Naser Alsonna: Some Guy In Jaysh Khalid Bin al-Waleed
10 March 2018
By Aymenn Jawad Al-Tamimi
Previously I have written on the lives of some prominent deceased figures in
the Islamic State-affiliate Jaysh Khalid bin al-Waleed that is located on the
border with the Israeli-occupied Golan Heights. It might be asked whether
there is any value in writing on people who are now dead. In my view, there is
some value in these biographies at least from a historical perspective. Even
so, it may be of more use to explore individuals in Jaysh Khalid bin al-Waleed
who are still alive, such as Naser Alsonna, whose name (NB: his Latin script
transliteration) translates as "Supporter of the Sunna." For this biography, I
am largely reliant on the testimony of a cousin of his who still resides in
al-Rafeed, the Quneitra locality from which Naser Alsonna originates. In
addition, some details have been corroborated by a media activist from the
area who worked with Liwa al-Sabteen (a Free Syrian Army-brand group that is
the main rebel faction in al-Rafeed) and has since left Syria.
The locality of al-Rafeed is located along the border with the Golan Heights,
with the current population consisting of original inhabitants and IDPs.
The original inhabitants are from the al-Nu'aim tribe (specifically the al-Abunami
subdivision), reputed to have come to the area in the 12th century CE from the
Homs region following a conflict with the al-Mawali tribe. They settled on the
ruins of an old Roman settlement that was called Rafees. The locality
possesses a number of springs, like the Umm Hawar spring, the little spring
and the western spring, in addition to multiple springs on its peripheries.
The al-Nu'aim tribe in the area is divided into eight main families, each of
which contains sub-families. They are:
- al-Othman: al-Fanish, al-Afish, al-Halal, al-Dujan, Ismail Khasaba,
al-Kharyoush, al-Daba', al-Ahmad.
- al-Dhiyab: al-Zhahir, al-Halihal, al-Khoza'i, al-Ahmad.
- al-Darwish: al-Hamada, al-Qusayban, al-Aboud, al-Ta'isan, al-Tawirish, al-Raffa.
- al-Madha: al-Sawalima, al-Jalab Ali, al-Kabirit, al-Ghouri.
- al-Zaban: al-Bashir, al-Zamal, al-Fawaz.
- al-Kharfan: al-Uqal, al-Nadir, al-Faz'a.
- al-Tahan: al-Sabih, al-Shanwan, al-Yusuf, al-Nahar.
- al-Sultan: al-Bunyan, al-Nazal, al-Ghathwan, al-Faleh, al-Mukhaybar.
There are also families that do not belong to the al-Abunami subdivision. They
include:
- al-Sanid, also known as Nu'aimat al-Ta'a, which includes the al-Jabar, al-Mardini,
al-Rashid and al-Qa'iri families.
- al-Rafi'/al-Shuli, whose origins go back to Iraq.
- al-Khidr, also known as the al-Subaihat, who are from the Banu Sakhr tribe
whose origins go back to Jordan.
- al-Dukhail/al-Obeid, descended from slaves.
- Some very minor families of Kurdish origin.
Closely tied to al-Rafeed demographically are the localities of Kudina, al-Batmiyya,
al-Jukhadar, in addition to the localities of al-Zariqiya and Hamriyat in
Damascus countryside province.
In 2012, the locality of al-Rafeed fell out of the control of the government,
which unsuccessfully tried to assault al-Rafeed in September 2013. As
mentioned earlier, the main rebel faction in al-Rafeed is Liwa al-Sabteen,
which was one of the first important rebel formations that emerged in the
Quneitra area. Last month, Liwa al-Sabteen's leader, Abu Abbas, resigned.
Besides Liwa al-Sabteen, the Syrian Revolutionaries Front has a presence in
the al-Rafeed area. There is also a small Hay'at Tahrir al-Sham presence in
al-Rafeed.
Interestingly, it is said that a large number of people from al-Rafeed went to
fight the U.S. invasion and occupation of Iraq (some 152 people), with at
least three of them having been killed in Iraq. Two of those three people were
killed in Fallujah. Some of the Iraq veterans had a role in forming Liwa al-Sabteen,
including one Ali al-Rafi', who is currently said to be residing in Germany,
and his brother Ala' al-Rafi' who was killed in 2014.
Naser Alsonna's real name is Nour Allah al-Ghouri. He was born in 1975 and has
a number of siblings. One of his siblings has been involved with Liwa al-Sabteen,
another with the Syrian Revolutionaries Front, while the rest of them have
remained as civilians. Naser Alsonna's deceased father worked in agriculture.
Naser Alsonna studied in Damascus University and subsequently became an
English teacher. He worked for a time in Saudi Arabia as a teacher and
returned to Syria. He was already religious prior to the revolution, becoming
a Salafi in around 2004. However, he did not participate in the Iraq jihad
against the Americans.
After the revolution began, Naser Alsonna joined Liwa al-Sabteen, working with
the group as a media activist rather than a fighter. Corroborating this point
is Naser Alsonna's own Youtube channel, which features videos from his work as
a media activist for Liwa al-Sabteen but also has as its avatar a flag with
the words "Islamic State" written on it, indicating his subsequent shift
towards that group.
By 2015, Naser Alsonna had been expelled from Liwa al-Sabteen. He had begun to
express sympathy for the Islamic State, arguing that they are Muslims and
should not be fought. In addition, it is alleged that he had tried to use Liwa
al-Sabteen's media office for personal matters. Even so, there is a reference
to a Nour Allah al-Ghouri as involved in a pro-opposition body in the realm of
education called the General Syrian Teachers Syndicate, in which a Nour Allah
al-Ghouri is named in an August 2015 post as a member of the electoral
committee for the general syndicate, representing the Quneitra branch of the
syndicate in that committee. It is highly likely that the Nour Allah al-Ghouri
mentioned in that post is Naser Alsonna.
In early 2016, Naser Alsonna left al-Rafeed for the Yarmouk Basin in southwest
Deraa, where Islamic State allies in the region had congregated. It is said
that he currently works as a Hisba official in Jaysh Khalid bin al-Waleed.
Naser Alsonna is not the only person from al-Rafeed to have joined Jaysh
Khalid bin al-Waleed. Another individual is one Talal al-Fanish, who, like
Naser Alsonna, had become Salafi some time ago. However, unlike Naser Alsonna,
he was not originally in Liwa al-Sabteen but Jama'at Bayt al-Maqdis al-Islamiya
(which had many Islamic State sympathizers in its ranks). After migrating to
the Yarmouk Basin, Naser Alsonna himself is alleged to have encouraged three
people under the age of 18 from al-Rafeed to join the Islamic State's
affiliate there, one of whom he married to one of his daughters. All of them
were subsequently killed in fighting with the Syrian rebels.
©
EsinIslam.Com
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