Saraya Ansar al-Sunnah
| Saraya Ansar al-Sunnah | |
|---|---|
| سرايا أنصار السنة | |
 | |
| Founding leader | Abu Aisha Al-Shami |
| Foundation | 1 February 2025 |
| Split from |  Hay'at Tahrir al-Sham[1] |
| Country |  Lebanon Syria |
| Headquarters | Western Syria |
| Ideology | Salafi jihadism Anti-Assadism Anti-Shi'ism Anti-Alawism[2] Anti-Druzism |
| Allies |  Islamic State (alleged)[3] Hamza Division Sultan Suleiman Shah Division[4] |
| Opponents |  Assadist insurgents[2]
|
| Battles and wars | Syrian civil war |
Saraya Ansar al-Sunnah (Arabic: سرايا أنصار السنة, romanized: Sarāyā Anṣār al-Sunnah, lit. 'Supporters of the Sunnah Companies') is an anti-Shia and anti-Alawite militant organization which operates in Syria and Lebanon.
History
[edit]The group was created on 1 February 2025 in Syria by Abu Aisha al-Shami, who had left Hay'at Tahrir al-Sham (HTS) after perceiving it to be lenient towards Shia Muslims and Alawites.[6] The same day, it claimed responsibility for an attack that killed 12 Alawites in Arzah, and its fighters attacked Tell Dahab and killed five former security members of the Ba'athist government.[2][5] They also claimed responsibility for the killing of 10 Shia villagers in Hama.[5]
The group stated that its sole motive was to continue the attacks until Shia Muslims and Alawites were fully "eliminated" from Syria or displaced to other countries. The group is decentralized with no formal headquarters. The group opposes the transitional government's efforts to pardon former members of the Ba'athist government.[5] The group accused HTS of "abandoning its original ideas of building an Islamic state" and "being too soft" on the "Nusairi and Rafidite threat". The group said that they would "finish what they started".[1]
The group has formed lone wolf squads that are present in multiple regions of Syria in cells of five to 12 people, which operate autonomously and do not have permanent deployment points or headquarters. They also do not know each other's identities and locations.[1]
On 5 March 2025, Saraya Ansar al-Sunnah claimed to have set fires to forests in Qardaha, warning that it would target Alawites for crimes committed by the Ba'athist government. According to the Institute for the Study of War, “It is not clear whether the group is conducting these attacks itself or if it is falsely claiming security incidents.”[7]
On 4 April 2025, Saraya Ansar al-Sunnah claimed to have killed an Alawite man and his relative in Safita, Tartus Province. A day later the group claimed an attack which killed a former National Defense Force member in western Homs Province, as well as kidnapping three Alawites from Sqoubin, Latakia Province in a separate attack.[8]
On 8 April 2025, Saraya Ansar al-Sunnah claimed that one of its members drove up to an Alawite civilian and shot him in the majority Alawite neighborhood of Wadi al Dahab in Homs City, the group justified the attacks by claiming that the person was a "criminal" and affiliated with the former Ba'athist Government.[9]
On 9 April 2025 it stated that it killed 20 Alawites over the past week, with the Institute for the Study of War comparing its rhetoric to the "ideology of al-Qaeda and ISIS".[10]
On 9 May, Saraya Ansar al-Sunnah assassinated a former National Defense Forces commander in the al-Waer neighborhood of Homs City. The slain commander was known for his efforts to organize a military defense of Homs City against HTS before the fall of the Assad regime in December 2024. In a separate attack, Saraya Ansar al-Sunnah also assassinated a Shia Assad regime fighter for his association with Liwa al-Quds in the al-Mashad neighborhood of Aleppo city.[11]
On 10 May, it published a statement declaring itself to be active in the city of Tripoli, Lebanon, threatening to “strike the apostates among the Nusayris, the Rawafed, and the Druze” there.[12]
On 21 May, the newspaper An-Nahar published an interview with the head of Saraya Ansar al-Sunnah's Sharia division Abu al-Fath al-Shami, who stated that the militant organisation was founded in secret in Idlib prior to the fall of the previous Syrian government. According to him, the organisation came out of secrecy in order to publicly distance themselves from the regime of Ahmad al-Sharaa, who he described as an untrustworthy tyrant. He also stated that the organisation contained members who had defected from HTS, along with defectors from other militias and civilians who had joined the group. Describing the organisation's priorities, he stated that they do not currently see a need to confront the Syrian transitional regime's military forces, despite having declared them to be apostates. According to him, the organisation is presently focused on attacking Alawites, Druze, Shiites, and the SDF forces in Northeast Syria.[13]
Relations with IS
[edit]According to the Institute for the Study of War, the group "appears to support IS and share its extremist ideology." Though the group has denied that it cooperates with IS, it has stated that cooperation with it “may happen in the future and will be announced as it happens.”[3] Abu al-Fath al-Shami, head of Saraya Ansar al-Sunnah's Sharia division, stated that the organisation has not pledged allegiance to IS's leader and is not affiliated with him, but added that "whoever agrees with us in pure monotheism and sincere jihad has our brotherhood."[13]
References
[edit]- ^ a b c "Saraya Ansar al-Sunna group emerges in Syria". Shanghai Cooperation Organization. 8 February 2025.
- ^ a b c d Ganzeveld, Annika; Reddy, Ria; Campa, Kelly; Moore, Johanna; Moorman, Carolyn; Rezaei, Ben; Braverman, Alexandra; Borens, Avery; Carter, Brian (14 February 2025). "Iran Update, February 14, 2025". Institute for the Study of War. Retrieved 14 March 2025.
- ^ a b "Iran Update, April 23, 2025". Institute for the Study of War. 23 April 2025. Retrieved 21 May 2025.
- ^ "Syrians describe the violence targeting Alawite minority: 'Tomorrow, there won't be a man left alive in my village'". Le Monde. 9 March 2025. Retrieved 10 March 2025.
- ^ a b c d "مجزرة في إحدي قرى حماة راح ضحيتها 10 أشخاص.. من تكون مجموعة" مجزرة في إحدي قرى حماة راح ضحيتها 10 أشخاص.. من تكون مجموعة [A massacre in one of the villages of Hama in which 10 people were killed.. Who is this group?]. Nabd. 2 February 2025. Retrieved 26 February 2025.
- ^ Imran, Rasha (14 February 2025). "تنظيمات جهادية على التليغرام" تنظيمات جهادية على التليغرام [Jihadist organizations on Telegram]. The New Arab (in Arabic). Archived from the original on 15 February 2025. Retrieved 18 February 2025.
- ^ "Iran Update, March 5, 2025". Institute for the Study of War. Retrieved 8 March 2025.
- ^ "Iran Update April 7, 2025". Institute for the Study of War. Retrieved 8 April 2025.
- ^ "Iran Update April 8, 2025". Institute for the Study of War. Retrieved 10 April 2025.
- ^ "Iran Update April 9, 2025". Institute for the Study of War. Retrieved 10 April 2025.
- ^ "Iran Update, May 9, 2025". Institute for the Study of War. Retrieved 10 May 2025.
- ^ Eddé, Nemtala (14 May 2025). "Who is the jihadist group 'Saraya Ansar al-Sunna,' claiming to be active in Tripoli?". L'Orient Today. Retrieved 18 May 2025.
- ^ a b Ali, Abdullah Sulayman (21 May 2025). "أنصار السنّة" يثير الرعب في سوريا ويُكفّر الشرع: أولويتنا الأقليات ونخطط للتمدّد في لبنان ["Ansar al-Sunnah," who are terrorizing Syria and declaring al-Sharaa an apostate: Our priority is minorities, and we plan to expand into Lebanon.]. An-Nahar (in Arabic).
