Leader of Jaysh al-Islam, an Islamist group of rebels in Syria, killed near Damascus. Reuters.

Zahran Alloush, the former leader of Jaysh al-Islam. Reuters. 

The leader of an Islamist group of rebels in Syria, fighting near the capital of Damascus, was killed in an airstrike Friday. Reuters. Zahran Alloush, the leader of Jaysh al-Islam, also known as Army of Islam, is a massive blow to the organization, which is one of the largest rebel group fighting in area. The group, now temporarily leaderless and in chaos, fields between 10,000 and 20,000 troops and was President Assad's main enemy in the Damascus area. Since 2013, the group had consolidated local rebel groups and held control of the Eastern Ghouta area of Damascus. Russian bombers targeted the secret headquarters of the group during a major meeting with as many as ten missiles. The Syrians said they gathered intel about the base on the ground while the rebels blamed Russian spy-planes. Jaysh al-Islam does fight against ISIS and al-Nusra as well as the Syrian regime, but they are not a member of the Free Syrian Army (FSA). 

My Comment:

Reuters was sure trying to make it seem like Alloush was a moderate Muslim. I guess in comparison to ISIS or al-Nusra he was, but that's a low bar to clear. Jaysh al-Islam is a radical Islamic group and I think it is fair to call them Jihadists, even if they aren't under the same banner as ISIS or al-Nusra fight under. Alloush was a Salafist, which means he was a follower of an extremely strict and regressive form of Islam. As far as I am concerned, the group is just as dangerous ideologically as ISIS or al-Nusra are, though are less of a threat militarily due to their small size and limited area of control. They also have not exported terrorism to other countries... so far. 

Jaysh al-Islam is responsible for a long list of atrocities in Syria. The Wikipedia page for the group has a long list of horrible things that they have done. The worst of these accusations was the Adra massacre, which they conducted with al-Nusra, where 32 Druze, Alawite, Christians and Ismalites were killed. This is far from the only bad thing they have done. Taking an page out of ISIS's playbook, they filmed the execution of several captured ISIS fighters. Though the ISIS fighters probably deserved it, it was still a war crime. Far worse though is the use of captured Alawite soldiers and their families as human shields against the government's bombing campaign.  

In short these are not good people and I am not sad to see Zahran Alloush go. He was a dangerous man and the world is probably a better place without him in it. But the press is downplaying his crimes. Why? Probably to demonize the Russians. After all, if you claim that Zahran and Jaysh al-Islam are "moderates" then Russia is spending time attacking "moderate rebels, and not ISIS like they are "supposed" to be doing. I understand many people have a problem with what Russia is doing in Syria, but let's not lie and say that the people they are bombing are wholly innocent. Though many of these groups are opposed to both ISIS and the regime, that does not mean they are good people. Indeed, there seems to be very few "good" rebels left in Syria. The thousands of "secular" rebels the American government claims are available for training are mostly a myth.

As always, nobody seems to ask the question of who replaces Bashar al-Assad if he loses. The obvious candidates right now aren't the secular rebels. ISIS is the main candidate but even if they are defeated, al-Nusra is next up in line, and they are affiliated with al-Qaeda. Should that group fall then it is going to be other radical groups, like Jaysh al-Islam, that will take up the banner. And these groups are only slightly better then ISIS or al-Nusra. Though the regime of Bashar al-Assad is evil, and has many crimes to answer for, 

All that is just complaining though. The actual death of Alloush has major implications and I should really discuss them. Destroying the leadership of Jaysh al-Islam should greatly help the Syrian regime's effort at defending Damascus. Damascus has been a hotbed of violence since the start of the war, but the regime has slowly started to take back territory from their enemies. Though the groups still has large numbers of fighters, the loss of their leader will be a major blow to their morale and could give the regime the advantage in the long term. And it's important to note that Alloush wasn't the only commander killed in this attack, he was just the highest ranking. Many other senior commanders were at the meeting and their loss will have an impact as well. 

The attack has short term implications as well. AFP is reporting that an evacuation deal, brokered by Syrian government, to remove ISIS and al-Nusra fighters from the capital of Damascus has fallen apart due to this bombing. Jaysh al-Islam was supposed to provide safe passage to ISIS fighters and civilians to Raqqa, the de-facto capital of ISIS. That deal is, at the very least, postponed. It sounds like there is hope that the evacuation will go on as planned. 

I don't know if that idea is a good one or not. On the one had, if the evacuation takes place then ISIS and al-Nusra will lose their foothold in Damascus, which would be a major defeat for both groups. It would also allow the government to focus their energies on Jaysh al-Islam, and other groups in the area, which is fine with me since I consider them Jihadists. The deal would also allow some people to come home and start rebuilding the damage caused by the war. Still, I'm more then a little wary of letting thousands of Jihadists flee. I'd rather see them dead or in prison awaiting trial for their crimes...

Either way though, it's unclear what is going to happen in Damascus. If things work out then this is a huge victory for the Syrian regime, both diplomatically and militarily. Securing the capital would allow them to shift their focus elsewhere and spend more resources fighting both ISIS and al-Nusra. That's a fine outcome as far as I am concerned. Still, even if the deal falls apart and Jaysh al-Islam is able to reorganize, it's not really a defeat either. It's just the status quo that Syria has been living with for years now. I don't think any group is really seriously threatening to take the capital any time soon. 

I have to say the Russians are proving to be a huge boon for the Syrian regime. Before the Russians came, it seemed like the regime would fall, or at least be pushed back to the point where they would have to be a rump state near the Syrian coast. Losing Damascus seemed like a possibility, and at the very least it looked like it could be cut off from the northern cities. Thanks to Russian intervention that didn't happen. Yes the Syrians on the ground did their part too, but the Russian boosted morale for them with their airstrikes and have crippled the morale of the rebel fighters. I don't know if the Russians entering the war will be remembered as the turning point for the war in Syria, but it does seem that they are having a larger impact then some people would like to admit. 

Finally, it appears that Jaysh al-Islam has a website. It's got some interesting combat footage and photo galleries, but I must warn you that some of it is rather graphic and you may end up on a NSA watchlist for visiting the site...