The group was announced by al-Nusra's former lead Sharia Judge in eastern Syria and Shura Council Member, Abu Maria al-Qahtani in 2016, who is originally from Iraq and has been supportive of Turkish involvement in Syria, whilst also being accused on multiple occasions of causing internal strife in al-Nusra, causing him to be later dismissed from his position in the group, however the extent of his involvement after announcing the group in 2016 remains unknown, as with his affiliation with Ahrar al-Sharqiya in general.[8] Many of the group's members are also from the al-Shaitat tribe.[9]