Cessation of Hostilities between Jund al-Aqsa and Ahrar al-Sham (AAS) in Kansafra

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Country/entity: Syria
Region: Middle East and North Africa
Agreement name: Cessation of Hostilities between Jund al-Aqsa and Ahrar al-Sham (AAS) in Kansafra
Date: 8 Oct 2016
Agreement status: Multiparty signed/agreed
Interim arrangement: Yes
Agreement/conflict level: Intrastate/local conflict
Syrian Conflicts (1948 - ) (1976 - 2005) (2011 - )
The agreements relate to three different conflict contexts. Israel-Syria and Syria-Lebanon. The Syrian-Israeli conflict was a key factor for the Syrian intervention during the Lebanese Civil War, with Syrian-backed Palestinian Liberation Army units intervened in 1976 against the Palestinian/Leftist militias. Following a massacre at Tel al-Zaatar that year, Syria was forced to accept a ceasefire at a meeting of the Arab League. However, the Arab League also mandated an Arab Deterrence Force, consisting of mostly Syrian soldiers with token contributions from other Arab League states, thus further legitimizing the Syrian presence in Lebanon. During a second bout of fighting that began in 1989, caused by the formation of rival Lebanese regimes in East and West Beirut, the Syrian-backed regime won and in 1991 the ‘Treaty of Brotherhood, Cooperation and Coordination’ was signed to legalize the Syrian occupation as a means to ensure the security of Syria. Syrian forces were forced to withdraw in 2005 following possible involvement in the assassination of Lebanon’s President Hariri.

Syria-internal. In 2011, domestic upheaval following a wave of protests across the Arab World soon led to violent repression of protestors by Syrian government troops. The violence progressed steadily and by July 2011 the Free Syrian Army (FSA) was formed consisting of defected military units and new recruits. The FSA and rebel umbrella group known as the Syrian National Council represented the first attempt at coordinating rebel factions in late 2011. However, a steady influx of foreign fighters and increased sectarianism radicalised opposition groups, which relied on foreign funding. The nature of the conflict changed drastically in late 2013 as infighting among the opposition groups increased. One of the more significant developments was the split between the al-Qaeda outfits the Islamic State in Iraq and the Levant (ISIL, ISIS), and Jabhat al-Nusra in early 2014 in addition to the intensified targeting of other rebel factions by ISIS fighters in particular, including the Kurdish Peshmerga, the FSA and other jihadist outfits. Since the summer of 2014, the conflict was further internationalized when ISIS announced the formation of an Islamic state eroding the state line between Iraq and Syria and also in mid-2015 when Russian forces intervened on behalf of the Bashar al-Assad government in Damascus.
Stage: Ceasefire/related
Conflict nature: Inter-group
Peace process: Syrian Local Agreements
Parties: Jund al-Aqsa
Ahrar al-Sham
The Mountain Hawks Brigade
Jabhat Fatah al-Sham
Third parties: -
Description: Short declaration by four insurgent groups announcing their withdrawal and a bid to end the conflict through the use of a Shariah Board.

Agreement document: SY_161008_CoH btw Jund al-Aqsa and Ahrar al-Sham in Kansafram, Idlib_EN.pdf (opens in new tab) | Download PDF
Agreement document (original language): SY_161008_CoH btw Jund al-Aqsa and Ahrar al-Sham in Kansafram, Idlib_AR.pdf (opens in new tab)| Download PDF

Local agreement properties

Process type: Informal but persistent process
Rationale: -> Local issues only; no external support mechanism; culture of signing There is no formally established mechanism to support the negotiation between Salafi armed groups. Moreover, this agreement cannot be linked to the national peace process. Indeed, both groups have a Salafist ideology; they oppose the rule of Bashar al-Assad in Syria and reject the idea of a national negotiation to solve the conflict. Yet, it seems that both signing parties choose to solve daily pragmatic issues related to their armed struggle through agreements. Although one cannot speak of a “culture” of singing peace agreements, the parties are involved (in a non-proactive and non-conscious way) in a persistent practice of signing local agreements.
Is there a documented link to a national peace process?: No
Link to national process: articulated rationale: No link to the national peace process in Syria is mentioned in the agreement, neither it can be inferred from further research. First, the agreement does not involve local governance actors; and the signing parties themselves are not official state representative. Second, all parties to the agreement reject the national peace process, as it would maintain Bashar al-Assad and the Syrian government in power.
Name of Locale: Kansafra
Nature of Locale: City
GPS Lat/Long (DD): 35.656127, 36.486457
Participant type: Local armed group
Mediator, facilitator or similar: No mention of mediator or similar

Local issues

Ritual/prayer and process (including use of scripture): Page 1, In the name of God, most Gracious, most Compassionate

Page 1, Messenger of Allah said: "A believer continues to guard his Faith (and thus hopes for Allah's Mercy) so long as he does not shed blood unjustly" (Hadith, al-Bukhari 1:220).

Page 1, We, mujahideen [fighters] of the Jund al-Aqsa faction in the town of Kansafra and mujahideen of Ahrar al-Sham faction in the town of Kansafra, plead to the Almighty God from [illegible] the blood by both factions. Considering the strife, we ask God to [illegible] and reform the Mujahideens’ affairs in Sham in general.
Grievance List: Page 1,
We send a letter to the leadership in both factions asking them not to send troops or columns to the town, even if only to pass through [since] it can exacerbate the strife in the town. We run the village administration and keep the order and [we do] not allow troops to enter the town to the Jabhat Fatah al-Sham.
Cattle rustling/banditry: No specific mention.
Social cover: No specific mention.

In the name of God, most Gracious, most Compassionate

Agreement (by Jund al-Aqsa and Ahrar al-Sham in Kansafra, Idlib)

Messenger of Allah said:

"A believer continues to guard his Faith (and thus hopes for Allah's Mercy) so long as he does not shed blood unjustly" (Hadith, al-Bukhari 1:220).

We, mujahideen [fighters] of the Jund al-Aqsa faction in the town of Kansafra and mujahideen of Ahrar al-Sham faction in the town of Kansafra, plead to the Almighty God from …[1]the blood by both factions.

Considering the strife, we ask God to …[2]and reform the Mujahideens’ affairs in Sham in general.

We declare our withdrawal from this fight and ask our brothers in both factions to end their conflict through the law of Almighty God by returning to the Sharia courts and experts in these kinds of incidents.

We send a letter to the leadership in both factions asking them not to send troops or columns to the town, even if only to pass through [since] it can exacerbatethe strife in the town.

We run the village administration and keep the order and [we do] not allow troops to enter the town to the Jabhat Fatah al-Sham.

[4 signatories]

Jund al-Aqsa

Ahrar al-Sham

The Mountain Hawks Brigade

Jabhat Fatah al-Sham