International Journal on Criminology Volume 7, Number 2, Spring 2020 | Page 34

Why Salafi-Jihadist Terrorist Groups Pledge Allegiance to Al Qaeda or Isis
As shown in Table 1, many jihadist groups in conflict zones such as Syria
and Yemen sided with AQ and became affiliated with the organization. Their declaration
of loyalty is the result of dissolution and merging, fragmentation, fragmentation
and restructuring, and restructuring. Groups that failed to fight against
international forces or that lost their power came together and convened under
umbrella organizations in conflict zones.
Three of the groups listed in Table 1 (i.e., Al-Qaida in the Islamic Maghreb,
Al Badr Mujahedeen, and the Okba Ibn Nafaa Brigade) are examples of fragmentation
and restructuring, a process in which some members of a larger group leave
the organization and establish a new group. Former jihadist groups that operated
mostly in Algeria created AQIM in northern Africa. Militants who left Hizb-ul
Mujahedeen in Kashmir formed Al Badr Mujahedeen in Kashmir. Former members
of AQIM established the Okba Ibn Nafaa Brigade. The groups’ pledges of
allegiance can be explained by the attractiveness of AQ’s ideological and logistical
support. The groups were well aware that use of the AQ name would enhance their
popularity and enable them to attract new recruits.
Jama’at Nusrat al-Islam wal-Muslimin (JNIM), also listed in Table 1, is an
example of what results when dissolved groups merge, form a larger organization,
and then pledge allegiance to AQ. JNIM, an active jihadist groups in Mali,
resulted from the merger of four dissolved groups: Ansar Dine, the Macina Liberation
Front, Al-Mourabitoun, and the Saharan branch of Al-Qaeda in the Islamic
Maghreb. 93
Another example of dissolved groups’ declaring loyalty to AQ is Hay’at
Tahrir al-Sham (HTS), a jihadist group formerly known as the al-Nusrah Front.
HTS was formed after the dissolution of five terrorist organizations: Jabhat Fateh
al-Sham, the Ansar al-Din Front, Jaysh al-Sunna, the Nur-al Din al-Zinki Movement,
and Liwa al-Haqq. 94 The dissolved groups were responsible for a few terrorist
incidents before they merged with HTS. Led by Abu Mohammed al-Jawlani
(the former leader of the al-Nusrah Front) in its early years, HTS evolved into a
large organization in Syria. After ISIS began to lose its territory and power, HTS
gravitated toward AQ, the group responsible for killing the Russian ambassador to
Turkey in 2016. 95 Similarly, the jihadist groups Jaish al-Izza and Jaysh al-Islam split
from the Free Syrian Army to form new terrorist organizations.
splinter-group-breaks-from-al-qaeda-in-north-africa-idUSKBN0H90G820140914
93 “Al-Qaeda Now Has a United Front in Africa’s Troubled Sahel Region,” Newsweek, https://www.
newsweek.com/al-qaeda-groups-unite-sahel-563351.
94 T. Joscelyn, “Al Qaeda and Allies Announce ‘New Entity’ in Syria,” Long War Journal. Foundation
for Defense of Democracies, https://www.longwarjournal.org/archives/2017/01/al-qaeda-and-al
lies-announce-new-entity-in-syria.php.
95 N. Bertrand, “Russian Ambassador to Turkey as Assassinated in Ankara,” Business Insider, https://www.businessinsider.com/russias-ambassador-to-turkey-has-reportedly-been-shot-in-anka
ra-2016-12.
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