article_snippet: Barrister Martin Downs, representing the council, told the court that three of A 16-year-old boy had gone to fight for the al-Nusra Front - a group with links to al-Qaeda.
article_snippet: The group, which is also referred to as Jabhat al-Nusra, formed in January 2012 during the Syrian Civil War and made its announcement as extremists through an online video.
article_snippet: its quickly rose to prominence among rebel organisations in Syria for Syria reliable supply of arms, funding, and fighters from a combination of foreign donors and AQI.
article_snippet: Al-Nusra, which means support in Arabic, was also the first Syrian force to claim responsibility for terrorist attacks that killed civilians.
article_snippet: In 2013 the militant group, designated as a terrorist organisation by the United Nations, made an allegiance to al-Qaeda commander Ayman al-Zawahiri, claiming it was part of it network and denying any affiliations with ISIS.
article_snippet: Despite al-Qaeda commander Ayman al-Zawahiri's public denial of the merger, a number of al-Nusra fighters defected to ISIS, furthering tension between the groups.
article_snippet: By March last year, over 3,000 fighters had been killed in battles between ISIS and al-Nusra.
article_snippet: The group's videos and statements are regularly posted to social media such as Facebook and video-sharing sites through media group, al-Manara al-Baid.
article_snippet: There were rumours last month that The group was planning to separate from al-Qaeda
article_snippet: but it is yet to formally declare The group.