Jaysh al-Jihad

Jaysh al-Jihad (Jihad Army) was an Islamic State group based in Quneitra Governorate. The group formed from the merger of 7 small independent groups and factions that defected from Nusra Front after it clashed with the Yarmouk Martyrs Brigade in December 2014. These groups were: Jihad Brigades, Jamaat Jund al-Islam, Jamaat Abu Baseer, Mujahideen of al-Sham movement, Jamaat Shabab Ahl al-Sunnah, Nurayn Brigade, and Jamaat Bunyan al-Marsous.[1]

Jaysh al-Jihad
جيش الجهاد
Logo of the group Flag used by the group
Leaders	Abu Mussab Al-Fanussy
Dates of operation	February 2015[1] – 21 May 2016
Headquarters	Al-Qahtaniyah, Quneitra[1]
Active regions	Quneitra Governorate and Daraa Governorate, Syria[1]
Ideology	Salafi Jihadism
Size	500[1]
Part of	Islamic State (allegedly)
Allies	Yarmouk Martyrs Brigade
Opponents	Syrian Armed Forces National Defense Force Ahrar ash-Sham[2] Southern Front[3] al-Nusra Front[4] Jaysh al-Islam[5]
Battles and wars	Syrian Civil War Inter-rebel conflict during the Syrian Civil War

The group had been accused by other Syrian rebel groups of being affiliated with the Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant (ISIL).[6][7] In April 2015, violent clashes broke out between the group and the Free Syrian Army and al-Nusra Front, after Jaish al-Jihad militants ambushed and killed six FSA fighters at a checkpoint in Quneitra.[8] By 6 May 2015, Nusra and other rebel groups announced that they had cleared al-Qahtaniyah and Quneitra city of Jaysh al-Jihad forces.[1]

In May 2016, remnants of Jaysh al-Jihad joined with two other Pro-ISIL factions in Southern Syria, the Yarmouk Martyrs Brigade and Islamic Muthanna Movement, to form the Khalid ibn al-Walid Army.[9]