Ghuraba al-Sham

This article is about the jihadist group. For the other group, see Ghuraba al-Sham (Syria).

Ghuraba al-Sham (Arabic: غرباء الشام Ghurabā' ash-Shām, "Strangers of the Levant ") was a group of jihadists of Turkish and former Eastern bloc origin^[3] who smuggled foreign fighters to Iraq, intervened in Lebanon during the 2007 Lebanon conflict,^[6] and fought in Syria during the Syrian civil war.^[3] The group coordinated with Al-Nusra Front in clashes with the People's Protection Units during the Battle of Ras al-Ayn in November 2012^[8] and in January 2013.^[9] The group apparently shut down or disappeared in 2014.

Ghuraba al-Sham
غرباء الشام
Leaders	Mahmud al-Aghasi (2003–2007)[1]
Dates of operation	2003–2013
Active regions	Syria Lebanon Iraq[2]
Ideology	Sunni Jihadism[3]
Allies	Al-Nusra Front[4] (formerly)[5][6] Ahrar ash-Sham Ahrar al-Jazeera[7]
Opponents	Syrian Armed Forces People's Protection Units[8]
Battles and wars	Syrian civil war Syrian Kurdish–Islamist conflict (2013-present)[7] Battle of Ras al-Ayn[4] Syrian civil war spillover in Lebanon

Structure

The group was founded by Aleppo preacher Mahmud al-Aghasi, who was also known as Abu al-Qaqa. He was often accused by Syrian opposition parties of working for the Mukhabarat and during the 2007 Lebanon conflict he was known as the Godfather of Fatah al-Islam.^[6] The group was widely believed by many Lebanese people to be smuggling fighters to Iraq during the Iraq War and later to the Nahr al-Bared refugee camp to help Fatah al-Islam under the alleged auspice of the Syrian government.^[6] Abu al-Qaqa was killed in Aleppo by a former prisoner who was held by Americans during the Iraq War^[1] on 28 September 2007.^[6] Members of the group were recruited in Syria and sent to Iraq to fight during the Iraq War.

See also

• List of armed groups in the Syrian Civil War