Jundallah

Introduction

Jundallah was a small Sunni extremist group in Idlib, Syria composed of mostly Azeri hardline foreign fighters that was forcibly disbanded by HTS in November 2021.* Jundallah was formed between 2014 and 2015 by two Azeri fighters, Abi Fatema al-Turki and Abu Hanifa al-Azari, who initially formed a faction called Jund al-Khilafa, or Soldiers of the Caliphate, in 2014 in al-Dana, Idlib, before moving to eastern Syria to briefly join ISIS.* The faction was summarily expelled from ISIS after claiming that ISIS leader Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi was a blasphemer.* Turki and Azari returned to al-Dana in 2015 with a small group of followers and eventually renamed their faction Jundallah, or Soldiers of God.* Tensions between HTS and Jundallah had been rising for several months in mid-2021, as Hayat Tahrir al-Sham (HTS) sought to merge all armed factions under its control or forcibly dissolve them.* In July, HTS demanded that Jundallah either fully submit to HTS control or disband entirely and leave Idlib.* HTS fought briefly with Jundallah in October and November 2021 before reaching  a ceasefire deal under which the foreigners surrendered in exchange for a pseudo amnesty.* During the clashes, HTS security forces killed a number of Jundallah’s leaders, including its general military commander and its communications officer.* Jundallah no longer exists as an armed faction, with its members either in prison or undergoing de-radicalization courses under HTS supervision.*

Leadership

Abi Fatema al-Turki (founder, deceased),* Abu Hanifa al-Azari,* Abu Jaber al-Azari (deputy commander),* Abu Khalil Azari (general military commander, deceased),* Talhat Azari (communication officer, deceased),* Abu al-Fidaa al-Jazaery (general legislator)*

Base of Operations

Idlib province in Syria*

Website

N/A

Membership Size and Relevance

Jundallah was a small Sunni extremist group that formed among mostly Azeri ex-ISIS fighters in 2015.* It consisted of between 40 and 150 fighters before being forcibly disbanded in 2021, and never played a prominent role in rebel offensives.*

Recruitment and Propaganda

HTS claims that Jundallah recruited former members of ISIS, al-Qaeda, and Hurras al-Din who remained in Idlib following the defeat of their respective factions.*

Violent Activities

HTS accused Jundallah of being involved in “security and criminal cases,” i.e., carrying out or planning attacks against HTS personnel and being engaged in the criminal market.*

Rhetoric

N/A

Daily Dose

Extremists: Their Words. Their Actions.

Fact:

On October 7, 2023, Hamas invaded southern Israel where, in the space of eight hours, hundreds of armed terrorists perpetrated mass crimes of brutality, rape, and torture against men, women and children. In the biggest attack on Jewish life in a single day since the Holocaust, 1,200 were killed, and 251 were taken hostage into Gaza—where 101 remain. One year on, antisemitic incidents have increased by record numbers. 

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