Where did it start and how do they work? The full story of jihadist tactical groups in Syria.

Military activity, propaganda and online training.

Since 2016, the jihadist galaxy, particularly the Syrian theatre of operations, has witnessed the emergence and expansion of tactical groups. The stated aim of these groups is to provide advice, training,

The first to emerge and the most famous and well-known was Malhama Tactical, a group founded and composed of immigrants from Russian areas and Central Asian countries (Chechens, Dagestani, Uzbeks, Kyrgyz). Once in Syria, they began to disseminate videos, photos, and training courses and then collaborate with Hay’at Tahrir al-Sham (HTS) and other jihadist groups such as Ajnad al-Kavkaz and the Syrian branch of the Turkestan Islamic Party (TIP). Malhma Tactical’s rapid rise came because of its media and propaganda capacity, it produced extensive propaganda and offered various services such as the production and sale of weapons and tactical training videos, building weapons, conducting special operations, and even conducting military operations together with other jihadist groups.

Since December 2021, Malhama Tactical has left its training camps in Syria operational but no longer produces propaganda, as reported to me by its spokesman. The tactical group has been fully integrated into the special units of HTS, in Liwa “al-Asaib al-Hamrah”.  In January 2023, Hay'at Tahrir al-Sham (HTS) published videos and photos of the military parade of the Liwa “Muawiyahbin Abu Sufyan” and the Liwa “al-Asaib al-Hamrah”, in which it was very interesting to note that one of the photos shows the leader of Malhama Tactical, Ali al-Shishani.

Malhama Tactical thus acted as a precursor to the birth and evolution of other jihadist groups. To date, the most operational in military and propaganda terms are three: Yurtugh Tactical, Albanian Tactical and Muhojir Tactical, and we will analyze them individually.

It is important to point out that all the tactical groups analyzed are often mistakenly referred to as “contractors”, since by providing in-person and online training, or sometimes modifying or producing weapons, they are thought to earn money from what they do. However, they are not paid for this, in some cases, they are self-financing, as they are strongly ideologized groups and their goal is to train and support the groups to which they belong and in general the different jihadist groups close to them, not only operating in Syria to achieve their goals. 

Moreover, within the Jihadist galaxy, tactical groups are well regarded as they help fighters learn how to conduct “modern warfare” and approach military operations with the right preparation.

The Rise of Yurtugh Tactical

Yurtugh Tactical was founded by Uyghur fighters in 2018. The tactical group consists exclusively of highly specialized and trained veteran Uyghur fighters who decided to train because according to their spokesperson, interviewed by the author, the Uyghurs were "deprived of military knowledge by the Chinese regime" and therefore “we realized that our people were far behind in the military field”.

The objectives of the Yurtugh tactical group are mainly threefold: “to provide military knowledge and training to the Uyghur population”, to fight the “Chinese oppressor regime to free our land from occupiers” and to form the East Turkestan state.

The group’s name refers exclusively to the military term 'Yurtugh', which identifies a special military unit of the army of the Turkish Kanato Kara-Khanid dynasty.

The group’s spokesman emphasized that the group's priority is only the “Uyghur cause”. The tactical group is completely independent and is not aligned or linked to other jihadist groups but collaborates in training and military operations with the Turkestan Islamic Party (TIP) and another jihadist tactical group, Albanian Tactical.

The group operates in northwest Syria, however, and must follow the instructions of the unified military body of the HTS “Operations Room al-Fathul al-Mubeen”. The Yurtugh spokesman also specified that the claim that they are called Contractors is incorrect, as they receive no money or donations, do not charge for what they do and only provide training, and all their operations are focused solely on “liberating our land from the Chinese occupiers”.

Yurtugh Tactical since August 2021 has started to spread its training courses as a means of propaganda on various messaging apps and social networks. The decision to disseminate photos and videos is motivated by the fact that “through our media work, other Uyghurs can begin to familiarize themselves with the knowledge. We also want to show our people that our land was taken from us by force and can only be returned in the same way”.

Yurtugh Tactical published videos, posters and photo sets, all in very high definition. The training videos range from 20 seconds to over 5 minutes and show different types of training such as pistol training courses, shooting in the raised and lowered positions, shooting courses in different positions and modes, techniques to unblock malfunctioning or jammed rifles, tactical exercises, exercises to improve speed in hitting targets, two-gun shooting exercises, 50 and 75-metre pistol shooting exercises, night shooting exercises with PEQ-15s, group exercises, and reloading the weapon with a wounded limb. There are also videos explaining the basic rules for the safe use of firearms, the different types of training, and how and in which contexts the weapons are to be used. The posters, on the other hand, are exclusively ideological and propagandistic, while the photo sets show moments of preparation, study, training, and tactical and military equipment.  Instead, the posters are exclusively ideological and propagandistic, while the photo sets show moments of preparation, study, training, and tactical and military equipment. 

Albanian Tactical

A jihadist group called Xhemati Alban “Albanian Congregation” has been operating in Syria since 2012. The group consists of Albanians, Kosovars and Macedonians and is divided into four operational units: snipers, miners, artillery and mortars, and a tactical group.

The tactical group has been operational since around 2017 and since its formation has been playing an important role in the north-western Syrian jihadist galaxy, despite its small numbers, as it manages both the military and operational aspects, conducting offensives and defending Ribat points in the governorates of Idlib, Hama, Aleppo and Latakia, and the organization and management of training camps.

Albanian Tactical promotes strong propaganda, particularly regarding military operations conducted by their snipers and military training and planning. 

The group produces photos and videos of the highest quality in which training with numerous weapons, assaults, guerrilla warfare, target practice, weapon production and modification can be seen.

Albanian Tactical being part of Xhemati Alban is obviously aligned with HTS and cooperates with the “al-Fateh al-Mubeen operations room”. In several cases it has also collaborated with Yurtugh Tactical, as in the case of a training video published on 25 September, 5:45 minutes long, subtitled in English, entitled “Training of the Day”.

They were recently operational against the Syrian government army with AGS-17 attacks in the Syrian hills of Kbeneh.

The birth of Muhojir Tactical

In November 2022, announced on various social networking and messaging platforms, a new tactical group was founded by Chechen and Uzbek fighters around the Idlib governorate, namely Muhojir Tactical.

Propaganda concerning Muhojir Tactical is active on numerous messaging platforms and social networks. One of the founders of the group, Uzbek Abu Valid al-Shami explained what the tactical group would be about: “In this project, there will be introductions on how to use weapons, we will explain mistakes not to make in battle or actions that should be done, what uniforms and tactical material to use, how it should be worn”.

The tactical group was founded by, and aligned with, fighters from the Uzbek jihadist group Katibat Tavhid vo Jihod (KTJ), and those from the jihadist group Liwa al-Muhajireen wal-Ansar (LMA).

The main instructor present in all the videos, sometimes joined by others, is Ayyub Hawk, who belongs to LMA as a member of the group’s special forces.

The first Muhojir Tactical video dealt with explaining how to use Tactical Accessories, showing the different types of military clothing and tactical accessories, and explaining in detail how to use them, how to wear them, and their usefulness.

The video and photo material produced was widely distributed on social networks and messaging apps, in all Russian-speaking channels, Uzbek-speaking channels, KTJ- and LMA-related channels and many pro-HTS channels, reaching thousands of views.

In total, in addition to posters and photos, the group has published six training videos between 10 and 15 minutes long explaining how to use AKM59s, and automatic weapons, carry out repairs to automatic weapons, what military equipment to use, and tactical and target practice.

Conclusions

The establishment of tactical groups in Syria provides two interesting elements. The first is the definitive assertion of tactical groups within the jihadist galaxy, and the second is that, although tactical groups appear to be divided according to nationality and connection to a particular jihadist group, in reality, they often work together. 

The fighters of the tactical groups shown in this one are all not only highly trained, but above all highly ideologically and religiously motivated, and moreover, many of them are veterans of almost a decade of fighting.

Even if they are operating independently or aligned with operational halls, it is obvious that by operating in the Syrian jihadist galaxy, they are weaving ties with other jihadist groups, which could be logistically supportive and helpful should they decide to change the theatre of operations.

It is necessary to pay close attention to this type of group and its propaganda, as it shows important elements such as the fact that jihadist groups, even the smallest or independent ones, have achieved a very high military and training capacity, the wide dissemination of their media products must be considered an important analytical fact, and perhaps more importantly, is that the Syrian theatre is for jihadist tactical groups, and other groups linked to them, an arena in which to train and gain experience before having the opportunity to take the jihadist fight to other theatres of operation.

The analysis appeared on 6 March in من أين بدأت وكيف تعمل؟ التاريخ الكامل للجماعات الجهادية التكتيكية في سوريا (akhbaralaan.net)

Daniele Garofalo is a researcher and analyst on Jihadist terrorism and an expert in monitoring Jihadist media channels.

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