A New Sheriff in Town: A Rapid Assessment of Jaish al-Fatah’s Control Over Idleb City

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Author(s)
Karlidag, M. et al.
Publication language
English
Pages
39pp
Date published
30 Jun 2015
Type
Research, reports and studies
Keywords
Conflict, violence & peace, Protection, human rights & security, Urban
Countries
Syria
Organisations
SREO - Syria Research & Evaluation Organization

In late March 2015, a recently formed umbrella group of rebel battalions named Jaish al-Fatah announced that it had “liberated” the city of Idleb from Syrian government forces. This represents a significant milestone in Syria’s ongoing conflict given that Idleb city was only the second of Syria’s 14 provincial capitals, after Ar-Raqqa, to fall out of government control.

Given the significance of Idleb city’s fall for humanitarian actors, policymakers, analysts, and Syrian civilians, SREO commissioned and executed this rapid assessment of the humanitarian and security situation in Idleb city. This assessment also examined civilian attitudes towards the Jaish al-Fatah fighters currently in control of the city. Field researchers began surveying city residents approximately one month after the city changed hands in order to balance timeliness with allowing residents to form informed views on the changes in the city.

Field researchers completed 500 surveys between May 2nd and May 9th, 2015.
Among the 500 respondents, 109 self-identified as Jaish al-Fatah fighters, allowing
this assessment to disaggregate and compare the perspective of civilians and fighters alike.