Ansar al Islam battles Kurds in Aleppo

Ansar al Islam’s branch in Syria is fighting against Kurdish forces in the Ashrafiyeh neighborhood of Aleppo, the largest city in the country. The People’s Protection Units (YPG), the main Kurdish faction in northern Syria, controls the nearby neighborhood of Sheikh Maqsud.

Four photos released on Ansar al Islam’s Twitter feed document the clashes. They are captioned: “Repulsion of a progression attempt from the PKK and Jaysh al Thuwar militias and regime forces towards Ashrafiyeh neighborhood in Aleppo.”

The photos show jihadists taking up positions within a building and firing on Kurdish fighters. Ansar al Islam calls the Kurds “PKK” as the YPG is the military wing of the the Syrian Democratic Union Party, which is connected to the Kurdistan Workers Party (PKK). Jaysh al Thuwar, or Army of Revolutionaries, is a coalition of several former Free Syrian Army units and has reportedly joined the Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF), a US-backed coalition. The Kurdish YPG is also a member of the SDF alliance.

Ansar al Islam is an al Qaeda-linked jihadist group that was originally founded in northern Iraq in 2001. The main Iraqi faction of Ansar al Islam has suffered from defections to the Islamic State and has largely been forced underground. However, it continues to operate in Syria alongside the Al Nusrah Front, al Qaeda’s official branch in Syria, as well as other jihadist and rebel groups in the north.

Photos released by Ansar al Islam:

Cbh18UQUAAAP7m1

Cbh18n1UUAATqtt

Cbh19CdUUAA6J0M

Cbh19TeUkAA-Q84

Caleb Weiss is an editor of FDD's Long War Journal and a senior analyst at the Bridgeway Foundation, where he focuses on the spread of the Islamic State in Central Africa.

Are you a dedicated reader of FDD's Long War Journal? Has our research benefitted you or your team over the years? Support our independent reporting and analysis today by considering a one-time or monthly donation. Thanks for reading! You can make a tax-deductible donation here.

Tags: , , , , ,

Iraq

Islamic state

Syria

Aqap

Al shabaab

Boko Haram

Isis