Jundallah

Introduction

Jundallah was a small Sunni extremist group in Idlib, Syria composed of mostly Azeri hardline foreign fighters that was forcibly disbanded by HTS in November 2021.* Jundallah was formed between 2014 and 2015 by two Azeri fighters, Abi Fatema al-Turki and Abu Hanifa al-Azari, who initially formed a faction called Jund al-Khilafa, or Soldiers of the Caliphate, in 2014 in al-Dana, Idlib, before moving to eastern Syria to briefly join ISIS.* The faction was summarily expelled from ISIS after claiming that ISIS leader Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi was a blasphemer.* Turki and Azari returned to al-Dana in 2015 with a small group of followers and eventually renamed their faction Jundallah, or Soldiers of God.* Tensions between HTS and Jundallah had been rising for several months in mid-2021, as Hayat Tahrir al-Sham (HTS) sought to merge all armed factions under its control or forcibly dissolve them.* In July, HTS demanded that Jundallah either fully submit to HTS control or disband entirely and leave Idlib.* HTS fought briefly with Jundallah in October and November 2021 before reaching  a ceasefire deal under which the foreigners surrendered in exchange for a pseudo amnesty.* During the clashes, HTS security forces killed a number of Jundallah’s leaders, including its general military commander and its communications officer.* Jundallah no longer exists as an armed faction, with its members either in prison or undergoing de-radicalization courses under HTS supervision.*

Leadership

Abi Fatema al-Turki (founder, deceased),* Abu Hanifa al-Azari,* Abu Jaber al-Azari (deputy commander),* Abu Khalil Azari (general military commander, deceased),* Talhat Azari (communication officer, deceased),* Abu al-Fidaa al-Jazaery (general legislator)*

Base of Operations

Idlib province in Syria*

Website

N/A

Membership Size and Relevance

Jundallah was a small Sunni extremist group that formed among mostly Azeri ex-ISIS fighters in 2015.* It consisted of between 40 and 150 fighters before being forcibly disbanded in 2021, and never played a prominent role in rebel offensives.*

Recruitment and Propaganda

HTS claims that Jundallah recruited former members of ISIS, al-Qaeda, and Hurras al-Din who remained in Idlib following the defeat of their respective factions.*

Violent Activities

HTS accused Jundallah of being involved in “security and criminal cases,” i.e., carrying out or planning attacks against HTS personnel and being engaged in the criminal market.*

Rhetoric

N/A

Daily Dose

Extremists: Their Words. Their Actions.

In Their Own Words:

We reiterate once again that the brigades will directly target US bases across the region in case the US enemy commits a folly and decides to strike our resistance fighters and their camps [in Iraq].

Abu Ali al-Askari, Kata’ib Hezbollah (KH) Security Official Mar. 2023
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