Nour al-Din al-Zenki Movement

The Nour al-Din al-Zenki Movement (Arabic: حركة نور الدين الزنكي Ḥaraka Nūr ad-Dīn az-Zankī) was a Sunni Islamist rebel group involved in the Syrian Civil War. In 2014, it was reportedly one of the most influential factions in Aleppo, especially the Western Aleppo countryside. Between 2014 and 2015, it was part of the Syrian Revolutionary Command Council and recipient of U.S.-made BGM-71 TOW anti-tank missiles. The Movement made multiple attempts to merge with the larger Islamist rebel group Ahrar al-Sham but were refused by Ahrar al-Sham's leadership. The Zenki Movement also made attempts to merge with other Islamist factions, Jaysh al-Islam and the Sham Legion. However, all merging efforts with these groups failed, leading to the Zenki Movement joining the Salafi Islamist Hayat Tahrir al-Sham (HTS) in 2017. But after a few months the group left HTS and within a year went to war with HTS by joining the Turkish-backed Syrian Liberation Front alongside Ahrar al-Sham on 18 February 2018. After a series of clashes in early 2019 Al Zenki were largely defeated by HTS, expelled to Afrin and absorbed in the Turkish-backed Syrian National Army. However, it reportedly re-emerged as an independent entity in 2020.

Nour al-Din al-Zenki Movement
حركة نور الدين الزنكي
Leaders
  • Sheikh Tawfiq Shahabuddin (top leader)
  • Ammar Shaaban 
  • Abu 'Abdo Saroukh
  • Abdel-Fattah Mansour 
  • Mustafa Waddah
Dates of operationLate 2011 – 25 March 2019
Group(s)
  • Liwa Ahrar Souriya (former)
  • Swords of Shahba Brigade (former)
  • Northern Army (former)
  • Liwa Suyuf al-Sham (Greater Idlib area)
  • Banners of Islam Movement (former)
  • Levant Revolutionaries Battalion (former)
    • al-Quds Brigades
    • Glory of Islam Brigade
    • al-Noor Islamic Movement
  • Abu Hassan Battalion
  • Sheikh Osman Battalion
  • Ansaruddin Battalion
  • Humat al-Islam
Active regionsAleppo Governorate and Idlib Governorate, Syria
IdeologySunni Islamism
Size7,000 (2017)
Part of
Allies Saudi Arabia (until 2017)
 Turkey
 Qatar
 United States (Until 2015)
Al-Nusra Front/ Tahrir al-Sham (2012–14, 2016–17)
Ahrar al-Sham
Liwa al-Muhajireen wal-Ansar
Opponents Syria
 Iran
 Russia
Hezbollah
Syrian Democratic Forces
Sultan Murad Division (2017-2019)
Levant Front (since late 2016)
Army of Mujahideen (since late 2016)
Al-Nusra Front/ Tahrir al-Sham (2015, since November 2017)
Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant
Hamza Division (Since 2017)
Battles and warsSyrian Civil War
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