Zahran Alloush | |
|---|---|
 Zahran Alloush attending a military parade in easternGhouta, 29 April 2015 | |
| Born | 1971 |
| Died | 25 December 2015(2015-12-25) (aged 43–44) Utaya,Rif Dimashq, Syria |
| Cause of death | Air strike |
| Other names | Moon of the jihad |
| Known for | Commander of Jaysh al-Islam |
| Military career | |
| Allegiance |  Islamic Front(November 2013 – December 2015) |
| Branch |  Jaysh al-Islam(2011 – December 2015) |
| Years of service | 2011–2015 |
| Rank |
|
| Battles / wars | Syrian Civil War †
|
Zahran Alloush (Arabic:زَهْرَان عَلُّوش,romanized: Zahrān ʿAllūš, 1971 – 25 December 2015) was a Syrian Islamist rebel leader who was the commander ofJaysh al-Islam (Army of Islam), a major component of theIslamic Front, of which he was the military chief, and was described as one of the most powerful rebel leaders in Syria until his death. He was killed in a joint Russian and Regime airstrike on 25 December 2015 and was succeeded byEssam al-Buwaydhani as head of Jaysh al-Islam.[2][3][4][5]
Zahran Alloush was born inDouma, Rif Dimashq, in 1971, and was married to three women.[citation needed] His father was Abdullah Alloush, a scholar and the previous director of Al Assad center for Quran studies in Damascus.[6] He joined the faculty of law atDamascus University,[citation needed] and completed a master's degree inShariah at theIslamic University of Madinah.[7] The Syrian Intelligence Palestine Branch arrested him in 2009 on charges of weapons possession. He was released fromSednaya Prison in 2011 as part of a general amnesty three months into theSyrian Uprising.[8]
Following his release, he established a rebel group called the Battalion of Islam to fight the Syrian Government. The group expanded and renamed itself the Brigade of Islam, and in 2013 it merged with other rebel factions to formJaysh al-Islam, still under Alloush's leadership. This became the most powerful rebel group operating in the Damascus area.[9]
According toJoshua Landis, Alloush called for cleansingDamascus of all Alawites and Shiites,[10] later telling Western journalists that these and similar statements had been caused by the pressure and "psychological stress" he was under from living through the Syrian Government's siege ofGhouta.[7]
A number of Syrian opposition figures have accused Alloush of being responsible for the kidnapping of Syrian activistRazan Zeitouneh and her companions in Douma on 9 December 2013. Alloush denied the allegations.[11][12][13]
In April 2015, Zahran Alloush suddenly appeared in theTurkish city ofIstanbul. A spokesperson from the Army of Islam declared that Alloush would meet rebel groups' leaders there in order to discuss how to lift the siege in Ghouta. This led to public criticism, with many in the media wondering how he could travel toTurkey and come back toSyria while Ghouta was under siege.[14]
Alloush has denounced democracy and called for an Islamic state to succeed Assad; however, in a May 2015 interview withMcClatchy journalists, his spokesperson used moderate rhetoric, claiming that Syrians should decide what sort of state they wanted to live under and thatAlawites were "part of the Syrian people" and only those with blood on their hands should be held accountable. His spokesman went on to say that the sectarian andIslamist rhetoric Alloush had previously made was only intended for internal consumption and to rally his fighters. In an interview withThe Daily Beast in the same period, his spokesman disassociated Zahran fromal-Nusra, denied that he wanted to impose Sharia law, and called for a technocratic government.[7][15][16][3]
He was reported killed, along with other senior members of his faction in the village of Utaya, east of Damascus, on 25 December 2015, in anairstrike on a meeting with rival rebel commanders fromAhrar al-Sham.[5][3] Lebanese pro-government media said that 13 pro-government airstrikes had targeted Damascus that day.[3] Although the Syrian army claimed the strike, local reports said it was by Russian warplanes.[3][17] A senior member of Ahrar al-Sham group, which also lost commanders in the airstrike, said "The martyrdom of Sheikh Zahran Allouch should be a turning point in the history of the revolution and rebel groups should realize they are facing a war of extermination by (Russian President Vladimir) Putin's regime." Other insurgent groups, including Jabhat al-Nusra, lamented his loss.[3] His targeting was linked by Western media to his participation in forthcoming peace talks between the government and opposition.[3][17]The New York Times commented that his death was "a significant blow to the armed opposition, bolstering President Bashar al-Assad".[17]