Op-Ed / Middle East & North Africa 22 October 2018 ‘Frogs’ and ‘Geckos’: Syria’s Jihadists Speak the Language of Rebellion Originally published in War on the Rocks Share Facebook Twitter Email Linkedin Whatsapp Save Print A Turkish-Russian agreement last month forestalled a potentially disastrous Syrian military attack on the country’s northwestern Idlib governorate, the Syrian opposition’s last major stronghold. Yet the agreement also required Turkey to “remove” the Syrian jihadist group Hayat Tahrir al-Sham and other hardliners from much of the northwest, a possible first step toward separating them from the rest of the opposition. So far, results are reportedly mixed. Whether the group continues to comply, and how it resolves its own dual transnational-local identity, could be a matter of life or death for the northwest’s nearly three million residents. A recent video release from Tahrir al-Sham, or HTS, helps show how it has integrated into Syria’s opposition, and how it translates its ideological worldview into the language of Syria’s war. The Sept. 17 video features a roundtable discussion between three of the group’s top leaders and members of its advisory Shari’a Council as they expound on what the Syrian government calls “reconciliation” — the negotiated surrender of opposition-held areas. As they do so, they also engage in a seemingly unscripted discussion of politics, war, and religious law. And they repeatedly touch on language, and how the vocabulary of Syria’s war corresponds to their particular religious-jurisprudential lexicon. Click here to read the full article at War on the Rocks. Related Tags Jihad in Modern Conflict Syria More for you Event Recording / United States The War on Terror: Twenty More Years? (Online Event, 20th October 2021) Interactive / Global U.S. military counter-terrorism hostilities and detention operations since 2001 Up Next Podcast / Africa Could Talking to Mali's Jihadists Bring Peace?
Podcast / Africa 30 September 2021 Could Talking to Mali's Jihadists Bring Peace? In this episode of Hold Your Fire!, Richard Atwood and Naz Modirzadeh talk with Ibrahim Yahaya Ibrahim, Crisis Group’s Sahel expert, about whether it is time for a new strategy in Mali as the government and its allies struggle against jihadist insurgents. Share Facebook Twitter Email Save Print The war in the Sahel appears to have reached a stalemate. In Mali, fighting pits the Malian security forces, backed by regional militaries and French special forces and airpower, against an al-Qaeda-linked jihadist coalition, JNIM (the Group for the Support of Islam and Muslims). Since Mali’s crisis in 2012-2013, efforts to defeat jihadist militants have only seen their influence expand. Violence has spread across the Sahel at terrible human cost. Two successive coups in Bamako, Mali’s capital, have fuelled political instability. French officials appear exasperated by the lack of progress. Yet militants themselves are also under pressure, with several leaders killed over recent years. In this episode of Hold Your Fire! Richard Atwood and Naz Modirzadeh are joined by Ibrahim Yahaya Ibrahim, Crisis Group’s Sahel expert, to ask whether it is time for a new approach. They take stock of the insurgency’s current state, its aims and JNIM’s relationship with al-Qaeda. They discuss the future of the French presence and the consequences of the recent coups. They also speak at length about prospects for talks between the government and JNIM leaders, what such talks might entail and the challenges such a path would pose. Click here to listen on Apple Podcasts or Spotify.For more information, explore Crisis Group’s analysis on our Sahel and Mali regional pages as well as our work on Jihad in Modern Conflict. Be sure to keep an eye out for Ibrahim’s upcoming report. Related Tags Jihad in Modern Conflict Mali Contributors Richard Atwood Interim President atwoodr Naz Modirzadeh Board Member and Harvard Professor of International Law and Armed Conflicts Ibrahim Yahaya Ibrahim Consulting Analyst, Sahel IbrahimYahayaIb