Alwiya al-Furqan

This article is about the Syrian armed group. For the Egyptian jihadist group, see Al Furqan Brigades.

Criterion Brigades
Alwiya al-Furqan
LeadersMuhammad Majid al-Khatib[1]
Dates of operation2012[1]-2018[2]
Active regionsQuneitra Governorate (formerly)
Damascus Governorate (formerly)
Daraa Governorate (formerly)[1]
Idlib Governorate[3]
Aleppo Governorate
IdeologySunni Islamism
Size~2,000[1]
Part ofSyrian opposition Free Syrian Army[4][5]
Tajammu Ansar al-Islam (formerly)[1]
Fatah Halab (formerly)[6]
Allies Israel
Jordan[7]
Hay'at Tahrir al-Sham
Ahrar al-Sham
Jaysh al-Islam
Islamic State (2013)
Opponents Ba'athist Syria
Iran
Russia
Hezbollah
Islamic State (after 2013)
Battles and warsSyrian civil war

Alwiya al-Furqan or Al-Furqan Brigades (Arabic: ألوية الفرقان, Criterion Brigades) was an Islamist rebel group involved in the Syrian Civil War. It claimed to be the largest Islamist rebel faction that operated in the eastern Quneitra Governorate and Damascus.[10][1] The group also held ties with Jordan which allowed fighters from the group to cross into the country to receive medical aid.

History

In May 2013, after the split between the al-Nusra Front and Islamic State of Iraq after the latter's refusal of a merger between the two and establishment of the Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant, the group released a statement critical of al-Nusra's leader Abu Mohammad al-Joulani for his pledge of allegiance to al-Qaeda in light of the dispute.[11]

In 2013, after a chemical weapons attack in Eastern Ghouta, ISIL and al-Nusra conducted separate revenge attacks, Alwiya al-Furqa, Ahrar al-Sham and the Jesus Son of Mary Battalions joined the ISIL-led attacks which were code named "Volcano of Rage", and shelled Alawite neighborhoods in Damascus, areas near the Embassy of Russia in Damascus and the Four Seasons Hotel Damascus, where UN observers were reportedly staying to investigate the chemical attack.[4]

In September 2013, the group joined a joint operations room with Ahrar al-Sham and Jaysh al-Islam.

In 2017 the group released a statement saying the group would end its cease-fire with the Syrian government in Damascus if Hezbollah or IRGC affiliated groups entered the area.[12]

Israeli cooperation

In June 2013, Abu Jaafar, spokesman of Al-Furqan Brigades and the Quneitra Liberation Gathering, said on Al Jazeera TV that if Israeli forces enter Syria, they will stand away from any clashes with Israeli forces, do nothing, and leave the confrontation to Assad's forces.[13]

In February 2014, a Syrian activist told France 24 that Israel coordinates the transfer of wounded Syrian fighters and civilians to Israeli hospitals "with the armed opposition which is affiliated with the Al-Furqan Brigades and two civil society coordinators from the areas of Beer Ajam and Jubata al-Khashab, where the only crossings into Israeli territory are located".[14]

In April 2017, Lebanese newspaper Al-Akhbar described Al-Furqan Brigades as "another arm of the Israeli Military Intelligence Division (Aman)". According to the information provided, the brigade is led by Mohammed al-Khatib from the town of Kanaker, nicknamed "Clinton", it's numbered about 1,200 fighters, including the militants of Jubata al-Khashab, Naba' al-Sakhr, and the villages of Daraa and Quneitra, who receive salaries ranging from $100 to 65,000 Syrian pounds, and other kinds of aid.[15]

In September 2018, a Syrian opposition fighter told Tablet Magazine that the various fighting units of the opposition forces designated a representative from Al-Furqan Brigades, named Abu-Diaa, and that he coordinated the transfer of wounded men from Syria to Israeli hospitals. The fighter added that ahead of battles with the regime, his group would send Israel detailed requests for ammunition through the Syrian coordinators and that Israel would habitually reply with offers of money for rebels to purchase arms in the free market, where very little ammunition existed, and complained that Israel did nothing but hedged its bets in case the opposition somehow prevailed over Assad.[16]

According to a 2018 investigation by Foreign Policy, Israel supported at least 12 rebel groups by providing them with humanitarian aid, medical treatments, logistical support and military transfers which included assault rifles, machine guns, mortar launchers and transport vehicles. Israel also transferred cash in the form of salaries of $75 per fighter, alongside additional funds for procuring weapons locally.[17]

This group was also known to receive Israeli support alongside several other Syrian opposition factions such as Fursan al-Joulan, Firqat Ahrar Nawa, Saif al-Sham Brigade, Jaydour Horan Brigade, Al-Ezz bin Abdul Salam Brigade, Omar Bin Al-Khattab Brigade, Al-Haramein Battalion, Jaysh al-Ababil, Syrian Revolutionaries Front, Jabhat Ansar al-Islam, Ahrar Gathering and others.

See also

References

  1. ^ a b c d e f g Heras, Nicholas; Zenn, Jacob (28 February 2014). "Muhammad Majid al-Khatib: A Rising Leader in the Free Syrian Army". Jamestown Foundation. Retrieved 16 August 2025.
  2. ^ "A Free Army commander warns of upcoming battles in southern Syria". Shaam News Network. 15 June 2018.
  3. ^ Cafarella, Jennifer (31 March 2015). "Assad Regime Loses Idlib to Jabhat al-Nusra and Rebel Offensive". Institute for the Study of War. Retrieved 16 August 2025.
  4. ^ a b Al-Tamimi, Aymenn Jawad (Fall 2013). "The Islamic State of Iraq and al-Sham". Middle East Review of International Affairs. Retrieved 16 August 2025.
  5. ^ Roche, Cody (13 August 2016). "Syrian Opposition Factions in the Syrian Civil War". bellingcat. Retrieved 16 August 2025.
  6. ^ "Infographic: "Fatah Halab" Military Operations Room – Coalition of 31 Rebel factions". Archicivilians. 18 June 2015. Archived from the original on 27 June 2015. Retrieved 16 August 2025.
  7. ^ Al-Tamimi, Aymenn Jawad (12 August 2017). "The Life of Abu Qasura Kanakari of Jaysh Khalid bin al-Waleed". Aymenn Jawad Al-Tamimi. Retrieved 16 August 2025.
  8. ^ "Booby-trapped targeted the rebels before (IS) controls over the town of Sheikh Saad , Daraa". El Dorar. 30 March 2016. Archived from the original on 17 January 2019. Retrieved 16 August 2025.
  9. ^ Francis, Ellen (9 July 2017). "U.S.-Russian ceasefire deal holding in southwest Syria". Reuters. Retrieved 16 August 2025.
  10. ^ "Factbox: Syrian rebels against opposition coalition". Reuters. 25 September 2013. Retrieved 16 August 2025.
  11. ^ Al-Tamimi, Aymenn Jawad (14 May 2013). "Jabhat al-Nusra's Relations With Other Rebels After the Bay'ah to Zawahiri". Aymenn Jawad Al-Tamimi. Retrieved 16 August 2025.
  12. ^ "Al-Furqan brigades warn against forming pro-Iranian militias in western Damascus countryside". Call Syria. 21 September 2017.
  13. ^ "بالفيديو ... احد قادة جيش الحر: لن نحارب او نشتبك مع القوات الاسرائيلية لو دخلت سوريا". Wattan.net (in Arabic). 17 June 2013. Retrieved 16 August 2025.
  14. ^ "هل إسرائيل بصدد إنشاء "شريط حدودي" عازل في الجولان السوري؟". France 24 (in Arabic). 21 February 2014. Retrieved 16 August 2025.
  15. ^ "الأميركيون والبريطانيون في درعا". Al Akhbar (in Arabic). 19 April 2017. Retrieved 15 August 2025.
  16. ^ Miller, Elhanan (12 September 2018). "Israel's Failure to Support Syrian Rebels". Tablet Magazine. Retrieved 16 August 2025.
  17. ^ Tsurkov, Elizabeth (6 September 2018). "Inside Israel's Secret Program to Back Syrian Rebels". Foreign Policy. Retrieved 16 August 2025.
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