Amir al-Dandal

Dandal is the grandson of Sheikh Mushrif al-Dandal who led a tribal revolt against British forces along the banks of the Middle Euphrates in 1919.

[1] His uncle Fahd Mushrif al-Dandal was an independent politician, elected to the Syrian Parliament in 1961.

The Dandal family lived in the area of AlbouKamal and had been enjoying strong ties with several Syrian governments, including the rule of Hafez al-Assad.

When the so-called Islamic State in Iraq and the Levant expanded into the territory of the Al Uqaydat in Eastern Syria, Dandal became an activist against ISIL and an acclaimed source of analysis and information from the tribal areas to international media.

[6] According to a BBC report from January 2020, Dandal co-authored a statement issued by the Council which rejects the idea of collective accountability or retribution among tribes and Syrian communities for crimes and violations committed during the war.