A leaked document submitted to Major General Ali Mamlouk, head of the National Security Office of the
Assad regime, and signed by Colonel Haider Haider, head of the security committee in the town of Nubbul in Aleppo province, contains information about coordination between the Assad regime and extremist armed groups, especially Islamic State of Iraq and Sham (ISIS). The document, published by Al Sharq al-Awsat on April 4, 2014, confirms that a number of Iraqi militiamen joined the fight alongside Assad’s forces and were recruited by the State Security Branch of Aleppo.
According to the document, it was not possible for these Iraqi militiamen to join Islamic factions in Syria since their personal documents show that they belong to the Shiite sect, while all fighters of the Islamic factions are predominantly Sunni. To overcome this, Haider demanded that they get Syrian ID cards and weapons for those Iraqi militiamen, who numbered around 2,500, so that they can join ISIS. Haidar also asked for some Iraqi documents to be given to the Syrian fighters who are fluent in the Iraqi dialect. Furthermore, the document reveals that there were more than 150 well-trained fighters, while the rest of the groups, comprising more than 600 trainees aged between 20 and 45 years, were trained in different specialties that they received when they were conscripts. The document also listed the names of 200 fighters from the town of Nubbul and Zahraa’. It also reveals that there were a large number of volunteers who had confirmed their readiness “to defend the homeland” and that number is expected to increase if weapons are secure for more volunteers, who said they were ready to fight alongside Islamic factions and carry out the tasks entrusted to them from within these factions, especially after the last achievements that were done in coordination with the state authorities in the northern region. Haider said that the geographical location of Nubbul and Zahra’a help in the control of Aleppo highway, and that regime forces and the groups fighting on his side can cross the Iraqi border in coordination with their allies in Iraqi side and transfer fighters and weapons. The document also reveals that the Assad regime has many elements and strong leadership inside ISIS in the northern, who can secure the entry of new recruits to the ranks of this organization through recommending them, whereby the Assad regime became able to get detailed information on the movements of the militants, their numbers, weapons and their plans. The coordination and communication with ISIS resulted in a decrease in operations of the Free Syrian Army against regime positions in the north. Haider asked Mamlouk to raise the payments of these volunteers and to provide them with weapons and vehicles. He also asked Mamlouk to ramp up support for groups that are stationed on the battle fronts to protect cities and vital sites, after Aleppo-Raqqa road was cut off by rebels. A second document, dated September 1st, 2013, revealed the formation of a military council of 22 retired army officers in the Shiite town of Nubbul which, along with Zahra’a, had been besieged by the FSA and Islamic battalions. (Source: Al Sharq Al-Awsat)
Death of Um Ismael, a Female FSA fighter in Hama
Mariam Al Sharif (Um Ismael), a female fighter in the FSA, was killed during clashes with regime forces 
north of Hama on April 3, 2014. Um Ismael lost two brothers who were killed fighting regime forces. Muhannad al-Mohammad, Sham News’ reporter, said that Um Ismael used to fight with the rebels on the frontlines, and that she would make them food, bread and encourage them and raised their morale. She supervised the field kitchen in the town of Kafr bouda and also provided assistance to the displaced people from her town and other towns of Hama. “She was an example for the brave and kind Hamwi woman. She would give away food parcels to the displaced people, even though she was in a desperate need for them. The last time I saw her she shed tears and said to me that she wants to talk about the female detainees in Assad’s prisons in Hama and how they were being tortured. She also wanted to talk about those who are profiteering at the expense of the blood of the Syrian people.” Mohammad concluded that “I have never met a brave woman as Um Ismael, she was peerless.” (Source: Sham News + Syrian Coalition)