Movement of Salah al-Din the Kurd

The Movement of Salah al-Din the Kurd (Kurdish: بزووتنەوەى كورد سه‌لا‌حه‌دین; Arabic: حركة صلاح الدين الكردي; Turkish: Selahaddin Kurdi Hareketi) is a Sunni Salafi Islamist militant rebel group of Kurdish fighters that takes part in the Syrian Civil War.

On 21 September 2015, these veterans officially unified with the aim of ending the suppression of the Kurdish people and to return them to their perceived Islamic roots; on this basis, the Movement of Salah al-Din the Kurd takes inspiration from Jaban al-Kurdi, a Kurdish companion of Muhammad, and Saladin, founder of the Ayyubid dynasty.

Following its foundation, the group specialised in sniper and infiltration tactics, while continuing to participate in combat operations in Latakia.

[1] The militia espouses a Sunni Salafi Islamist ideology and attaches great value to the unity of the ummah (Islamic community).

The group has admitted that it is not supported by the majority of Kurds in Syria (who mainly back the secular Syrian Democratic Forces) and attributes this to its low profile.