The footage above contains scenes of graphic violence which may not be suitable for all viewers.

Brutal GoPro footage released by Salafi jihadists near Idlib, Syria captures a close-in gunfight between members of the Khalid ibn al-Walid Army and the Syrian Arab Army in December of 2022.

What you're looking at is footage that was recently released by the Salafi Jihadist group known as the Khalid ibn al-Walid Army. The group was originally formed in 2016 during the peak of the Syrian Civil War when the Yarmouk Martyrs Brigade, the Islamic Muthanna Movement, and the Army of Jihad merged into one organization. The strange thing about this footage is that it was released in January of 2023, and claims state that it was filmed on December 11, 2022, which is four years after the group was defeated and dismantled by the Syrian Government in 2018.

Since their defeat in 2018, this organization has only existed in small numbers. Throughout 2019 they were responsible for two attacks in which they killed a rival terrorist group's leader and two Russian Soldiers. They also released photos of the deceased ISIS leader Abu Bark al-Baghdadi in that same year and swore allegiance to the group's new leader at the time, Abu Ibrahim al-Hashimi al-Qurash.

If this video is as recent as it claims, this would mark the first time that the group has conducted any significant combat action since their defeat in 2018, which is not a good sign for the future of the conflict in Syria. This is especially so with the Russian presence in the area weakening due to combat operations being carried out by Russian forces in Ukraine. If we continue to see this group conducting attacks in Syria, they could easily bolster their strength and become a reborn Islamic State-like organization Syria.