Analysis: How Malhama Tactical became the 'Blackwater of the Syrian jihad'

Insight
    BBC MONITORING
    REPORTED 08 DEC 2018 18:12 GMT   PUBLISHED 08 DEC 2018 18:19 GMT

Analysis: How Malhama Tactical became the
'Blackwater of the Syrian jihad'
BY ABDIRAHIM SAEED

                                                                                  TELEGRAM

 The 'military trainers' are thought to have been operating in Syria since 2016

A SELF-STYLED GROUP OF FOREIGN MILITARY INSTRUCTORS HAVE BEEN BOASTING ONLINE ABOUT TRAINING
JIHADISTS IN SYRIA WHILST SOLICITING FUNDS FROM SUPPORTERS ON SOCIAL MEDIA.

Malhama Tactical (MT) has been gaining prominence since 2017 after being described in
international media as the first “Blackwater of the Syrian Jihad”.

Blackwater (now Academi) was a US private military contractor that guarded US government
personnel in Iraq from 2003.

It is believed that MT's founder and early members have been present in Syria since 2013
whilst the group itself was reportedly formed in May 2016.

The exact number of the group's members is unknown but it is thought to consist of 10-20
fighters who reportedly hail from Russia's Muslim-majority federal republics or former Soviet
countries.

In social media posts, MT has said its objective is to help rebels in Syria fight the government
and Russian "occupiers", adding it does not target civilians or train suicide bombers.

In addition to offering its training services, MT has been encouraging supporters to donate in
the form of cryptocurrencies to help with the group's expansion.

The group has posted photos on social media showing its "instructors" training Syria-based
Chinese Uighur fighters and men from the Maldives.

MT has also been vocal about its opposition to Islamic State (IS) militants, with social media
postings suggesting it has developed a particularly close relationship with Hayat Tahrir al-
Sham (HTS), formerly known as al-Qaeda's Nusra Front.

Mission

                                                                                      TELEGRAM

 Malhama Tactical's current 'Commander' goes by the nom de guerre of Abu Salman

MT's current leader is a Russian speaker who goes by the nom de guerre of "Abu Salman
Belarus". His surname suggests he is a native of the former Soviet republic of Belarus.

Abu Salman, who always appears masked, has been a prolific user of Twitter,
posting messages that promoted his group's activates as well as videos that showed off his
shooting skills.

His purported account - active since December 2017 - was suspended around 20 November
having garnered over 3000 followers in less than a year.

Abu Salman gave the following ad-like description of MT on his Twitter profile: "we are military
instructors, we have been teaching rebels how to fight and provide emergency aid since
2013 ".

However, in an interview conducted via Twitter's messaging service in November, Abu Salman
told Syria conflict researchers Pieter Van Ostaeyen and Neil Hauer that MT was formed
"around 2016", with several media outlets reporting the group was established in May of
that year.

On MT's mission, the group's leader has denied any links to terrorism. In a tweet on 2 October,
he said the objective of his group is to "support the Syrian revolution" against the Syrian
President Bashar Assad and his Russian backers.

In an older post on 17 June, he clarified MT only attacks "war criminals and military targets"
and does not kill civilians.

A further tweet on 1 September described MT as "independent", adding that the group is not
part of HTS or their Syria-based jihadist rival Hurras al-Din. But Abu Salman told Van
Ostaeyen and Hauer in November that MT "were almost always with HTS".

On Twitter, Abu Salman described himself as the "commander" of MT. But the group was
reportedly established by another Russian-speaker in his mid twenties who went by the nom
de guerre of "Abu Rofiq".

In a Tweet on 15 June, Abu Salman referred to Abu Rofiq as the founder and former
"Amir" (commander) of MT, adding that he was "martyred" in 2017.

According to media reports shared by Abu Salman on his Twitter feed, Abu Rofiq was killed in
February 2017 in a Russian air strike in the northern Idlib Province.

Abu Rofiq - who was believed to be of Uzbek origin - had claimed he served in the special
forces of the Russian military, in a video aired by British-based Channel 4 News in 2017.

Before founding Malhama Tactical in 2016, Abu Rofiq reportedly fought for and trained
members of Jamaat Saifullah, a foreign fighters battalion aligned with HTS's predecessor,
Nusra Front.

According to a report by Joanna Paraszczuk, a researcher who tracks Russian-speaking
foreign fighters in Syria, the unit's leader pledged allegiance to Nusra Front in 2013.

The word "Malhama" in the group's name is borrowed from the term "al-Malhama al-Kubra" or
the great battle.

It refers to a reported Islamic prophesy about a final battle taking place at the "end of times"
between Muslims and non-Muslims.

MT's social media posts suggest that the group operates mainly in Idlib Province and in some
areas of the neighbouring provinces of Aleppo and Hama.

The group's current size is not known but it is thought to have started with about a
dozen "instructors" in 2016.

On 23 October Abu Salman tweeted a photo of a masked man identified as Ali Cecen, claiming
he was another MT member.

Groups trained

                                                                                             IBA

 Malhama Tactical claims to have trained the 'special forces' of jihadist group HTS

MT regularly shared what appear to be promotional photos and videos on social media
claiming to show training sessions held by the group's "instructors".

Propaganda material typically published include trainees handling various weapons
including rocket-propelled grenade launchers.

In a post on the messaging app Telegram on 26 November, Abu Salman claimed the group
"have finished [delivering] 3 courses" including one for the "Red Bands", in reference to HTS's
Red Bandanas "special forces".

According to HTS media, the Red Bandanas are a unit of highly-trained fighters who
specialise in "commando" operations, often behind enemy lines. (see profile of the
unit: https://monitoring.bbc.co.uk/product/c2005153).

On 10 November, HTS claimed the unit killed Syrian and Russian soldiers in a high-
profile attack in Hama Province. (See https://monitoring.bbc.co.uk/product/c200ee1p).

Abu Salman claimed in a Telegram post on 26 November that the Red Bandanas were trained
by MT for four months before the operation, explaining the training was to prepare the "elite"
HTS unit for commando attacks. He made the same claim in a video report by the Syria-based
news outfit OGN TV posted on YouTube on 13 November.

Despite its close association with HTS and its predecessor Nusra Front, MT has also
reportedly trained militants from other groups, including Chechen-led Ajnad al Kavkaz (Soldiers
of the Caucasus), and the Turkish-backed Ahrar al-Sham.

On 31 October, Abu Salman claimed on Twitter that "800 brothers" were waiting to enrol on
MT courses. He even boasted that MT issues certificates at the end of training.

In early November, Abu Salman's Twitter profile posted messages claiming the group
had been training men from "East Turkestan", in reference to Chinese Muslim Uighurs.

It is not clear if these were members of the Syria-based Uighur group, the Turkestan Islamic
Party (TIP).

But a short video posted on 4 November on MT's Telegram account showed several masked
men in military fatigues participating in an apparent military drill in a mountainous forest area.

In the same month, Abu Salman posted on Twitter and Telegram several photos for groups of
masked men in military fatigues whom he identified as trainees from the Maldives.

Abu Salman did not say whether the men belonged to any groups in Syria or Asia. He simply
referred to them as "Brothers from Maldives".

A Maldives-based media outlet reported in 2017, quoting the opposition in the island state, that
as many as 200 people had left the country to fight jihad. (See https://monitoring.bbc.co.uk
/product/c1dctmiz).

Although, Abu Salman has claimed that MT trains any group fighting the Syrian government, IS
militants have been a notable exception.

On 20 June, he posted on his Twitter account an anti-IS message saying: "We must kill them
all, ISIS is evil and we have to make something to wipe them out". Another message on 10
July described IS militants as being "worse than kuffar [infidels]".

Social media

                                                                                       TWITTER

 A Twitter account named after the leader of Malhama Tactical was recently suspended

Since 2016, MT reportedly maintained social media accounts on Facebook, Twitter, YouTube,
Instagram and the Russian network Vkontakte, but most of them now appear to be suspended.

Media reports said the group used its now-defunct social media accounts to mainly post video
tutorials on warfare tactics like conducting ambushes, instructions on handling weapons, and
first aid techniques.

The US periodical Foreign Policy, which referred to the group as the "Blackwater of Jihad",
reported MT had also used Facebook to post a recruitment advert seeking instructors to work
for a “fun and friendly team”.

Until recently, the two most resilient social media accounts for the group have been on Twitter
and Telegram.

Whilst tweets were often written in Russian, English and Turkish, posts on Telegram were
predominantly in Russian, with fewer messages in English and Turkish.

However, MT's accounts on both platforms were shut down in November and December
respectively.

The Twitter account, which was operating under the group leader's name, appeared to be the
successor to a previously-closed down account for MT. The profile and some of the latest
tweets of Abu Salman are still available to read via Google's cached pages.

Observing the account before its suspension, it appeared to be run by more than one person,
with tweets by Abu Salman signed off with his nom de guerre.

Abu Salman appeared to post on the platform in Russian, English and Turkish, and once
claimed to be learning French.

He regularly engaged with followers asking them, for example, what type of MT videos they
would like to see on MT's Twitter feed, and often used smiley faces and emoji icons in his
responses.

Like many rebel and jihadist groups operating in Syria, MT had an active Telegram channel
that was set up on 29 June.

The group had over 1,300 followers on the platform and used to regularly post content.

The Telegram channel was also where Abu Salman moved to after the suspension of his
Twitter account. He would often signed with his name on messages he apparently posted.

The group typically used its Telegram account to post propaganda videos, which were often
few minutes long and showcased training drills or apparent fighting from the frontlines.

MT also used its Telegram channel to advertise upcoming training courses, such as how to
handle PKM guns or how to operate rocket-propelled grenade.

Crucially, the channel did not publicly share its Telegram address in the "Channel Info" section.

This may suggest that MT previously suffered channel suspensions and the tactic of masking
the address was likely aimed at avoiding further suspensions.

Bitcoin donations

                                                                                       TELEGRAM

 Part of a fundraising poster that appeared on Malhama's Telelgram channel

On more than one occasion, MT has urged its supporters on Twitter and Telegram to donate
funds.

In a posts published on 4 August, Abu Salman's Twitter account called on followers to donate
via a "Bitcoin wallet anonymously and safely".

No donation links were posted but MT asked potential donors to get in touch via private
message to Abu Salman's Twitter account.

On 30 October, the MT channel on Telegram told supporters, again, that they can donate
using the "Bitcoin Wallet", directing them to Telegram contact account for more details.

In a further Telegram post calling for cryptocurrency contributions, the channel promoted an
online "Bitcoin mixing" service on 22 November.

Such services have been compared to the process of money laundering. The "Bitcoin mixing"
website promoted by MT tells potential users that they can benefit from "the ability to confuse
the trail", adding that the service "keeps your anonymity at a max".

The MT Telegram post, which was deleted days later, also shared what appeared to be a
wallet address for another cryptocurrency called Monero. The cryptocurrency has been
championed by fans as a "privacy coin" which offers more anonymity.

In an effort to explain how donations are being spent, Abu Salman announced to followers on
17 October, in a video posted on Twitter, that a new training camp had been built.

"We have done it together with your help and donations brothers", he posted on Twitter.

The following day, the group published a lengthy post on Telegram soliciting further donations
in multiple languages.

The English-language post claimed MT is "starting a new project" to modernise and update
training methods.

The appeal for funds said the group wants to equip its trainees with airsoft rifles and that one
set of ammunition costs $600.

SOURCE: BBC MONITORING IN ENGLISH 8 DEC 18

© British Broadcasting Corporation 2022