ALEPPO, Syria — Jabhat al-Nusra is carrying on with its project to establish its own emirate in the north of Syria and pull the rug from under the Islamic State (IS). The latter's caliphate, announced June 30, has attracted jihadists from around the world and poached many al-Nusra members and foreign fighters.

Al-Nusra’s leader Abu Mohammad al-Golani had promised his militants the “birth of an Islamic emirate” under his command in a message broadcast online in July.

The weakness of the brigades under the umbrella of the Syrian Revolutionaries Front (SRF), led by Jamal Maarouf, and the fact that these brigades are accused of setting up “diesel checkpoints” to steal from passersby, gave enough opportunity for al-Nusra to attack Maarouf and his members. According to al-Nusra’s supporters on Twitter, Maarouf is a “tyrant.” But what about the Hazm Movement and other groups, and why did al-Nusra attack them?

Jabhat al-Nusra found in Idlib a suitable place to declare its emirate and compete with IS to attract jihadists from around the world. Idlib is close to the Turkish border and isolated from major fighting fronts with IS or President Bashar al-Assad’s forces. Al-Nusra also realized that it is bound to win its war against the Free Syrian Army (FSA) on account of its administrative and military superiority, as many FSA fighters refuse to use their weapons against anyone other than Assad and IS.