groups.
“During interrogation, he confessed to being a former emir of the Ahfad al-Hamza Battalion of the Ahrar al-Sham Front and that he had maintained communication with the group's members in (Syria's) Idlib,” State Security said.
Read more at: http://www.naharnet.com/stories/en/231724-state-security-arrests-emir-of-islamist-syrian-rebel-group
In talking about Syria above, Ahrar al-Sham is a tricky rebel group that while not being al Qaeda, one might check if they have been known to ally themselves with al-Nusra, the Syrian branch of al Qaeda, references below, and not only that, Ahrar al-Sham likely are supported by Turkey and Saudi Arabia; at least that is what the wikipedia article reads.
Ahrar al-Sham and Jaysh al-Islam are the main rebel groups supported by Turkey and Saudi Arabia.[40]
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ahrar_al-Sham
The group aims to create an Islamic state under Sharia law, and in the past has cooperated with the al-Nusra Front, an affiliate of al-Qaeda.[3][41]
On top of all of this, al-Nusra changed their name so as to not be associated with al-Qaeda.
All of this sounds bad and it is. How odd though, one of the biggest obstacles to ISIS has been al-Nusra.
