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Zahran Alloush

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Zahran Alloush
Zahran Alloush attending a military parade in eastern Ghouta, 29 April 2015
Born1971
Douma, Syria
Died25 December 2015(2015-12-25) (aged 43–44)
Utaya, Rif Dimashq, Syria
Cause of deathAir strike
NationalitySyrian
Known forCommander of Jaysh al-Islam
Military career
Allegiance Islamic Front
(November 2013-December 2015)
Service / branch Jaysh al-Islam
(2011-December 2015)
Years of service2011–2015
Rank
Battles / warsSyrian Civil War †

Zahran Alloush (Arabic: زَهْرَانُ عَلُّوش, romanized: Zahrān ʿAlūš, 1971 – 25 December 2015) was a Syrian Islamist rebel leader who was the commander of Jaysh al-Islam (Army of Islam), a major component of the Islamic Front, of which he was the military chief, and was described as one of the most powerful leaders in rebel-held Syria. He was killed in a joint Russian and Syrian airstrike on 25 December 2015 and was succeeded by Essam al-Buwaydhani as head of Jaysh al-Islam.[2][3][4][5]

Early life

Zahran Alloush was born in Douma, Rif Dimashq, in 1971, and was married to three women.[citation needed] His father was Abdullah Alloush, a scholar and the previous director of Al Assad center for Quran studies in Damascus.[6] He joined the faculty of law at Damascus University,[citation needed] and completed a master's degree in Shariah at the Islamic University of Madinah.[7] The Syrian Intelligence Palestine Branch arrested him in 2009 on charges of weapons possession. He was released from Sednaya Prison in 2011 as part of a general amnesty three months into the Syrian Uprising.[8]

Syrian Civil War

Following his release, he established a rebel group called the Battalion of Islam to fight the Syrian Government. The group expanded and renamed itself the Brigade of Islam, and in 2013 it merged with other rebel factions to form Jaysh al-Islam, still under Alloush's leadership. This became the most powerful rebel group operating in the Damascus area.[9]

According to Joshua Landis, Alloush called for cleansing Damascus of all Alawites and Shiites,[10] later telling Western journalists that these and similar statements had been caused by the pressure and "psychological stress" he was under from living through the Syrian Government's siege of Ghouta.[7]

A number of Syrian opposition figures have accused Alloush of being responsible for the kidnapping of Syrian activist Razan Zeitouneh and her companions in Douma on 9 December 2013. Alloush denied the allegations.[11][12][13]

In April 2015, Zahran Alloush suddenly appeared in the Turkish city of Istanbul. A spokesperson from the Army of Islam declared that Alloush would meet rebel groups' leaders there in order to discuss how to lift the siege in Ghouta. This led to public criticism, with many in the media wondering how he could travel to Turkey and come back while Ghouta was under siege.[14]

Alloush has denounced democracy and called for an Islamic state to succeed Assad; however, in a May 2015 interview with McClatchy journalists, his spokeperson used moderate rhetoric, claiming that Syrians should decide what sort of state they wanted to live under and that Alawites were "part of the Syrian people" and only those with blood on their hands should be held accountable. His spokesman went on to say that the sectarian and Islamist rhetoric Alloush had previously made was only intended for internal consumption and to rally his fighters. In an interview with The Daily Beast in the same period, his spokesman disassociated Zahran from al-Nusra, denied that he wanted to impose Sharia law, and called for a technocratic government.[7][15][16][3]

He was reported killed, along with other senior members of his faction in the village of Utaya, east of Damascus, on 25 December 2015, in an airstrike on a meeting with rival rebel commanders from Ahrar al-Sham.[5][3] Lebanese pro-government media said that 13 pro-government airstrikes had targeted Damascus that day.[3] Although the Syrian army claimed the strike, local reports said it was by Russian warplanes.[3][17] A senior member of Ahrar al-Sham group, which also lost commanders in the airstrike, said "The martyrdom of Sheikh Zahran Allouch should be a turning point in the history of the revolution and rebel groups should realize they are facing a war of extermination by (Russian President Vladimir) Putin's regime." Other insurgent groups, including Jabhat al-Nusra, lamented his loss.[3] His targeting was linked by Western media to his participation in forthcoming peace talks between the government and opposition.[3][17] The New York Times commented that his death was "a significant blow to the armed opposition, bolstering President Bashar al-Assad".[17]

References

  1. ^ "The wars of the Eastern Ghouta grind on". The Daily Star (Lebanon). 30 September 2014. Archived from the original on 4 August 2018. Retrieved 11 June 2015.
  2. ^ "Syria conflict: Essam al-Buwaydhani named leader of rebel group Army of Islam". International Business Times. 26 December 2015. Retrieved 26 December 2015.
  3. ^ a b c d e f g "Syrian rebels name successor to slain commander". Times of Israel. 26 December 2015. Retrieved 26 December 2015.
  4. ^ "Syria rebel group appoints successor to slain commander". New York Daily News. 26 December 2015. Retrieved 26 December 2015.
  5. ^ a b "Syrian Rebels Mourn Loss of Leader, Name Replacement". VOA. 26 December 2015. Archived from the original on 26 December 2015. Retrieved 26 May 2021.
  6. ^ Kittleson, Shelly (28 May 2015). "Syrian opposition defends Eastern Ghouta situation". Al-Monitor.
  7. ^ a b c "Islamist rebel leader walks back rhetoric in first interview with Western media". 20 May 2015. Archived from the original on 22 May 2015. Retrieved 25 May 2015.
  8. ^ Aron Lund (17 June 2013). "Freedom fighters? Cannibals? The truth about Syria's rebels". The Independent. Archived from the original on 7 May 2022. Retrieved 7 November 2013.
  9. ^ "Syria army 'tightens siege of rebel bastion near Damascus'". AFP. 3 May 2015. Retrieved 11 May 2015.
  10. ^ "Zahran Alloush: His Ideology and Beliefs". Joshua Landis. 15 December 2013. Retrieved 4 January 2015.
  11. ^ Pizzi, Michael (4 February 2014). "The Syrian Opposition Is Disappearing From Facebook". The Atlantic. Retrieved 8 February 2014.
  12. ^ "One year on, activists demand answers in Razan Zaitouneh disappearance". Syria Direct. 9 December 2014. Retrieved 19 August 2015.
  13. ^ "Top Syrian rebel leader reported killed in airstrike". LA Times. 25 December 2015. Retrieved 27 December 2015.
  14. ^ Fanack.com. "Zahran Alloush, leader of Jaish al-Islam". Fanack.com. Retrieved 20 July 2015.
  15. ^ Syrian Rebel Leader Changes His Conservative Rhetoric in First Talk With an American Newspaper. YouTube. 22 May 2015. Retrieved 19 August 2015.
  16. ^ "Syria Comment » Archives "Is Zahran Alloush in Amman?" by Aron Lund - Syria Comment". Syria Comment. Retrieved 19 August 2015.
  17. ^ a b c "Powerful Syrian Rebel Leader Reported Killed in Airstrike". The New York Times. 25 December 2015. Archived from the original on 17 March 2021. Retrieved 26 May 2021.

Further reading

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