The Al-Nusra Front is an Islamic extremist organization that aims to oust the current president of Syria: Bashar al-Assad. In 2013 they pledged allegiance to Al-Qaeda and its leader, Ayman al-Zawahiri. The Al-Nusra Front have seized land in northern Syria with Syrian rebels, and is one of the groups involved in the Syrian civil war, along with ISIS, the Kurds, and Hezbollah. Although its beginnings have ties with the Islamic State in Iraq, which is now known as ISIS, they have publicly stated they are no longer in alignment with ISIS.
The Al-Nusra Front began when uprisings started against Assad’s regime in Syria. The uprisings, protests to the regime’s rule, turned violent in 2011. A civil war erupted in Syria shortly after, at first only involving the Syrian rebels and Assad’s regime. In early 2012, the Al-Nusra Front was created as a branch of the Islamic State in Iraq. They began to fight against Assad’s regime along with other groups.
The relationship between the Al-Nusra Front and ISIS turned sour in 2013. ISIS declared that the two groups would be merged and fight in Syria under the same leadership. Although the two groups had similar agendas, ISIS had cut ties with Al-Qaeda previous to the proposed merger. Al-Nusra refused to renounce connections with Al-Qaeda and give up their own strategy for Syria, so they declined the merger and took a hostile stance toward ISIS.They later pledged themselves to Al-Qaeda and its leader.
The Al-Nusra Front has shown its capability of terror through many guerilla-style and suicide attacks against Assad. The Al-Nusra Front has declared its hostility toward Israel and the west as well. They don’t, however, appear to be quite as harmful as other terrorist groups. They have publicly announced that they try to not cause any civilian casualties and often assist the people in areas they control with food, blankets, and other necessities. They still are quite dangerous and violent, as they are a terrorist group.
Although the Al-Nusra front is not quite as potent as other terrorist groups like Al-Qaeda, ISIS, or the Taliban, their mentality is still dangerous. Their allegiance to Al-Qaeda is worrying and their capabilities are still quite menacing. The Al-Nusra front could possibly lose quite a big of power after the Syrian civil war is over, and hopefully their attacks could cease. I think the best shot at disbanding the Al-Nusra front would involve diplomatically ending the civil war or lessening Al-Qaeda's power.
Sources:
http://www.nctc.gov/site/groups/al_nusrah_front.html
http://www.bbc.com/news/world-middle-east-18048033
http://www.cnn.com/2016/01/25/politics/al-qaeda-al-nusra-isis-threat-experts/
The Al-Nusra Front began when uprisings started against Assad’s regime in Syria. The uprisings, protests to the regime’s rule, turned violent in 2011. A civil war erupted in Syria shortly after, at first only involving the Syrian rebels and Assad’s regime. In early 2012, the Al-Nusra Front was created as a branch of the Islamic State in Iraq. They began to fight against Assad’s regime along with other groups.
The relationship between the Al-Nusra Front and ISIS turned sour in 2013. ISIS declared that the two groups would be merged and fight in Syria under the same leadership. Although the two groups had similar agendas, ISIS had cut ties with Al-Qaeda previous to the proposed merger. Al-Nusra refused to renounce connections with Al-Qaeda and give up their own strategy for Syria, so they declined the merger and took a hostile stance toward ISIS.They later pledged themselves to Al-Qaeda and its leader.
The Al-Nusra Front has shown its capability of terror through many guerilla-style and suicide attacks against Assad. The Al-Nusra Front has declared its hostility toward Israel and the west as well. They don’t, however, appear to be quite as harmful as other terrorist groups. They have publicly announced that they try to not cause any civilian casualties and often assist the people in areas they control with food, blankets, and other necessities. They still are quite dangerous and violent, as they are a terrorist group.
Although the Al-Nusra front is not quite as potent as other terrorist groups like Al-Qaeda, ISIS, or the Taliban, their mentality is still dangerous. Their allegiance to Al-Qaeda is worrying and their capabilities are still quite menacing. The Al-Nusra front could possibly lose quite a big of power after the Syrian civil war is over, and hopefully their attacks could cease. I think the best shot at disbanding the Al-Nusra front would involve diplomatically ending the civil war or lessening Al-Qaeda's power.
Sources:
http://www.nctc.gov/site/groups/al_nusrah_front.html
http://www.bbc.com/news/world-middle-east-18048033
http://www.cnn.com/2016/01/25/politics/al-qaeda-al-nusra-isis-threat-experts/