Over the past few months, a number of Telegram and YouTube channels have been sharing dozens of photo and video posts on the Snapchat app by foreign jihadis in Syria. In these posts, the foreign jihadis recruit fighters, fundraise, and document their daily activities. The YouTube channels archive these Snapchat posts by fighters' names and the Arabic month in which the Snapchat post was published.
These foreign fighters using Snapchat, who are primarily Saudis, are fighting in the ranks of Hay'at Tahrir Al-Sham (HTS), a coalition of jihadi groups, some once affiliated with Al-Qaeda. The fighters use Snapchat to communicate with their followers on the app and urge them to come to Syria to take part in jihad and also to provide financial assistance to the people of Syria and to donate to provide the mujahideen with weapons and equipment. They also answer questions from their followers, mostly relating to jihad, the situation of the mujahideen in Syria, and fighters' personal experiences in jihad and how they reached Syria. Also on their Snapchat accounts, the fighters share stories and videos about combat, preaching events, guard duty, meals they make and share, and gatherings where poetry is recited, and also post eulogies for deceased comrades.
Likewise, at least one Telegram channel is devoted solely to sharing links to these Snapchat videos on YouTube. This channel has over 400 members. Another Telegram channel, Supporters of HTS, which has over 12,000 members also shares links to these Snapchat videos on YouTube, as does another Telegram channel.
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