Editing Al-Nusra Front

|Image        = Flag of Jabhat Fatah al-Sham.png

|type of villain = Radical Terrorists}}{{Quote|We are Syrian mujahedeen, back from various jihad fronts to restore God's rule on the Earth and avenge the Syrians' violated honour and spilled blood.|Unidentified al-Nusra militant in a video from 2012.}}'''Al-Nusra Front''', or '''Jabhat al-Nusra''' (Arabic: جبهة النصرة‎), known as '''Jabhat Fatah al-Sham''' (Arabic: جبهة فتح الشام‎) after July 2016, and also described as '''[[al-Qaeda]] in Syria''' or '''al-Qaeda in the Levant''', was a Salafist jihadist organization fighting against Syrian government forces in the Syrian Civil War. Its aim was to establish an Islamic state in the country.

The al-Nusra Front was primarily made up of Syrian jihadists. Its goals were to overthrow [[Bashar al-Assad]]'s government in Syria and to create an Islamic emirate under sharia law, with an emphasis from an early stage on focusing on the "near enemy" of the Syrian regime rather than on global jihad. Syrian members of the group claimed that they are fighting only the Assad regime and would not attack Western states; while the official policy of the group was to regard the United States and Israel as enemies of Islam, and to warn against Western intervention in Syria, al-Nusra Front leader Julani stated that "We are only here to accomplish one mission, to fight the regime and its agents on the ground, including [[Hezbollah]] and others". In early 2014, [[Sami al-Oraydi]], a top sharia official in the group, acknowledged that it is influenced by the teachings of al-Qaeda member [[Abu Musab al-Suri]]. The strategies derived from Abu Musab's guidelines included providing services to people, avoiding being seen as extremists, maintaining strong relationships with local communities and other fighting groups, and putting the focus on fighting the government.

In March 2015, the group joined with other jihadist groups to form the [[Army of Conquest]]. In July 2016, al-Nusra formally re-branded as Jabhat Fatah al-Sham ("Front for the Conquest of the Levant").

The group is also reportedly guilty of inciting [[sectarianism]]. Members of the group were accused of attacking the religious beliefs of non-Sunnis in Syria, including the Alawis. ''New York Times'' journalist C. J. Chivers cites "some analysts and diplomats" as noting that al-Nusra Front and [[Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant]] "can appear less focused on toppling" the Assad government than on "establishing a zone of influence spanning Iraq's Anbar Province and the desert eastern areas of Syria, and eventually establishing an Islamic territory under their administration".

[[Category:Evil vs. Evil]]

[[Category:Anti-Semitic]]