Jund al-Sham

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Jund al-Sham (Arabic: جند الشام, "Soldiers of Greater Syria"[1]) is believed to have first appeared in Afghanistan in 1999, the group was established by Syrians and Palestinians with links to Abu Musab al-Zarqawi,^[1] who went on to found al-Qaida in Iraq and was subsequently killed by a US airstrike. According to European Intelligence documents and Jordanian government sources, Zarqawi set up the camp with $200,000 in startup money he received from Osama bin Laden.^[1] The camp near Herut was named Al Matar Training Camp and taught the jihadists techniques in guerrilla warfare, explosives and chemical weapons. It is believed the group left after its base of operations was disrupted by the War in Afghanistan to oust the Taliban regime. Its first attack came in the summer of 2004 when a car bomb in Beirut exploded, killing a Hezbollah agent. The Syrian security forces have clashed in numerous gun battles with the group since then.^[2]

Several groups claim the name Jund al-Sham including one a Palestinian militant group in Lebanese refugee camp of Ain al-Hilweh. It is not known however if the two groups a connected.^[2]

1 Attacks
2 Disbandment
3 See also
4 External links
5 References

[edit] Attacks

The group claimed responsibility for a suicide bombing near a British school in Qatar (The Times (London), March 23, 2005), and/or the name of a Salafi-influenced group in the Ein el-Hilweh camp refugee camp near the southern port city of Sidon, Lebanon. Its presence has also been reported in Syria. It has been listed as a terrorist organisation by Russia^[3] It may or may not have any relationship to the "The Strugglers for the Unity and Freedom of al-Sham", who in December 2005 claimed responsibility for the assassination of Gibran Tueni, and made threats against Detlev Mehlis.

Amnesty International reports on other attacks as follows:

"Heba al-Khaled, Rola al-Khaled and Nadia al-Satour were arrested on 3 September 2005, following, according to Syrian state media, a gun battle in Hama province, in the west of the country, between the Anti-Terror Squad and militants of the Jund al-Sham ("Soldiers of the Levant") armed group. Five Jund al-Sham members were reportedly killed and two security officers injured. The women were arrested when the security forces were unable to find their husbands, who are allegedly involved with Jund al-Sham. They were first detained in the town of Hama, before being transferred to the Military Intelligence Palestine Branch in Damascus. They were reportedly held as hostages to put pressure on their husbands to give themselves up, even though Heba al-Khaled and her sister Rola al-Khaled were pregnant at the time they were detained, and Nadia al-Satour reportedly had her young baby with her."

On May Day, 2006, Jund al-Sham reportedly fought with Fatah in the Ein el-Hilweh camp. One Palestinian bystander, Mohammed Tayssir Awad, 20, was killed by a stray bullet. The Associated Press reported: "A Fatah official in the camp, speaking on condition of anonymity because he was not authorized to speak to the media, said the fighting began when Jund al-Sham gunmen tried to assassinate Mahmoud Abdul-Hamid Issa, a Fatah military official, as he walked with his bodyguards. One of the bodyguards, Abu Omra al-Aswad, was seriously wounded, the official said."

On September 12, 2006, armed militants reportedly linked to Jund al-Sham attempted to storm the US Embassy in Damascus. The four attackers were armed with hand grenades and automatic rifles, as well as a van rigged with explosives. Three of the attackers were killed and one wounded; a Syrian anti-terrorism officer was also killed in the battle.^[2]

On June 3, 2007, Jund al-Sham fired a rocket-propelled grenade at a Lebanese Army Checkpoint near Sidon, prompting a response from the Lebanese Army leading to clashes. These clashes follow a tense three weeks in Lebanon's north, where the Lebanese Army has been battling militant group Fatah al-Islam at a Palestinian refugee camp.

[edit] Disbandment

The Asbat al-Ansar source said that 23 members of Jund Al Sham in the Ain Al Helweh camp on the outskirts of the port city of Sidon have joined up with Usbat at a meeting on June 31, while the rest had laid down their weapons. Usbat Al Ansar detained three other members of the group on suspicion of hurling a grenade at an army checkpoint, in an incident that caused no casualties, he said. ^[4]

In March 2008 fighting broke out between members of the Fatah faction and Jund al-Sham in the Ain Al Helweh camp.^[5]