KHALID BIN WALID FREE
In a large battle in February 2017, Jaysh Khalid bin-Walid attacked a checkpoint of the Southern Front, part of the Free Syrian Army. It is here that the group has faced armed opposition from the Israeli and US militaries, with airstrikes in November 2016 and June 2017 killing high-ranking members of the organisation. With an army thought to be around 2,000 strong, the group’s primary areas of operation are Daraa and the Golan Heights, an area bordering Israel. The group exploits historical narratives to inspire and promote jihad among its followers. Jaysh Khalid bin-Walid takes its name from the commander who led Muslim armies to victory over the Byzantine Army in the Battle of Yarmouk in 636, resulting in the Muslim Conquest of the Levant. Remnants of Jaysh al-Jihad subsequently aligned with Liwa Shuhada al-Yarmouk and Harakat al-Muthanna al-Islamiya, and the three groups announced their official merger and the formation of Jaysh Khalid bin-Walid in May 2016.
In May 2015, al-Nusra announced it had cleared Quneitra of Jaysh al-Jihad fighters. Although Jaysh al-Jihad made no formal pledge of allegiance, other Syrian rebel groups accused it of having ties with ISIS. The third group that became Jaysh Khalid bin-Walid, Jaysh al-Jihad, emerged in December 2014, when Liwa Shuhada al-Yarmouk and al-Nusra clashed in the southwestern Syrian town of Quneitra, leading seven groups to carve out a new insurgency. By the following year, rival rebel groups were accusing the movement of supporting ISIS, and in March 2016 it assisted Liwa Shuhada al-Yarmouk in offensives against al-Nusra for control of territory near the Jordanian border. Meanwhile, Harakat al-Muthanna al-Islamiya participated in multiple operations and fought alongside al-Nusra in 2015. Severing potential ties with al-Nusra left the brigade open to affiliation to other jihadi groups, including ISIS. By December 2014, the brigade began to oppose other rebel groups, and clashes with al-Nusra – a strict rival of ISIS – led to the death of the brigade’s leader, Muhammed ‘Abu Ali’ al-Baradi. In July 2014, the brigade clashed with Harakat al-Muthanna al-Islamiya, with which it would later be aligned, and fought as part of the Free Syrian Army in the first battle of al-Shaykh Maskin. Liwa Shuhada al-Yarmouk fought alongside the former Jabhat al-Nusra in March 2013, attacking a government air base. These groups were closely aligned with ISIS and helped maintain its presence in southwestern Syria, where the group had less influence than in the north of the country. The group formed in May 2016 after the merger of the Islamist groups Liwa Shuhada al-Yarmouk (Yarmouk Martyrs’ Brigade), Harakat al-Muthanna al-Islamiya (Islamic Muthanna Movement), and Jaysh al-Jihad (Army of Jihad). Jaysh Khalid bin-Walid, also known as the Khalid ibn-Walid Army, is a Salafi-jihadi extremist group active in the Daraa governorate in southern Syria and the area where the Israeli, Syrian, and Jordanian borders meet.
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