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CHECHEN AL QAEDA COMMANDER, POPULAR SAUDI CLERIC, AND AN AHRAR AL SHAM LEADER SPOTTED ON FRONT LINES IN LATAKIA
Long War Journal
April 2 2014
By Bill RoggioMarch 27, 2014
A prominent Saudi cleric and a Chechen military commander in a unit
of the Al Nusrah Front for the People in the Levant, al Qaeda's
official branch in Syria, celebrated together after recent heavy
fighting against Syrian government forces in a mountainous area in
the coastal province of Latakia. An emir of Ahrar al Sham is also
seen in the video.
Muslim al Shishani, a Chechen jihadist and Al Nusrah military
commander, is seen in a video with Dr. Abdallah Muhammad al Muhaysini,
an al Qaeda-linked Saudi cleric, after the Al Nusrah Front overran
a Syrian military position in the eastern province. The video was
posted on YouTube on March 26.
In the video, hundreds of jihadists are shown walking around the
captured outpost as fires, presumably caused by the the fighting,
are still burning. A tank and a pickup truck with a machine gun
mounted in the bed are seen in the background. Gunfire is heard,
but it sounds celebratory.
The camera follows the red-bearded Muslim as he praises the jihadists
for defeating Syrian forces. At 0:58, the video pauses as Muslim is
pictured with another Chechen commander, Abu Tarab al Shishani. The
video then pauses again at 1:02 as Muslim and Muhaysini embrace.
The video again pauses at 1:53 and Abu Tarab al Shishani is seen
embracing with the "Leader of Ahrar al Sham: Abu al Hassan", one of
the leading groups in the Islamic Front. Senior al Qaeda leaders are
known to have served in the top leadership circles of Ahrar al Sham.
The Al Nusrah Front has allied with Ahrar al Sham and a Salafist
group known as Ansar al Sham, in an offensive to take control of
areas in Latakia. The jihadist groups have seized a coastal village,
"the Armenian Christian village of Kasab," and a border crossing with
Turkey, according to Reuters.
Muhaysini, the Saudi cleric who moved to Syria in 2013 and has more
than 240,000 followers on Twitter, has publicly supported the position
of the Al Nusrah Front and the Islamic Front in their dispute with the
Islamic State of Iraq and the Sham. When he launched an initiative in
January to reconcile the groups by creating a sharia court to settle
disputes, Muhaysini cited al Qaeda emir Ayman al Zawahiri. In February,
after the ISIS rejected his plan, Muhaysini called on ISIS fighters
and leaders to defect and join the Al Nusrah Front and the Islamic
Front. [See LWJ reports, Popular Saudi cleric endorses Islamic Front,
calls for cooperation with al Qaeda; Saudi cleric's reconciliation
initiative for jihadists draws wide support, then a rejection; and
Pro-al Qaeda Saudi cleric calls on ISIS members to defect.]
Muslim al Shishani has been waging jihad for three decades, according
to a video biography that was released in November 2013 and translated
by MEMRI.
Muslim "served in the air defense division of the Soviet army in
Moldova" before the collapse of the Soviet Union, MEMRI reported.
Afterwards he joined the jihad in Chechnya and fought alongside Ibn
Khattab, a Saudi who led al Qaeda's International Islamic Brigade in
Chechnya before he was assassinated by Russian forces in 2002.
"He worked with many leading figures in the Chechen-Arab units,
including Abu Jafar and Ibn Khattab's successor Abu al Walid, and was
eventually promoted to the position of field commander," according to
MEMRI. He was captured by Russian forces in 2003 and released after
two-and-a-half years in detention. In 2008, he formed a fighting unit
in the Russian Republic of Dagestan. He had sworn allegiance to Doku
Umarov, the slain emir of the al Qaeda-linked Islamic Caucasus Emirate.
In 2012, Muslim left the Caucasus to wage jihad in Syria and led
a group known as Jund al Sham, or the Army of Syria. His group,
along with those under the command of Saifullah al Shishani and
another Chechen known as Abu Walid al Shishani, merged with the Al
Nusrah Front.
Chechen-led jihadist groups have been some of the fiercest units in
the Syrian civil war. Chechens and others from the Russian Caucasus
and even from the Ukraine hold prominent positions in jihadist units
fighting in Syria. Omar al Shishani commands fighters in the ISIS and
his fighters are routinely in the forefront of the fighting. Another
Chechen, Salahuddin al Shishani, serves as the emir of the Muhajireen
Army; his deputy is Abdul Karim Krymsky, a Crimean Tatar from the
Ukraine. Hundreds of fighters from the Caucasus and Russia are known to
fight in the ranks of the jihadist groups in Syria that are commanded
by Chechen leaders.
Two senior Chechen commanders, Saifullah al Shishani and Muhammad
al Shishani, have been killed so far this year while fighting Syrian
government forces in Aleppo.
http://www.longwarjournal.org/archives/2014/03/chechen_al_qaeda_com.php?utm_source=rss&utm_medium =rss&utm_campaign=chechen-al-qaeda-commander-popular-saudi-cleric-spotted-on-front-lines-in-latakia
From: A. Papazian
Long War Journal
April 2 2014
By Bill RoggioMarch 27, 2014
A prominent Saudi cleric and a Chechen military commander in a unit
of the Al Nusrah Front for the People in the Levant, al Qaeda's
official branch in Syria, celebrated together after recent heavy
fighting against Syrian government forces in a mountainous area in
the coastal province of Latakia. An emir of Ahrar al Sham is also
seen in the video.
Muslim al Shishani, a Chechen jihadist and Al Nusrah military
commander, is seen in a video with Dr. Abdallah Muhammad al Muhaysini,
an al Qaeda-linked Saudi cleric, after the Al Nusrah Front overran
a Syrian military position in the eastern province. The video was
posted on YouTube on March 26.
In the video, hundreds of jihadists are shown walking around the
captured outpost as fires, presumably caused by the the fighting,
are still burning. A tank and a pickup truck with a machine gun
mounted in the bed are seen in the background. Gunfire is heard,
but it sounds celebratory.
The camera follows the red-bearded Muslim as he praises the jihadists
for defeating Syrian forces. At 0:58, the video pauses as Muslim is
pictured with another Chechen commander, Abu Tarab al Shishani. The
video then pauses again at 1:02 as Muslim and Muhaysini embrace.
The video again pauses at 1:53 and Abu Tarab al Shishani is seen
embracing with the "Leader of Ahrar al Sham: Abu al Hassan", one of
the leading groups in the Islamic Front. Senior al Qaeda leaders are
known to have served in the top leadership circles of Ahrar al Sham.
The Al Nusrah Front has allied with Ahrar al Sham and a Salafist
group known as Ansar al Sham, in an offensive to take control of
areas in Latakia. The jihadist groups have seized a coastal village,
"the Armenian Christian village of Kasab," and a border crossing with
Turkey, according to Reuters.
Muhaysini, the Saudi cleric who moved to Syria in 2013 and has more
than 240,000 followers on Twitter, has publicly supported the position
of the Al Nusrah Front and the Islamic Front in their dispute with the
Islamic State of Iraq and the Sham. When he launched an initiative in
January to reconcile the groups by creating a sharia court to settle
disputes, Muhaysini cited al Qaeda emir Ayman al Zawahiri. In February,
after the ISIS rejected his plan, Muhaysini called on ISIS fighters
and leaders to defect and join the Al Nusrah Front and the Islamic
Front. [See LWJ reports, Popular Saudi cleric endorses Islamic Front,
calls for cooperation with al Qaeda; Saudi cleric's reconciliation
initiative for jihadists draws wide support, then a rejection; and
Pro-al Qaeda Saudi cleric calls on ISIS members to defect.]
Muslim al Shishani has been waging jihad for three decades, according
to a video biography that was released in November 2013 and translated
by MEMRI.
Muslim "served in the air defense division of the Soviet army in
Moldova" before the collapse of the Soviet Union, MEMRI reported.
Afterwards he joined the jihad in Chechnya and fought alongside Ibn
Khattab, a Saudi who led al Qaeda's International Islamic Brigade in
Chechnya before he was assassinated by Russian forces in 2002.
"He worked with many leading figures in the Chechen-Arab units,
including Abu Jafar and Ibn Khattab's successor Abu al Walid, and was
eventually promoted to the position of field commander," according to
MEMRI. He was captured by Russian forces in 2003 and released after
two-and-a-half years in detention. In 2008, he formed a fighting unit
in the Russian Republic of Dagestan. He had sworn allegiance to Doku
Umarov, the slain emir of the al Qaeda-linked Islamic Caucasus Emirate.
In 2012, Muslim left the Caucasus to wage jihad in Syria and led
a group known as Jund al Sham, or the Army of Syria. His group,
along with those under the command of Saifullah al Shishani and
another Chechen known as Abu Walid al Shishani, merged with the Al
Nusrah Front.
Chechen-led jihadist groups have been some of the fiercest units in
the Syrian civil war. Chechens and others from the Russian Caucasus
and even from the Ukraine hold prominent positions in jihadist units
fighting in Syria. Omar al Shishani commands fighters in the ISIS and
his fighters are routinely in the forefront of the fighting. Another
Chechen, Salahuddin al Shishani, serves as the emir of the Muhajireen
Army; his deputy is Abdul Karim Krymsky, a Crimean Tatar from the
Ukraine. Hundreds of fighters from the Caucasus and Russia are known to
fight in the ranks of the jihadist groups in Syria that are commanded
by Chechen leaders.
Two senior Chechen commanders, Saifullah al Shishani and Muhammad
al Shishani, have been killed so far this year while fighting Syrian
government forces in Aleppo.
http://www.longwarjournal.org/archives/2014/03/chechen_al_qaeda_com.php?utm_source=rss&utm_medium =rss&utm_campaign=chechen-al-qaeda-commander-popular-saudi-cleric-spotted-on-front-lines-in-latakia
From: A. Papazian