Al Qaeda-Affiliated Nusra Front Attacks US-Trained Syrian Rebel Group…Again

On Wednesday, Al Qaeda-linked Nusra Front captured the leader, Colonel Nadim al-Hassan, and various other members of the US-trained Syrian rebel group operating in northern Syria, Division 30. Reports on the total number of members captured have not officially been confirmed. Most are indicating 7 other fighters were captured, where as various social media sources are claiming up to 18 could have been captured.

The Syrian Observatory for Human Rights reported that the Division 30 members were captured while returning from a meeting near the city of Azaz where they were discussing beginning “a military operation against the [Islamic State] in the northeastern Aleppo countryside with the support of the international coalition”.

This is not the first instance of Nusra Front squashing US-backed rebel forces. The Syria Revolutionaries Front and the Hazzm Movement were both terminated at the hands of the Nusra Front; the first group eliminated last year and the second early this year.

The Division 30 group was part of the US program launched in May in Jordan and Turkey to train and arm moderate rebel forces “capable of taking on IS forces”. These forces would be more familiar with the geographic regions and would possess cultural and linguistic skills that could be utilized in the fight against IS. Additionally, they would provide the US with on-the-ground forces who possess the “technical ability to direct coalition airstrikes”.

However, the US is far from reaching the program’s initial goal of training approximately 5,000 fighters a year. US Secretary of Defense Ashton Carter announced earlier this month that, “the US military has trained ‘an awfully small number’ of 60 Syrian rebels to fight Islamic State militants”. The significant deficit of fighters, combined with recent event such as yesterday’s abductions, have left many doubting the potential success of the rebel-training program.

As discussed previously on Free Fire, Jabhat al-Nusra (Nusra) is an Al Qaeda affiliate. According to US intelligence, Nusra members report directly to Al Qaeda’s leader Ayman al-Zawahiri and nearly two dozen Al Qaeda members traveled from Pakistan and Afghanistan to Syria in 2012. In an interview with Al Jazeera in May, Nusra leader Abu Muhammed al-Joulani claimed that the group does not “receive much international support or any state sponsorship, because it prefers to remain autonomous”. However, Saudia Arabia, Turkey, and Qatar have worked closely with Nusra in efforts against the Islamic State and Assad.

As opposed to the oppressive and terror-based tactic of other Islamic terrorist organizations, Nusra takes more of a “buddy-buddy” approach in order to garner support from Syrian civilians. They work to portray themselves as a “local group with a local cause”. Given this support as well as a complex network of alliances with other rebel militias operating inside Syria, Nusra has proved to be a very connected and capable group.

Nusra has made strides in fighting back against Islamic State forces, as well as the Syrian Assad regime. And while the US is also invested in ending the atrocities of IS and Assad, we must take great care to not become involved in actions that could result in a perceived alliance with Nusra. Although Nusra has smaller and more local goals, it ultimately wants to establish Islamic regimes worldwide. Even if training Syrian rebels proves not to be the best counter-measure to the Islamic State, the answer must not be looking to Nusra for assistance.