http://videos.videopress.com/KKWL5Jv7/u2tr_hd.mp4
In a new video purportedly released by Islamic State affiliate Shuhada al-Yarmouk, al-Qaeda affiliated al-Nusra Front militants are tied-up and blown up with bombs. The video is titled “Healing the Chests,” which is similar to the title of a previous ISIS video where Jordanian pilot Muath al-Kasasbeh was burned alive. The new video is alleged to have been filmed in Daraa, Syria, where Shuhada al-Yarmouk mainly operates.
Shuhada al-Yarmouk translates to “Yarmouk Martyrs Brigade.” The name references the Yarmouk Camp, an “unofficial” Palestinian refugee camp occupying a neighborhood in Damascus. According to the Terrorism Research & Analysis Consortium, the Shuhada al-Yarmouk Brigade was formed in August 2012 and was originally affiliated with the Free Syrian Army, but defected in October 2013. The group then began to cooperate with Jabhat al-Nusra, or the al-Nusra Front, an al-Qaeda affiliate in Syria that is currently fighting the Islamic State for control. However, al-Monitor reports that in December 2014, Shuhada al-Yarmouk again defected from its alliance, this time leaving the al-Nusra Front and allegedly secretly pledging allegiance to the Islamic State.
The video above purportedly showing Shuhada al-Yarmouk executing its once al-Qaeda allies seems to confirm this report.
The al-Nusra Front, or Jabhat al-Nusra (JN), the official al-Qaeda branch in Syria, is a major vulnerability to ISIS’ complete domination of Syria. According to the Institute for the Study of War, “JN rivals ISIS as a sophisticated, intelligent, strategic actor in the region and continues to enjoy a dangerous freedom to operate in Syria. The two groups share common goals, including a revived Islamic Caliphate. JN, however, is pursuing its aims through a distinct, more patient methodology that is highly threatening despite its low signature. Whereas ISIS has announced its state and tried to legitimize it by conquest, JN is following AQ leader Ayman al-Zawahiri’s method of fomenting a religious and social revolution by embedding itself within an indigenous insurgency.”
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