WHAT IS JABHAT AL-NUSRA?

Terrorist entity with links to Al Qaeda a force in Syria

Jabhat al-Nusra is a listed terrorist entity in Canada and, according to the Canadian Security Intelligence Service, is affiliated with Al Qaeda.

Canada’s Public Safety website states that Jabhat al-Nusra has claimed responsibility for nearly 600 attacks including ambushes, kidnappings, improvised explosive device attacks and suicide bombings in major cities across Syria.

Mubin Shaikh, a former CSIS and RCMP informant who infiltrated members of the Toronto 18, said the group is a major force in the region.

“They’re Al Qaeda’s one and only affiliate in Syria,” he said.

Amarnath Amarasingam, the codirector of a University of Waterloo study into foreign fighters, said the group began when the leader of Daesh, also known as ISIS or ISIL, in Iraq sent one of his top young fighters to start a Syrian branch of the organizations in 2013.

“It became an enormously popular organization because it was part of the revolution and they got a lot of support,” he said.

But over the next year, the two groups had a falling out and became enemies. Amarasingam said Jabhat al-Nusra is a “mid-sized” group with a “couple thousand members.”

Traditionally the group focused on local issues, such as President Bashar Assad’s regime, and Amarasingam said it’s unlikely Jabhat al-Nusra would lead an attack on Canada.

“They’re not dedicated to attacking the West,” he said. “They do celebrate attacks on the West but they have never specifically called for attacks on the West.”