Former Member Recounts Al-Nusra Front's Atrocities (+Video)
DAMASCUS (Tasnim) - Young Syrian who was forced to join al-Nusra Front three years ago, describes the horrible story of the extremist group's atrocities against the Syrian people in particular the people of Aleppo.
Al-Nusra Front - also known as the Jabhat Fateh al-Sham or is described as al-Qaeda in Syria or al-Qaeda in the Levant) is a Salafist terrorist organization fighting against Syrian government. The group announced its formation on 23 January 2012.
On 28 January 2017, following violent clashes with Ahrar al-Sham and other rebel groups, al-Nusra Front merged with four other groups to become Tahrir al-Sham.
Tasnim correspondent in Damascus has made an interview with Ahmad Salah, a former member of the al-Nusra Sharia court who has defected to the Syrian Army. Al-Nusra Sharia court has been behind execution and torture of many Syrian civilians in the past five years.
“Since the time of arrest, I was working with al-Nusra Front. The group detained me when I was at home and after the interrogation. They accused me of cooperation with the Syria’s ruling system (Syrian government). Al-Nusra Front abducted my mother, father, brothers and sisters. They released my father and mother but they refused to free my sisters,” Ahmad Salah said about his detention by al-Nusra Front in 2012 and said,
“I was seventeen when I was detained by al-Nusra Front. The group was only recruiting the low-age teenagers because brainwashing the young people is much easier than adults.”
Elaborating on al-Nusra meetings and on officers and masters who used to attend the group gatherings, he noted, “Officers from US, Israel, Turkey, Egypt and also princes from Saudi Arabia, Qatar and the UAE attended their meetings.”
Salah referred to reasons why he defected from al-Nusra Front and said, “In their meetings, Al-Nusra Front masters announced that they wanted to bring the city of Aleppo under their full control. Aleppo is the land of infidels and they have the right to seize all their assets, women and children. When I witnessed these issues directly, I decided to escape.”
Speaking on real identity of people who were claimed to be killed by the Syrian Army in the reports released by the hostile media, he said these people were in fact, individual that the al-Nusra Front had detained them and had lost their lives under tortures in the Sharia courts.
Salah cautioned the youth in Syria and the region on Takfiris approach for recruiting them and said, “I want to tell the youth that no matter the money, car and arm and even wife that the armed gangs may provide for you, none of these promises will replace your missing homeland."
