TOP 5 EVENTS OF THE SYRIAN REVOLUTION, #5 3-22-13

TOP 5 EVENTS OF THE SYRIAN REVOLUTION, #5: In this video, members of Jabhat a-Nusra listen to Quranic verses in the A-Raqqa governor’s conference room after the fall of the city last month.

In December 2012, Jabhat a-Nusra was designated as a terrorist organization by Washington. The Islamist militia publicly called for armed struggle against the Syrian government in early 2012. Video courtesy of Jabhat a-Nusra. The strict Salafist group claimed responsibility for a number of attacks, including the October 2012 bombings at Syrian security forces buildings in Aleppo, killing 48. On March 19, 2013, Ghassan Hito, the newly elected president of the opposition transitional government, stressed that the Syrian conflict is one between the people and an authority, and not between two factions. Col. Riad Asaad, the head of the Free Syrian Army, hinted otherwise when he praised Jabhat a-Nusra and defended the Sunni nature of the uprising in a video posted on March 20.