Newly formed Islamic Front quits Rebels’ Joint Chiefs

Syria's Islamic Front in a statement announced withdrawing from the Free Syrian Army’s Joint Chiefs of Staff over accusations to the Syrian Military Council (SMC) of affiliation to a political body in reference to the National Council.

The statement came hours after an alleged interview with Gen, Salim Idirss with British newspapers which quoted him saying that FSA will fight the extremists and al-Qaeda affiliates as soon as Basher al-Assad leaves the power.

Despite Idriss denial to the latest statements, Syrian hard-line Islamists seemed to be fed up of Idriss double-faced, activists said. 

Zahran Alloush, the commander of Islam Army and the chief of Military Commission in IF was blessed the efforts have been done by main branch of al-Qeda in Syria, Jabaht al-Nusrah in Ghouta battles and it cooperation in many battlefields.

IF was formally announced on November 22, the IF includes groups from three prior umbrella organizations: the Syrian Islamic Front (SIF), the Syrian Islamic Liberation Front (SILF), and the Kurdish Islamic Front (KIF). From the SIF, Harakat Ahrar al-Sham al-Islamiyya (HASI), Kataib Ansar al-Sham, and Liwa al-Haqq joined, as did the KIF as a whole and former SILF brigades Suqur al-Sham, Liwa al-Tawhid, and Jaish al-Islam. None of these groups has been designated by the U.S. government as a foreign terrorist organization.

Although these groups previously kept their individual names under the SIF and SILF, they will no longer do so under the IF, though it may take time to phase out the original names. This was confirmed the same day as the IF announcement, when SIF leader Hassan Aboud put out a directive dissolving his organization, according to Washington Institute.

The recent merger of several Syrian rebel groups into the Islamic Front (IF) is one of the war's most important developments. Although the political and military opposition has long been fragmented, the new umbrella organization brings seven groups and their combined force of 45,000-60,000 fighters under one command. It also links the fight in the north and the south. Most notably, though, it affirms the troubles Washington will have setting policy in Syria going forward, Aaron Y. Zelin, WI fellow researcher said .