On June 29, Germany charged two German nationals – Önder A. and Erman K. – for helping finance Hayat Tahrir al-Sham (HTS), Malhamah Tactical, and Junud al-Sham. Önder A. was originally arrested on January 7, 2021, while Erman K. was originally arrested on February 15, 2021. Malhamah Tactical is a jihadi paramilitary unit that helps to primarily train different fighters and groups in the Syrian war. Junud al-Sham is a jihadi group, is Chechen-led, and primarily has fighters from the Caucasus region. Both Malhamah Tactical and Junud al-Sham have associated or worked with HTS in the past.
However, more recently, there have been tensions between Junud al-Sham’s leader Muslim al-Shishani and HTS’s leader Abu Muhammad al-Jawlani over current dynamics and the future of the jihadi project in northwest Syria.
Regarding this case, Önder A. transferred funds fifteen times to these groups between November 2017 and October 2020, while Erman K. transferred funds twenty times to these groups between August 2018 and December 2020. According to the press release, “the funds were mainly intended to finance the armed struggle and to consolidate the territory of the terrorist organizations.” It goes on to say that these two individuals “are part of an international network that has supported the terrorist activities of the HTS, Junud al-Sham, and the Malhamah Tactical in Syria from across Europe through financial donations.” These donations were apparently given to two members of Junud al-Sham and one member each of HTS and Malhamah Tactical. Part of this money went towards the maintenance of a website created by those in Syria to elicit further donations to the organizations to help fight locally.
Syrian Jihadism 