Ansar al-Sham

Ansar al-Sham (كتائب أنصار الشام, Supporters of the Levant) is an armed insurgent organisation that has been active during the Syrian civil war.

Founded in September 2012 by a Latakian veteran of the Afghan Jihad known as Abu Omar, Ansar al-Sham brings together a wide range of mostly Syrian fighters in North Latakia Governorate on a general Islamist platform. The groups military leader is a Chechen known as Abu Musa al-Shishani, and it maintains good relations with a wide variety of other opposition groups in the area, from the Free Syria Army to Al-Nusra Front. In December 2012, Ansar al-Sham joined with other insurgent groups to found the Syrian Islamic Front umbrella organisation, in November 2013 the SIF was dissolved and Liwa al-Haqq, Ansar al-Sham and Ahrar ash-Sham joined the broader Islamic Front alliance.

It played a lead role in the 2014 Latakia offensive against the Syrian Government.