Dzhebhat en Nusra - Activities
As the Syrian people continue their struggle against the repressive Asad regime, al-Nusrah Front has sought to exploit the instability inside Syria for its own purposes, using tactics and espousing an ideology drawn from AQI that the Syrian people broadly reject. Since November 2011, al-Nusrah Front has claimed responsibility for nearly 600 terrorist attacks – ranging from more than 40 suicide attacks to small arms and improvised explosive device operations – in major city centers including Damascus, Aleppo, Hamah, Dara, Homs, Idlib, and Dayr al-Zawr, killing and wounding hundreds of Syrians. Through these attacks, al-Nusrah sought to portray itself as part of the legitimate Syrian opposition. These activities are attempts by AQI to hijack the struggles of the legitimate Syrian opposition to further its own extremist ideology.
Senior Lebanese security officials confirmed that there had been a noticeable increase in jihadist elements associated with al-Qaeda within Lebanon. This increase was naturally linked to armed elements in Syria and the stated and covert positions taken by some Lebanese political forces towards the conflict in Damascus. However, the same security apparatus has revealedthat their investigations determined that a late December 2012 statement made by Jabhat al-Nusra was authored in north Lebanon.
One of the well-known operations, "Al-Nusra" was the abduction in December 2013, of 12 novices of the monastery in the Syrian town of Maaloula. In March 2014 the nuns were transferred to the Lebanese and Qatari mediators in exchange for the release by the Syrian authorities, the group in prison members of the armed opposition.
At the end of August 2014, gunmen kidnapped 45 peacekeepers (Fiji citizens) of the contingent forces UN Disengagement Observer Force (UNDOF) in the Golan Heights. In September, the hostages were released thanks to the mediation of the government of Qatar. The militants managed to seize weapons, equipment and vehicles of peacekeepers. Due to the deterioration of the situation the UN forces on the territory of the Golan from May 1974 were withdrawn from the region.
In addition, in August 2014, militants captured Lebanese soldiers. Five of them were killed, 25 are still being held hostage. In December 2014, a field commander Abu Ali al-Shishani made death threats over the military. According to some reports, his wife was arrested by security forces in Lebanon.
As published in the July 2014 annual report of the UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon, on Children and Armed Conflict noted that "Al-Nusra Dzhebhat" recruiting children as fighters of jihad. August 15, 2014 the UN Security Council unanimously adopted a resolution calling for sanctions against six persons associated with the activities in Iraq and Syrian organizations "Islamic state" and "Al-Nusra Dzhebhat." "Dzhebhat en Nusra" actively distributes online photos and videos with scenes of the massacre of government soldiers and civilians.
In June 2014 the group chose to abandon its stronghold in Deir ez Zor rather than confront the Islamic State in battle. Jabhat al-Nusra did not fade away. Instead, it “doubled down” on its outreach to Syria’s other jihadist groups, even setting up a court system to mediate and resolve disputes in order to help keep different factions united in their efforts to unseat Syrian President Bashar al-Assad. At the same time, Nusra leaders focused on setting up a new, but smaller base of operations, choosing Idlib province in western Syria.
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