New Islamic militant group emerges in Syria; Iran-backed Uli al-Baas gears up to resist US, Israel

Months after the fall of Bashar al-Assad in Syria, a new Iran-backed militant group has emerged in the country, vowing to take on Israel and the ruling Turkey-backed interim government in the country.

The 'Islamic Resistance Front in Syria - Uli al-Baas' (UAB) has claimed that it aligns with the broader "Axis of Resistance", which includes Iran and its proxy militant groups, including Hezbollah in Lebanon and Houthis in Yemen, and Hamas in Gaza, according to a report.

The militant organisation claims it is positioned against the "Axis of Global Evil", of which Washington is said to be a part. The political office of the group told US-based Newsweek that the US "praising the role of the Zionist entity and the Turkish occupation was only natural, given that it is the sponsor of chaos, terrorism and evil around the world."

The origin

A study by the think tank Washington Institute said the origin of UAB happened in December when the Assad and Hezbollah-backed Syrian Social Nationalist Party called for the establishment of a front to liberate southern Syria from Jewish aggression.  

A month later, a new group calling itself Jabhat Tahrir al-Janoub (JTJ) or the Southern Liberation Front, announced its formation via Telegram. It too vowed to resist the Israeli occupation’s advance into our lands in southern Syria—specifically in the governorates of Quneitra, Deraa, and the western countryside of Damascus."

The JTJ rebranded by changing its name, and logo, and declared objectives, adopting the new name Jabhat al-Muqawama al-Islamiya fi Suria-Uli al-Baas. The phrase "Uli al-Baas" may derive from a religious text, since it appears three times in the Quran. The same term was also used by Hezbollah Secretary-General Naim Qassem to describe the group's confrontation with Israel after the assassination of his predecessor, Hassan Nasrallah. 

The imagery and the logos used by the group also reflect the signature style of Iran's IRGC and Hezbollah, especially the raised Kalashnikov-style rifle.

First attacks

The group claimed its first military move on January 17, stating it was mobilising light armoured vehicles and fighters to Quneitra, Suwayda, Deraa, Damascus regions. The first attack happened on January 24 when it said one of the groups affiliated with Kataib Uli al-Baas, part of the Islamic Resistance Front in Syria, shot down a drone in the Tal al-Ahmar area in the countryside of Quneitra on January 21” (Figure 4). The drone was reported to be Israeli. 

The political office of the Uli al-Baas identified itself as "a faith-based, revolutionary, nationalist movement" that has its own "political project of resistance that guarantees the establishment of a strong, capable, and freedom-supporting state."

It suggests that it, however, does not believe restoring Assad, who fled to Russia as rebels descended on Damascus "as politically realistic" idea but also can't support HTS leader-turned-Syrian Interim President Ahmed al-Sharaa, formerly known as Abu Mohammed al-Golani.

The group emphasises that it wants a peaceful coexistence with the American people but not the government, adding that it believes that successive American administrations do not represent the American people.

Middle East