Jund Al-Sham

Jund al-Sham (Arabic: جند الشام, "Soldiers of the Levant) is a terrorist group believed to have first appeared in Afghanistan in 1999, the group was established by Syrians, Palestinians and Lebanese with links to Abu Musab al-Zarqawi. who went on to found al-Qaida in Iraq and was subsequently killed by a US airstrike. According to European Intelligence documents and Jordanian government sources, Zarqawi set up the camp with $200,000 in startup money he received from Osama bin Laden.

The camp near Herat was named Al Matar Training Camp and taught the jihadists techniques in guerrilla warfare, explosives and chemical weapons. It is believed the group left after its base of operations was disrupted by the War in Afghanistan to oust the Taliban regime. Its first attack came in the summer of 2004 when a car bomb in Beirut exploded, killing a Hezbollah agent. The Syrian security forces have clashed in numerous gun battles with the group since then.

Several groups claim the name Jund al-Sham including a Lebanese militant group in the Palestinian refugee camp of Ain al-Hilweh. It is not known however if the two groups are connected.