The New Syrian Army is mostly a re-branding of the “Authenticity and Development Front”:
The New Syrian Army was formed in November 2015 with support from the U.S. and Jordan. It was mobilized from the remnants of Free Syrian Army (FSA) affiliated groups from the Syrian-Iraqi border region of Deir al-Zor governorate (MLM Briefs, December 31, 2015). The number of New Syrian Army fighters is highly disputed, estimates range from 36 to 1,000 (The National [Abu Dhabi], March 13; Al-Arabiyya [Dubai], March 7; MLM Briefs, December 31, 2015). Most were affiliated with the Saudi-backed Jabhat Asala wal-Tanmiya (Authenticity and Development Front) umbrella organization, and share the experience of defeat at the hands of IS when the group established its rule in Deir al-Zor (MLM Briefs, December 31, 2015).
http://en.eldorar.com/node/639
Al-Asala & Al-Tanmia Front clarifying about the “New Syrian Army” formation
Al-Asala & Al-Tanmia Front issued an official statement on Tuesday, in which some matters relating to the military entity newly formed “New Syrian Army” which was announced a few days ago showed.
The statement said that the “New Syrian Army” is one of the Al-Asala & Al-Tanmia Front components, which is a Syrian project for the Liberation of the Eastern Province and then head to the rest areas until the overthrowing of the regime and the state of justice and law, pointing out that the army receives support from siblings and friends.
The statement emphasized that Al-Asala & Al-Tanmia Front does not follow any political or Islamist party, and that their approach is a moderate approach based on the Quran and Sunnah of Islam.
It is noteworthy that this statement came after the exposure, “the New Syrian Army” for media campaign by some activists and media networks, which questioned the objectives announced by the organization which is fighting the IS militants.
In November, al-Jaysh Sooria al-Jadeed (New Syrian Army), a U.S. and Jordanian-trained and equipped armed opposition organization with an estimated 400 fighters, was formed (YouTube, November 8). Most of these fighters are from Deir al-Zor Governorate in eastern Syria near the Syrian-Iraqi border, and many belonged to Free Syrian Army (FSA)-affiliated groups operating under the formerly Saudi-backed Jabhat Asala wal-Tanmiya (Authenticity and Development Front) umbrella organization (Vice News, November 30; Russia Today, November 10; Orient News [Dubai], November 9). [1] The New Syrian Army’s primary mission is to defeat the Islamic State organization; fighters within the militia had previously fought against, lost to, and were consequently displaced from areas of Deir al-Zor governorate that are now under the control of the Islamic State (Orient News [Dubai], November 9; YouTube, November 8). The leader of the New Syrian Army is Colonel Khazaal al-Sarhan (a.k.a. Abu Walid and also nicknamed Abu Aboud), one of the most important surviving commanders of the FSA in eastern Syria (Twitter, November 9). [2]
https://sofrep.com/44371/cia-funded-sof-trained-new-syrian-army-hits-ground/
CIA Funded and SOF Trained: The New Syrian Army Hits the Ground
A new video has emerged showing the so-called New Syrian Army in action, kitted out with American weapons and equipment. The train and equip program is a funded and run under the auspices of the CIA but the actual military training which the New Syrian Army receives is conducted by US Special Operations personnel. The New Syrian Army consists mostly of former Assad regime soldiers who fled the battlefield or defected, eventually getting smuggled out of Syria and into Turkey to receive military training.
The New Syrian Army has the potential to win support, he said, because its members are drawn from the nearby province of Deir al-Zour, which borders Iraq and contains most of Syria’s oil. Most recruits are from the remnants of a Free Syrian Army unit called the Authenticity and Development Front, which already was known in the province before it was defeated by the Islamic State during its sweep through Syria and Iraq in 2014.
https://news.vice.com/article/syrias-newest-rebel-army-has-its-sights-on-the-islamic-state
Known as the New Syrian Army or NSA, it first appeared in November in a YouTube video under its Arabic name, Jaish Suriya al-Jadid. Its aim is to retake Deir al-Zour, and it seems to have copious American weaponry and air support from the coalition on its side.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Authenticity_and_Development_Front
The Authenticity and Development Front (Asala wa-al-Tanmiya) is a US-backed alliance of rebel groups that have been active during the Syrian Civil War, and includes Islamists, military defectors, and civilian rebels.[3][4] The Authenticity and Development Front is funded by Saudi Arabia.[14] Although the alliance uses FSA flags and symbols, it doesn’t identify itself as part of the Free Syrian Army.[15] One of the groups that was involved is the Harakat Nour al-Din al-Zenki, which was also part of the Army of Mujahedeen,[3] though the Army of Mujahedeen announced on 4 May 2014 that the Nour al-Din al-Zanki Islamic Brigades had withdrawn from the coalition.[16] Another group involved in the coalition is the Ahl al-Athar Brigade.[2] The Authenticity and Development Front operated American-made BGM-71 TOW weapons captured from the Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant.[17]
https://kyleorton1991.wordpress.com/2015/11/30/syrias-many-moderate-rebels/
Al-Jabhat al-Asala wal-Tanmiya (The Authenticity and Development Front), which has deep links to the Gulf, fields about 5,000 men throughout Syria, which though concentrated in the Qalamoun-Homs and Aleppo areas are spread too thinly to make it a potential powerbroker in any one of those areas. That said, Asala has proven an important funding route
There are then several more conservative groups in attendance, which have sometimes fought in battlefield alliance with Jabhat an-Nusra, al-Qaeda’s Syrian branch … Other such groups are: Jaysh al-Mujahideen, which formed in Aleppo in January 2014 to lead the opposition’s uprising against the Islamic State (IS); al-Jabhat al-Asala wal-Tanmiya (The Authenticity and Development Front), a quietest Salafist organisation with extensive Gulf ties; and al-Ittihad al-Islami li-Ajnad a-Sham (The Islamic Union of the Soldiers of Sham), a Damascus-based group deeply tied to the local clergy.
http://www.longwarjournal.org/archives/2014/12/al_nusrah_front_usin.php
Ahrar al Sham, a unit in the Islamic Front that is closely allied with al Qaeda’s branch in Syria, coordinated with Al Nusrah by attacking the nearby Al Hamadiya camp. Tweets on the Islamic Front’s official Twitter page feature photos and several YouTube videos showing Ahrar al Sham fighting in Al Hamadiya. Another video shows a T-55 tank operated by the jihadist group firing on regime positions near the camp. A video uploaded today showcases many weapons, including howitzers and tanks, that Ahrar al Sham captured during the fighting.
Units from the Western-backed Free Syrian Army also fought alongside the jihadist groups in Idlib. A Free Syrian Army group known as Division 13 aided Al Nusrah in Wadi Al Daif. In a video uploaded to YouTube, fighters from Division 13 fire a BGM-71 TOW antitank missile at a regime BMP. Another Free Syrian Army group, the Supporters of Truth Brigade, uploaded a video to YouTube that shows its fighters assisting Ahrar al Sham near the Hamadiya camp. A group from the Authenticity and Development Front, a coalition of rebel groups outside of the Free Syrian Army, also helped Al Nusrah at Wadi al Daif.
http://civilwaralsham.com/smaller-factions/
The Authenticity and Development Front is a US and Saudi supported alliance operating in Aleppo, Homs, and Damascus, as well as Deir ez-Zor before being kicked out by the Islamic State. Founded in November 2012, it membership of about 5,000 includes a broad range of rebels, from SAA defectors to Islamists. It appears to operate a TOW that was taken from the Islamic State. The Authenticity and Development Front allegedly helped train or equip the New Syrian Army (along with the CIA), a group founded in late 2015 to fight the Islamic State in eastern Rif Dimashq, Homs, and Deir ez-Zor. Member groups of the Front have been involved in both the Jabhat al-Shamiyya and Fatah Halab coalitions. On 28 March 2016, the Homs based group Jaysh al-Tawhid join Jabhat al-Asala wa’l Tanmiya.
http://libyancivilwar.blogspot.com/2015/11/latakia-massacres-rebel-deaths.html
18 Front for Authenticity and Development
The Front for Authenticity and Development (FAD) or Authenticity and Development Front is a U.S.-backed, Saudi-funded, “moderate Islamist” force, using FSA colors and cooperating with them, but not a part of FSA or answerable to the SNC. Co-founded in 2011 by defectors including Farouq’s Abdulrazaq Tlass, they maintain a low profile, appearing neither secular nor overtly jihadist. They have controlled territory, if limited to sectors of some cities and no swathes of land (once with sectors of Aleppo, Deraa, and Douma, decreasing from there, but in 2015 granted a prized share in Jis al-Shughour).
Graffiti implicates them, but the HRW report doesn’t mention it. They cite a video from August 9 (still available) supposedly showing FSA fighters, as the title says. But the alternating corner stamps says FAD and someone else (unclear) jointly produced the video (among others from the offensive). And the graffiti at their checkpoint says this:
Which we had translated:
الله أكبر
اللواء الأول
Line 2, second half: an unclear symbol, then “western front”
الجبهة الغربية
line 3 “belonging to Authenticity and Development Front. (or Front for… FAD)
التابع لجبهة الأصالة والتنمية
“Western front” is probably a unit invented just for this for this joint foray.
The graffiti was seen in a video of theirs, on the wall of a checkpoint at the entrance to the village of Kharata, population 37, suggesting they were in charge there at filming time anyway, which was not very early – the 9th. Other videos, will take more analysis. Some reports (like HRW’s) don’t mention fatalities there at all, but some say everyone in Kharata died, or only 10 survived.
http://www.aymennjawad.org/14161/the-factions-of-abu-kamal
The “Allahu Akbar Battalions”: the group is distinguished by its affiliation with the eastern branch of the “Jabhat al-Asliya wa al-Tanmiya” (Authenticity and Development Front), which is a nationwide alliance of rebel groups that use FSA flags and symbols but do not actually identify themselves as part of ‘the FSA’: see, for example, this message from late April directed from Kata’ib Allahu Akbar to the “Free Army,” urging for unity in the latter’s ranks.
Apparently taking its name from calling Abu Kamal “the Allahu Akbar town,” it is led by one Khaz’al al-Sirhan (Abu al-Waleed, who refers to the struggle against “the immoral Nusayri regime”) and it played a role in the capture of Hamdan military airport near Abu Kamal in November of last year, claiming some military defectors in the process. The group also seems to have a subsidiary military unit-Liwa al-Fatah al-Mubin- and has participated more recently in fighting for Deir az-Zor military airport.
https://www.ctc.usma.edu//posts/the-non-state-militant-landscape-in-syria
The Asala wa-al-Tanmiya Front
The Asala wa-al-Tanmiya Front, led by `Abd al-Qadir Da`fis, also supports the SMC. It was created in late 2012 and claims to have unified approximately 36 factions comprised of 13,000 fighters and civilian auxiliaries, organized across five “fronts” covering most of Syria. It presents itself as a moderate Salafist movement.[23] Its best known member groups are the Ahl al-Athar Battalions, spread across several provinces but strongest in the tribal areas of eastern Syria, and the Noureddin al-Zengi Battalions, a rebel coalition in the Aleppo region.
http://m.thenational.ae/opinion/comment/turkeys-misconceived-approach-to-the-syrian-war
In November, a group of Syrians from Deir Ezzor released a video announcing the formation of a new faction, the New Syria Army (NSA), dedicated to fighting ISIL. The NSA was trained in Jordan and funded by the United States. It works under Asalah wa Al Tanmiya, a Salafist organisation known for sponsoring other rebel factions dedicated to fighting ISIL in Syria. The NSA, fewer than three dozen in number, boasted its first successful fight against ISIL last week, when it expelled the group from the Iraqi-Syrian Tanf border crossing, near Jordan.
http://brown-moses.blogspot.com/2013/12/senior-member-of-smc-defects-to-isis_2.html?m=1
11:17 Tell us about the last meeting.
11:18 The last meeting included all the FSA leaders in the east areas, Hasaka, Raqqa and Deir Ezzor, as well as the leaders of Aleppo front, They held meetings with each front separately, eastern and northern, on the first and second days. On the third they met with both fronts in a single meeting, which was sponsored by Prince Salman.
12:03 Whos is Prince Salman?
12:05 Prince Salman occupies the position of Saudi Deputy Defense Minister, and he is currently responsible for the Syrian file, I told you before that Qatar was responsible, but he took over the file from them. Of course, Prince Salman is known as the brother of Prince Bandar [bin Sultan] of the house of Saud. Those present include the Jordanian, Qatari, and Emirati intelligence services as well as Salim Idriss. There were no international intel services that were not present. Maher Noami, Muhannad Tallaa’ and Muhammad Abboud, Jabhat al Asala wa al Tanmiya was also present.
One way armed groups secured longer-term backing was by adopting the ideologies of their benefactors, as a series of brigades in Deir Ez Zour illustrate. With the support of RIHS, an unofficial Kuwait-based group calling itself the Deir Ez Zour Revolutionary Association helped create three brigades with a moderate Salafi ideology similar to its own: Ahl al-Athar, Bashayer al-Nasr, and Allahu Ahkbar.These groups were unified, again with RIHS’s blessing, to become Jabhat al-Asala wa al-Tanmiya in the summer of 2012.
http://m.gulfnews.com/news/mena/syria/unprecedented-meet-shows-riyadh-s-seriousness-1.1633346
The rebel groups invited to Riyadh are considered to be ‘moderate’ according to Saudi officials. They include the Saudi-backed Jaish Al Islam, headed by Zahran Alloush, which is dominant on the outskirts of Damascus.
Also invited are Jabhat Al Asala Wa Al Tanmiya, a Turkish-backed group dominant in the Aleppo countryside, commanded by Eyad Mohammad Shami
http://dogueroglu.com/turkey-is-the-export-hub-for-detonating-cords/
Detonating cords stopped at Turkey’s Syria border
The first instance that put an international detonating cord manufacturer’s name side by side with Salafi jihadists operating in Syria came in last year. On June 10 2015, officers in Hatay Cilvegozu Border Control, the gateway of Jabhat al-Nusra affiliated groups into Syria, notified Ankara on a suspicious cargo, which seemed to have acquired all the necessary paperwork for exporting dozens of batches of detonating cords, a material widely used in mining and construction sectors other than being the key element of IEDs, to Jordan via land route passing through Syria in conflict. As soon as the controversy received press attention, border administration couldn’t help but to halt the truck’s passage, apprehend the driver, and seize the cargo, a million meters of detonating cords, an ample amount of explosives. 210,000 dollar worth cargo weighing 24 tons was meant to be delivered to a firm based in Amman, Jordan, ASR Trading Company, yet it never left Turkey. The explosives that got stuck in Cilvegozu Border, belonged to Maxam Anadolu, a subsidiary of Spanish explosives and ammunition giant Maxam International, a multi-sectoral corporation with a military arm Expal, which is one of the largest defense contractors in Europe.
Allegedly en route to Jordan
Having all the necessary documentation from related ministries, Maxam Anadolu sent the truck filled with detonating cords to Cilvegozu Border Crossing. Nevertheless the question remained; who could have been the recipient of the cargo? Cilvegozu opens in Syria through Bab al-Hawa Border Crossing to the other side of the soil, a checkpoint that is under control of Salafi jihadists for almost 4 years now. Captured by the FSA (Free Syrian Army) on June 19 2012, following the paradigm shift of the Syrian Opposition, Bab al-Hawa has been governed by Salafi organizations Jabhat al-Nusra or an affiliate of it, the Islamic Front.
If everything had gone according to the plan, following its arrival to Cilvegozu Border Crossing on June 10 to 12 2015, the truck loaded with detonating cords would have proceeded to Bab al-Hawa. By that time, however, Jabhat al-Nusra had already passed the control of the border to others. Influential groups of that day, Jabhat al-Islamiya, Nour al-Din al-ZenkiBrigade, Jaish al-Muhajireen wal-Ansar, and Asala wa-al-Tanmiya had supervision over Bab al-Hawa from time to time since 2014, and they all were aligned with Jabhat al-Nusra, if not operated directly under its sovereignty.
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