HTS Hosts "Wage Jihad with Your Soul" Recruitment Event in Atmeh Refugee Camp near Idlib, Syria; Dozens of Young Men Join

On September 10, 2019, a video about a Hay'at Tahrir Al-Sham (HTS) recruitment event called "Wage Jihad with Your Soul" that took place at the Atmeh refugee camp near Idlib, Syria was uploaded to Facebook. A man named Abu Suleiman Al-Shukani, one of the organizers of the event, said that the event aims to incite young men to wage Jihad for the sake of Allah and to defend their land and their honor. He said that dozens of young men joined HTS as a result of the campaign, and he said: "This serves as a message to the atheist Russians and to the Rafidites and Nusayris that we in Idlib are here to stay [and] defend our land, our honor, and our religion to our last drop of blood." Calling on the audience, which consisted of over a hundred men, to remember their duty to support their mujahideen brothers, a man on a stage said that HTS needs men like Omar Ibn Al-Khattab and Abu Bakr, and he invited anybody interested in joining to come up to the stage. Several dozen men, including teenagers and boys, ran to the stage and shouted: "Allah Akbar!... We respond to Your call, oh Allah!... Our eternal leader is the Prophet Muhammad!"

Following are excerpts:

Abu Suleiman Al-Shukani: Praise be to Allah, the "Wage Jihad with Your Soul" campaign in the Atmeh refugee camp has begun. It aims to incite young men to wage Jihad for the sake of Allah and to defend their land and their honor. By the grace of Allah, the young men have accepted the call and dozens of them have joined [us]. This serves as a message to the atheist Russians and to the Rafidites and Nusayris that we in Idlib are here to stay. We will defend our land, our honor, and our religion to our last drop of blood. We ask Allah to strengthen our steps on the path of Jihad.

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Man on Stage: Today, we need men like Omar [Ibn Al-Khattab] and Abu Bakr. Do not neglect your duty to support your mujahideen brothers.

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We ask the heroes that want to wage Jihad and to defend their religion and the honor of the Muslims to step up to the stage right now! Who wants to wage Jihad for the sake of Allah? Step right up! Whoever wants to wage Jihad for the sake of Allah, come to the stage!

Crowd: Allah Akbar! Allah Akbar! Allah Akbar! Allah Akbar! We respond to your call, oh Allah! We respond to your call, oh Allah! We respond to your call, oh Allah! We respond to your call, oh Allah! Our eternal leader is the Prophet Muhammad! Our eternal leader is the Prophet Muhammad!