Database: Identifiers of Designated Islamic Terrorist Organizations

Liwa Shuhada al-Yarmouk

Designated as terrorist by the U.S. State Department.
Base of operations: Syria
Background: Aymenn al-Tamimi (and here)

Liwa Shuhada al-Yarmouk (Yarmouk Martyrs Brigade) was founded in 2012 in southwestern Deraa province (the Yarmouk Valley), bordering the Golan Heights. Once a part of the Western and Gulf-backed 'Southern Front' rebel coalition, the group came to blows with Jabhat al-Nusra in December 2014 as the latter accused Liwa Shuhada al-Yarmouk of secret ties with the Islamic State. Though other Southern Front members denied the claims at the time, the group has since the clashes openly embarked on a program of 'reform' in the Yarmouk Valley area it controls, advertising greater affinity with the Islamic State. Besides adopting the Islamic State flag in its emblem, members openly show support for the Islamic State and echo its talking points. The administration of the Yarmouk Valley likewise mimics the Islamic State with an Islamic court , Islamic police and Diwan al-Hisba, though no official pledge of allegiance to the Islamic State has been announced.

Links between Liwa Shuhada al-Yarmouk and the Islamic State can be traced to the summer of 2014, as certain members visited the Islamic State's de facto Syrian capital in Raqqa. In March 2016, Islamic State dispatched a Saudi- Abu Abdullah al-Madani- to take over the group as a new offensive was launched against rebel forces, cooperating with the Islamic Muthanna Movement that controlled some towns to the east. Islamic Muthanna Movement was subsequently forced to retreat into Liwa Shuhada al-Yarmouk. At the end of May 2016, a new amir was dispatched by the Islamic State and a merger of Liwa Shuhada al-Yarmouk and Islamic Muthanna Movement was announced under Jaysh Khalid ibn al-Waleed, referring to an early figure in Islamic history who was key in the defeat of the Byzantines in the Levant in the Battle of Yarmouk.

Liwa Shuhada al-Yarmouk	Liwa Shuhada al-Yarmouk Emblem	Liwa Shuhada al-Yarmouk: Da'wa Office	Liwa Shuhada al-Yarmouk: Hawdh Agency
Liwa Shuhada al-Yarmouk: Islamic Court	Liwa Shuhada al-Yarmouk: Jaysh Khalid ibn al-Waleed	Liwa Shuhada al-Yarmouk: Jaysh Khalid ibn al-Waleed Flag