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The Rouse the Believers Operations Room[1] (Arabic: غرفة عمليات وحرض المؤمنين, romanized: Ghurfat Eamaliat wa-Harid al-Mu'minin) (also commonly translated as the And Incite the Believers Operations Room)[4] was a coalition of Salafist jihadist insurgent groups in northwestern Syria during the Syrian civil war.
| Rouse the Believers[1] | |
|---|---|
| Arabic: غرفة عمليات وحرض المؤمنين, romanized: Ghurfat Eamaliat wa-Harid al-Mu'minin | |
Logo of the alliance | |
| Dates of operation | October 2018 – 12 June 2020[2] |
| Group(s) |  Ansar al-Tawhid (until 3 May 2020)[3] Guardians of Religion Organization Ansar al-Din Front Ansar al-Islam |
| Active regions | Northwestern Syria |
| Ideology | Salafi jihadism |
| Allies |  Turkistan Islamic Party Jaysh al-IzzaHay'at Tahrir al-Sham[7] |
| Opponents |  Syrian Arab Armed Forces[4] Iran Hezbollah Russia United States[8] |
| Battles and wars | Syrian civil war |
The coalition included Hurras al-Din, Ansar al-Din Front, and Ansar al-Islam. All of the individual organizations in the group have rejected the Sochi agreement.[11] Ansar al-Tawhid left the group on 3 May 2020.[3]
On 24 October 2018, the operation room shelled multiple Syrian military positions in the town of Jurin in the Hama Governorate with SPG-9 recoilless guns. In response, the Syrian Army shelled a town controlled by the operation room 10 km north of Jurin.[citation needed]
On 28 October 2018, the group published a video near al-Zahraa in the Aleppo Governorate of a sniping operation being carried out against pro-government militiamen.[5]
On 27 November 2018, a video was released by the coalition showing fighters attacking government positions and gunning down pro-government militiamen in their quarters and taking their weapons.[12]
On 27 August 2019, Rouse the Believers conducted a counter-offensive in southern Idlib targeting the Syrian government's positions near the town of Atshan.[13] The Syrian Army reported repelling the attack shortly thereafter.[14] Rebel forces reported taking over the villages of al-Salloumiyah, Sham al-Hawa, Tell Maraq and Al-Jaduiyah later in the day.[15] SOHR confirmed that al-Sullaumiyah and Abu Omar had been recaptured by opposition forces and that some advances were made on Sham al-Hawa, while clashes over the rest of the villages continued.[16] Later on the same day, SOHR reported that the rebel groups had withdrawn from the positions where they had taken earlier in the southeastern countryside of Idlib.[17]
On 31 August 2019, the U.S. carried out a series of airstrikes on a Rouse the Believers meeting between Kafriya and Maarrat Misrin, killing over 40 Hurras al-Din militants, including several leaders.[8][18]
Ansar al-Tawhid had a falling-out with Hurras al-Din and left the Rouse the Believers Operations Room in May 2020.[3] On 12 June 2020, the operations rooms' remaining members reorganized themselves into a new operations room called So Be Steadfast, which included two additional Salafi jihadist groups led by former HTS commanders, namely the al-Muqatileen al-Ansar Brigade and Jihad Coordination.[2]
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