JN Communiqué Slams Coalition Airstrikes On JN's North Syria Command Posts

In a May 21, 2015 communique, Jabhat Al-Nusra (JN) condemned "the Arab-Crusader coalition's airstrikes on JN command posts",[1] saying that these strikes reveal the West's and the international community's true intentions in Syria, and demonstrate that they – unlike JN – do not seek the good of the Syrian people.

The communiqué opens by detailing JN's recent achievements against the Syrian Army: the victories in Idlib and Jisr Al-Shughur, the liberation of the Mastouma and Al-Qarmid bases, the start of an advance on the city of Ariha, the defeat of the Syrian army in southern and northern Syria, and the reaching of the coastal region, the very threshhold of the "Nusairi" [i.e., Alawite] regime. The communiqué also emphasizes JN's successful campaign against the Shi'ite militias fighting alongside the regime.

JN then notes that, despite these achievements, instead of fighting shoulder to shoulder with JN, the "Arab-Crusader coalition" elected to bomb the organization's rear supply lines in northern Syria and destroyed two command posts: in Kansafra, and in Jabal Al-Zawiya in Rif Idlib. These airstikes, it says, injured innocent Muslims, because the coalition forces did not distinguish between fighters and non-combatants. Therefore, "the picture becomes clear and the truth is [now] revealed to our Muslim people everywhere, and particularly in our beloved Syria. Let them know how the West and the international community behave towards the Syrian people, which side they back and which side they oppose. The Arab-Crusader coalition's practical goals on Syrian soil have thus become patently clear."

The organization concludes that the Syrians now know who wants to harm them and who is defending them, and promises the Syrian people that it will continue on the path of jihad, undeterred by airstrikes and attacks. It asks the Syrian people to stand by the mujahideen and support them – if only through prayer.