Sam Heller wrote "Zinki is one of the rare rebel factions with a proven track record of fighting effectively outside its home area, and it played a major part in expelling the self-proclaimed Islamic State from the Aleppo area. The brigade is an uncommon example of comparative pluralism, including Arabs, Turkmen, and Kurds, as well as both religious and relatively secular members. Although some analysts label Zinki “Islamist,” the brigade’s animating philosophy seems more like “order.”"

In terms of funding, the movement received support from many figures and governments. When forming the battalions, they received limited financial support from Gulf or Syrian figures residing abroad, and they also relied on weapons and ammunition that they seized after battles against the regime forces. Funding developed as did the rest of the factions. The movement received Qatari support due to its joining the “Fastaqim Kama Umirt” group, which established good relations with the Syrian Muslim Brotherhood, who were coordinating funding operations between the Qatari and Turkish governments. “Zenki” also received support from the Kuwaiti National Assembly, in addition to the Kuwaiti Popular Committee headed by Salafi Sheikh Hajjaj al-Ajmi.

At the beginning of 2014, with “Zenki” joining the Mujahideen Army, the movement received diverse funding through the Mujahideen Army, which is a mixture of Qatari funding and funding from the “Friends of Syria Group” through the Müsterek Operasyon Merkezi “MOM” operations room. After its withdrawal from the Mujahideen Army and changing its name to the “Nour al-Din al-Zenki Movement,” the movement relied solely on international government funding from the “MOM,” which largely explains the radical change that occurred in the ranks of the Zenki after May 2014, such as the heavy presence of the revolution flag in media statements, in the movement’s military headquarters, and on its vehicles.

Funding for the movement declined in 2015 after a series of abuses committed by al-Zenki, notably a video circulated online showing Nour al-Din al-Zenki fighters killing a Palestinian child in Aleppo, accused of belonging to a pro-regime militia. Zinki’s support from the Müsterek Operasyon Merkezi (MOM) — the joint operations room in Turkey that reportedly included the CIA and allied intelligence services — was actually cut off in August or September 2015.

When Zinki’s external support from the U.S.-led operations room was cut off, the rebel group was able to sustain itself with its own diversified economic base, including revenue from factories it controls. Harakat Nour al-Din al-Zinki has a reputation for being organized, militarily effective, and, unlike some other rebel brigades in northern Syria, a genuinely autonomous rival to jihadists. It has skirmished with former Syrian Al Qaeda affiliate the Nusra Front (now the Fateh al-Sham Front), although lately the two have fought side-by-side outside Aleppo.

Mapping Militant Organizations reported "Harakat Nour al-Din al-Zenki later operated as an independent group and received funding from Saudi Arabia and the United States. Within Aleppo, Harakat Nour al-Din al-Zenki worked closely with former Al Qaeda affiliate Jabhat Fatah al-Sham (Fatah al-Sham), formerly known as Jabhat al-Nusra, despite an outbreak of violence between the two groups in 2015. In 2016, the group was accused of a series of war crimes including abducting and torturing journalists and decapitating an adolescent boy.

In the first battles of Aleppo, there were incidents of fighting between factions, most notably the attack by the factions of the "Nour al-Din al-Zenki Movement" and the "Abu Amara Brigades" in November 2016 on the fighters of the "Fastaqim Kama Umirt Gathering", which includes fighters from the city of Aleppo. "Al-Zenki" and "Abu Amara" were able to control all the headquarters of the gathering in the eastern part of Aleppo. This was taking place inside the besieged eastern neighborhoods of Aleppo, while fierce battles were taking place in western Aleppo to try to break the siege imposed on them by government forces.

After a series of skirmishes between Fatah al-Sham and other Sunni opposition groups, Harakat Nour al-Din al-Zenki merged with Fatah al-Sham on January 28, 2017 to form Hayat Tahrir al-Sham. At the time of the merger, Harakat Nour al-Din al-Zenki had 7,000 fighters."

The Nour al-Din al-Zenki Brigades were founded on November 1, 2011, and since its inception, it pursued military action in Aleppo Governorate in response to the regime’s militarization of the revolution, which remained a peaceful protest revolution for months after its launch. The movement’s leader, Sheikh Tawfiq Shihab al-Din, said in an interview with Al Jazeera on March 14, 2014, defining its intellectual reference: “We are moderate Muslims. We do not mean the middle ground between good and evil, but rather we mean the spirit of Islam.”

"We are not the only ones who will determine Syria's political future," Shehabeddine added. " There are many people who have marched, struggled and fought to bring down this regime, and when the regime falls, they are the ones who will determine Syria's future political fate."

The Nour al-Din al-Zenki Brigades were the first opposition faction to enter the Salah al-Din neighborhood after fierce battles with regime forces and shabiha in July 2012. This was in addition to numerous confrontations in Hawar, Sarmada, al-Rai, Antan, and Castello Road. The Zenki Brigades were distinguished by their many movements and many affiliations, as they initially joined the Tawhid Brigade shortly after its formation on July 18, 2012, then withdrew from it in December 2012.

On December 19, 2012, the Zenki Brigades joined the Fastaqim Kama Ummir Brigades Gathering, which is close to the Muslim Brotherhood. The word “Islamic” was added to the brigades’ name, so they became the “Islamic Nour al-Din al-Zenki Brigades.” Sheikh Tawfiq Shihab al-Din, the commander of the Zenki Brigades, was appointed as the general commander of the gathering, and Mustafa Barro, nicknamed “Saqr Abu Qutaiba,” the commander of the Peace Brigades Gathering, was appointed as the military commander of the new gathering, before the Zenki Brigades withdrew from the gathering in June 2013, and “Abu Qutaiba" as its general commander.

On January 3, 2014, the Zenki Brigades joined the formation of the Mujahideen Army to fight ISIS under a central command and a joint operations room, and Sheikh Tawfiq Shahab al-Din was appointed as the general commander of the Mujahideen Army. The Zenki Brigades participated with other factions in the Mujahideen Army in fighting the organization in the western countryside areas, and were able to expel it from most of the villages where it was stationed. The Zenki Brigades continued to operate under the banner of the Mujahideen Army until May 5, 2014, when the Zenki Brigades announced its withdrawal from the army, and the Mujahideen Army confirmed this through an official published statement.

Many reports spread indicating an increase in financial support for the movement from the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia after the former withdrew from the Mujahideen Army due to its relations with the Syrian Muslim Brotherhood organization and its funding by the Qatari Civilian Protection Authority. The withdrawal of the battalions from the Mujahideen Army was accompanied by the announcement of changing the name of the faction from “Nour al-Din al-Zenki Islamic Battalions” to “Nour al-Din al-Zenki Movement”, followed by an expansion in the number of fighters and battalions affiliated with the movement, such as the separation of the Sons of the Companions Brigade from the Tawhid Brigade and its joining the Zenki, until the number of fighters in the movement reached two thousand fighters.

On December 25, 2014, the Nour al-Din al-Zenki Movement joined the Levant Front, an alliance that included: “The Islamic Front, the Nour al-Din al-Zenki Movement, the Mujahideen Army, the Levant Corps, the Fastaqim Kama Umirt Gathering, the Authenticity and Development Front, the Islamic Nour Movement, the Amjad al-Islam Brigade, and the Al-Huda Battalions Gathering.” On April 30, 2015, the Shura Council of the Nour al-Din al-Zenki Movement issued a statement in which it dismissed Sheikh Tawfiq Shihab al-Din from leading the movement due to his health conditions, and appointed Sheikh Ali Saido as his successor. On May 6, 2015, the Nour al-Din al-Zenki faction joined 13 other opposition groups in the Aleppo Conquest Operations Room, a joint operations room to coordinate efforts between revolutionary groups.

On September 17, 2015, the Shura Council of the Nour al-Din al-Zenki Movement held a meeting in which it chose Captain “Mohammed Saeed Masri” as the general commander of the movement in the darkest circumstances that Aleppo is experiencing, instead of “Ali Saido,” who succeeded the founder of the movement, Sheikh Tawfiq Shihab al-Din.On October 6, 2015, the positions of the Zenki Battalion in the city of Aleppo were attacked by the Al-Qaeda branch in Syria, Jabhat al-Nusra, which later transformed into Hay’at Tahrir al-Sham since November 2015. The movement worked to strengthen its ranks by incorporating and absorbing a number of small and medium-sized battalions and factions, such as the Turkish-backed Turkmen Battalions of Syria. On November 11 of the same year, 35 Turkmen fighters defected and joined Jabhat al-Nusra, which is affiliated with Al-Qaeda and is classified as a terrorist organization by most countries. During November 2015, specifically during the Vienna Peace Talks, Jordan was assigned the task of drafting a list of terrorist groups, and the Nour al-Din al-Zenki Movement was placed on this list.

The activity of the "Nour al-Din al-Zenki Brigades" is based on two aspects: a military field aspect to weaken the ruling regime in preparation for its overthrow, and a civil service aspect to provide relief to civilians and manage their affairs and interests in the areas controlled by the brigades, in support of the steadfastness of their residents and to gain the social incubator that supports the brigades and backs them militarily and politically.

On the level of military achievements, the battalions - which suffered from a lack of quality weapons to confront its warplanes and explosive barrels - fought many battles against the Syrian army loyal to the regime, the most prominent of which was storming the headquarters of the engineering battalion in Khan al-Assal and seizing all its equipment and weapons, and storming the Rashidin neighborhood west of Aleppo city.

In terms of civil services, the battalions supervised the local administration in the areas under their control, providing security, judicial, education, health and relief services to their residents through local councils in villages, towns and neighborhoods. Since its establishment, the battalions have established an “economic office” concerned with obtaining funding from donors at home and abroad, in order to purchase weapons, pay the salaries of recruits, and provide services to its “liberated” areas.

The brigades’ leadership asserted that its decision was “independent,” and that it iwa not affiliated with the General Staff of the Free Syrian Army or the leadership of the National Coalition for Syrian Revolutionary and Opposition Forces , because they were “formed abroad and have no real roots inside Syria and do not provide support to its people.” It calls for “the formation of a political body from within, and this can only be done by unifying the military, or at least by having the factions and brigades numbered.”

It believes that in the blocs between the factions opposing the Syrian regime, it is necessary to adopt “geographical distance” as a pillar for their integration in order to succeed. Therefore, it formed the “Mujahideen Army” with several armed opposition factions in Aleppo, including the “Ansar Brigade,” “Amjad al-Islam,” and the “Fastaqim Kama Umirt” group.

The battalions said that their relationship with other Islamic factions, such as the Ahrar al-Sham Movement and the Nusra Front, is good , and that they sometimes fight alongside some of these factions, but they describe their relationship with the Islamic State as “very bad, as it ignited the war between us and it, and we see that it has no place in Syria, and our fight against it will continue until the end, because its biggest problem is its insistence on accusing all Syrians of unbelief.”

On January 28, 2016, the movement withdrew from its positions in Aleppo, which were seized by Jabhat al-Nusra. In the same month, the Front transformed the headquarters of the Zenki Movement into its own headquarters. On March 21, 2016, the Sunni Gathering operating in the town of Tal Aada and the Muthanna Brigades operating in the town of Al-Dana in the western countryside of Aleppo announced their joining the Zenki Movement, while the Fajr al-Shahba Brigade, which split from the Fastaqim Kama Umirt Gathering, announced its joining the Zenki Movement on April 19 of the same year. Two days later, the Dhul-Nurain Brigades operating in Aleppo and its countryside announced their joining the Zenki Movement on April 21, 2016.

On April 16, 2016, the Shura Council of the Nour al-Din al-Zenki Movement issued an official decision to reappoint Tawfiq Shahab al-Din as the movement’s general commander. On May 10, 2016, the Lions of Sharia Brigades, which had previously split from the Ahfad Hamza Special Tasks Battalion, announced their joining the Nour al-Din al-Zenki Movement in the city of Aleppo and its countryside.

On July 21, 2016, the Nour al-Din Brigades denounced a video recording showing individuals said to be affiliated with it beheading a 19-year-old regime soldier in the city of Aleppo, which sparked widespread criticism in the media and on social media. The battalions confirmed that they had arrested all the people who appeared in the recording and had begun investigating them to hold them accountable according to the ruling of a competent court, and that they would not accept anyone using their name to commit a “crime that is inconsistent with the principles of the movement and the revolution, and violates divine laws and human rights, including the rights of prisoners.”

On August 24, 2016, the Nour al-Din al-Zenki Movement participated in establishing the Euphrates Shield Operations Room, in which the following announced their participation: “Faylaq al-Sham, Ahrar al-Sharqiya Gathering, Liwa al-Fatah, al-Jabha al-Shamiya, Northern Division, al-Mu’tasim Brigade, al-Hamza Division, Sultan Muhammad al-Fatih Brigade, Sultan Murad Division, Fastaqim Kama Umirt Gathering, Division 13, Brigade 51, al-Safwa al-Islamiya Battalions, the Nour al-Din al-Zenki Movement, and the First Aleppo Division.”

By September 24, 2016, the Zenki Movement again chose to join the Army of Conquest, then on October 15 of the same year, four battalions from the Levant Front (who were also former members of the Tawhid Brigade) left and joined the Zenki Movement, before the Tawhid Brigade operating in Aleppo announced on the same day its full integration into the Nour al-Din al-Zenki Movement. On November 3, 2016, the “Swords of the Levant” Brigade, operating in the northern countryside of Aleppo, announced its joining the ranks of the Nour al-Din al-Zenki Movement. By November 15, 2016, the Nour al-Din al-Zenki Movement welcomed the joining of both the Ahrar Suriya Brigade and the Swords of al-Shahba Brigades to its ranks, in addition to the joining of the Northern Army to the movement on November 16, 2016.

Some brigades continued to join the Zengi Movement, but at the same time it was losing other factions and brigades that preferred to join Hay'at Tahrir al-Sham or Jabhat al-Nusra previously. On January 28, 2017, the Nour al-Din al-Zengi Movement, in addition to a number of major factions in northern Syria, announced its merger into a new military component called "Hay'at Tahrir al-Sham", which included "Jabhat Fateh al-Sham, the Nour al-Din al-Zengi Movement, Liwa al-Haqq, Jabhat Ansar al-Din, and Jaysh al-Sunna."

On July 20, 2017, the Nour al-Din al-Zengi Movement, led by Sheikh Tawfiq Shihab, announced its withdrawal from Hay'at Tahrir al-Sham amidst clashes between the organization and the Ahrar al-Sham group. Only three days later; The organization expelled the remnants of Ahrar al-Sham from Idlib and took control of the entire city. the Nour al-Din al-Zenki Movement, one of the group’s five main brigades and numbering 7,000 fighters in February, announced its defection from the hardline alliance in a statement circulated on social media. Hayat Tahrir al-Sham largely controls the northern Idlib countryside and the south-central region.

In the statement issued by the movement, Tawfiq Shahab al-Din, the commander of the Nour al-Din al-Zenki Brigades, cited the “absence of legitimate rule” in the territory under the group’s control and the “decision to fight Ahrar al-Sham,” a rival Islamist alliance that controls large parts of northern Idlib, as reasons for withdrawing from the opposition Islamist alliance. “The compass went off course, and the gun went off target,” the statement read.

After only about 120 days in November 2017, clashes erupted again, but this time between the Nour al-Din al-Zenki Movement and Hayat Tahrir al-Sham. The clashes were concentrated in northern Idlib and the western countryside of Aleppo, especially in the area between Atmeh and Khan al-Asal. In late December 2017, the Northern Knights Brigades announced their joining of the Zenki Movement.

On January 18, 2018, the Levant Revolutionaries Brigades announced their joining of the Zenki Movement, which coincided with the joining of the “Bayareq al-Islam Brigade” and the “Ansar al-Din Brigades” operating in the town of Termanin in Idlib to the movement’s ranks. On January 20, 2018, the Nour al-Din al-Zenki Movement contributed to the formation of the Olive Branch Operations Room, in whose military operations the following factions participated: “Al-Sham Front, Al-Hamza Division, Al-Mu’tasim Brigade, Al-Fath Brigade, Fastaqim Kama Umirt Gathering, Division 13, Brigade 51, Sultan Muhammad al-Fatih Brigade, Sultan Murad Brigade, Al-Muntasir Billah Brigade, Samarkand Brigade, Al-Safwa Brigades, Division 101, Al-Sham Corps, Nour al-Din al-Zenki Movement, First Aleppo Division, Ahrar al-Sharqiya Gathering, Jaysh al-Ahrar, Al-Safwa Islamic Brigades, Division 20.”

On February 18, 2018, the Syrian Liberation Front was formed, with the merger of the Nour al-Din al-Zenki Movement, the Islamic Ahrar al-Sham Movement, and other small groups into a unified military body. The leader of the Ahrar al-Sham Movement, Hassan Soufan, was chosen to lead the Syrian Liberation Front, while the commander-in-chief of the Nour al-Din al-Zenki Brigades, Tawfiq Shahab al-Din, was appointed as assistant. On August 1, 2018, the factions of the Syrian Liberation Front announced their merger into the National Liberation Front, which was established on May 28, 2018, thus forming the largest military entity opposing the Assad regime in Syria. The National Liberation Front published a statement of joining on its official pages, as the factions of the Syrian Liberation Front, which includes the Ahrar al-Sham and Nour al-Din al-Zenki Movements, merged into the military body of the Front.

In early January 2019, Hay'at Tahrir al-Sham launched a major attack on the Zenki Movement, which ended with the "body" taking control of all the movement's strongholds in the western Aleppo countryside, and expelling it to the neighboring Afrin region. Nour al-Din al-Zenki Movement, the most prominent Syrian armed faction active in the western Aleppo countryside, announced its complete dissolution following its defeat by Hay'at Tahrir al-Sham. The leaders of the Nour al-Din al-Zenki Movement, which is part of the Turkish-backed "National Liberation Front", fled to Turkey, Afrin, and areas under the control of the forces affiliated with the Turkish "Euphrates Shield" campaign in northeastern Syria.

The opposition Syrian Observatory for Human Rights reported that it monitored the control of Hay'at Tahrir al-Sham (formerly Jabhat al-Nusra) today, Friday, over areas that were under the control of the "Zenki" movement in the western countryside of Aleppo after four days of fighting that led to the killing of more than a hundred militants from both sides. The battles were followed by search and raid operations carried out by "Tahrir al-Sham" elements in the areas from which the Nour al-Din al-Zenki movement was expelled.

The Observatory indicated that the fighting led to the end of the existence of the "Zenki" movement. The Observatory quoted cross-referenced sources as saying that negotiations are currently underway with the "Zenki" regarding the mechanism of withdrawal towards the Afrin region, and the end of the fighting in the western sector of the Aleppo countryside comes, while Syrian opposition websites confirmed that the "Zenki" militants who refuse to integrate into the ranks of "Tahrir al-Sham" had begun withdrawing to Afrin.

On March 25, 2019, the Nour al-Din al-Zenki Movement, one of the components of the "National Liberation Front", announced its complete dissolution, the formation of a new faction, and joining one of the corps of the Syrian National Army. The Zenki Movement published an official statement in which it announced the complete dissolution of its formation based on a decision from its leadership, and the formation of the "Third Brigade" and joining the "Glory Corps" included in the "Al-Sham Front", the most prominent formations of the "Third Corps" in the National Army. The movement affiliated with a military office (which includes 33 battalions and five companies), a security office (which includes 10 police stations and 15 checkpoints), an armament office, a financial office, an administration and organization office, in addition to the political office and public relations.

Hayat Tahrir al-Sham issued a statement 01 April 2024 saying: “We regret that the soldiers of the Zenki Movement - previously - left their positions against the regime, which made the enemy exploit the opportunity to try to control some points in the western Aleppo countryside.” In the statement, Hayat Tahrir al-Sham placed the word “previously” next to the name of the “Zenki” movement, indicating that the movement has ended and is now a thing of the past. In the same statement, Hayat Tahrir al-Sham promised the militants from the Nour al-Din al-Zenki Movement who did not participate in the fighting against it to pay a financial reward of 5,000 US dollars.

Turkish authorities arrested the leader of the Nour al-Din al-Zenki Movement faction, Tawfiq Shahab al-Din, in the Turkish city of Reyhanli. Sources told the Syrian Observatory that Shahab al-Din was arrested after causing a traffic accident while he was in Turkey. Turkey hosts 3.6 million Syrian citizens on its territory, and warlords in Syria have a license that allows them to move between Syria and Turkey without any significant obstacles, while Turkish border guards kill citizens as they approach the border wall.

National Front for the Liberation of Syria

The factions that signed the statement announced their complete merger under the name "National Front for the Liberation of Syria." The new formation included 11 military factions: (Ansar al-Islam Front, Martyr Majd al-Khatib Brigade, Beit Sahem Falcons Brigade, Golan Falcons Brigade, Fajr al-Tawhid Division, 16th Special Forces Division, Martyrs of the Two Grandsons Brigade, Salah al-Din Division, Tawhid Brigade of Hawran Battalions, Jund al-Asima Battalion, and Badia Falcons Brigade).

The factions stressed in their statement that their goal is to preserve the gains achieved by the revolution, preserve the unity of Syria, its land and people, and preserve the national decision without any agenda, policies or external dictates that conflict with the interests of the Syrian revolution. In their statement, the factions called on all military forces, political and civil bodies, and citizens to join efforts and unify work in the right direction. They stated their rejection of any document, idea or initiative that is not in line with the popular will to achieve its ambitions.

On 31 July 2017 factions belonging to the Syrian Revolutionaries Front and affiliated with the Free Syrian Army announced their military, administrative and organizational merger and the formation of the “First Infantry Division” in southern Syria. This comes within the framework of the efforts of the factions operating on the ground in the provinces of Daraa and Quneitra to restructure their ranks following the recent political developments since the announcement of a ceasefire under an American-Russian-Jordanian agreement.

The Front said in a statement that the “First Infantry Gathering,” “Liwa al-Haqq,” “Al-Nasser Salah al-Din Brigades,” “Tawhid al-Ummah Gathering,” and “Tank Brigade” had merged under the name “First Infantry Division” within the “Syrian Revolutionaries Front.” The new formation’s structure consists of a general command, a signal battalion, offices for armament, relief, medical, and media, and another for organization and financial management.

The “Al-Omari Brigades” group, which operates within the Free Syrian Army, had previously announced that there are decisions that the factions will announce to avoid the negative effects of the cessation of American support, including the formation of new entities that include a number of Syrian factions, after America set conditions for resuming its support for the “Southern Front” factions. It pointed out that forty factions across Syria had begun consultations to form the “National Front for the Liberation of Syria,” which includes more than a hundred officers who defected from the regime forces, noting that there are disagreements between the “MOC” room and Jordan about establishing the factions that work according to each party’s agenda.

According to a statement by the head of the political bureau of the Al-Omari Brigades, Wael Moazer, Washington has set several conditions for resuming support for the “Southern Front” factions, including stopping the fighting against the regime and devoting itself to fighting ISIS, sending forces to Raqqa in northeastern Syria, and handing over the missiles and rocket launchers it has to the international coalition forces led by America.

Moazer added that support is still ongoing for some factions, as there are still training courses in Jordan, and shipments of weapons and ammunition have arrived after the announcement of the cessation of support.

Meanwhile, the commander-in-chief of the Syrian Revolutionaries Front, Abu al-Zain al-Khalidi, said that the American team in the MOC room informed them of the decision to stop support two weeks ago, justifying this by reorganizing the factions after the “de-escalation” agreement in southern Syria, which was reached by US President Donald Trump and Russian President Vladimir Putin in coordination with Jordan, on the sidelines of the G20 summit in the German city of Hamburg on July 2, which stipulated a ceasefire in the provinces of Sweida, Quneitra, and Daraa.

Al-Khalidi pointed out that the American team informed them of new mergers and missions for the factions related to the political solution. He explained that the Americans informed him that support will continue after the completion of the restructuring of the factions, noting that the operations room is currently summoning military leaders in the south of the country to discuss the truce. Al-Khalidi said that “fighting the regime forces is no longer on the table, and will be directed towards ISIS, and there are preparations to form an internal security apparatus and to preserve the borders, and a national army will be formed in the future to represent the opposition in all areas of southern Syria.”

Mustafa Sejri, head of the political bureau of the “Mu’tasim Brigade,” had previously announced that the Mu’tasim, Hamza, and 51st Brigade factions were still receiving American support from the Pentagon, and that the number of fighters in these factions was estimated at four thousand. He stressed that the American weapons they were receiving were light and medium weapons and were not comparable to the armament of the “Syrian Democratic Forces,” which were supplied with tanks, vehicles, troop carriers, and anti-tank weapons.

On July 22, US President Donald Trump announced the end of the CIA program to arm Syrian opposition factions, which the agency launched during the era of former President Barack Obama. He justified this by saying that he saw no benefit in continuing the program because it was huge, expensive, and ineffective.