Rouse the Believers Operations Room

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 Flag used by Rouse the Believers
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 Jama'at Ansar al-Islam
Active regions	Northwestern Syria Hama Governorate[4] Aleppo Governorate[5] Idlib Governorate Latakia Governorate[6]
Ideology	Salafi jihadism
Allies	Turkistan Islamic Party Jaysh al-Izza Hay'at Tahrir al-Sham[7]
Opponents	Syrian Arab Armed Forces[4]  Iran Hezbollah  Russia  United States[8]
Battles and wars	Syrian civil war Idlib demilitarization (2018–2019)[9] Northwestern Syria offensive (April–August 2019) American-led intervention in the Syrian civil war[8]
Preceded by The Alliance for Supporting Islam[10] Succeeded by So Be Steadfast Operations Room[2]

Composition

The coalition included Hurras al-Din, Ansar al-Din Front, and Jama'at 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]

History

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 Ansar Fighters Brigade and Jihad Coordination.^[2]

See also

• Army of Conquest
• Belligerents in the Syrian civil war