The Free Idlib Army ( ''Jaysh ʾIdlib al-Ḥarr'') is a Syrian rebel coalition consisting of 3 armed groups from northwestern Syria affiliated with the Free Syrian Army: the 13th Division, the Northern Division, and the Mountain Hawks Brigade.

History

On 25 August 2016, the commander of the Northern Division, Lieutenant Colonel Fares Bayoush announced that talks are made in Idlib on the unification of the three FSA-affiliated rebel groups in northwestern Syria. He stated that eventually the merger will be complete and the three component groups will dissolve into the main faction. At its establishment on 19 September 2016, the coalition aims to prioritise fighting the Syrian government and establish relations and coordinate with the

Salafist The Salafi movement or Salafism () is a reform branch movement within Sunni Islam that originated during the nineteenth century. The name refers to advocacy of a return to the traditions of the "pious predecessors" (), the first three generati ...

factions of the Army of Conquest, including Ahrar al-Sham and

Jabhat Fateh al-Sham Al-Nusra Front or Jabhat al-Nusra ( ar, جبهة النصرة لأهل الشام, Jabhat an-Nuṣrah li-Ahl ish-Sham lit. ''Front of the Supporters of the People of Syria/the Levant''), known as Jabhat Fatah al-Sham ( ar, جبهة فتح ال ...

, al-Qaeda's renamed al-Nusra Front. However an opposition source stated that the Free Idlib Army will not closely cooperate with Jabhat Fateh al-Sham. Just a day before, the Mountain Hawks Brigade withdrew from the front against ISIL near Jarabulus and Azaz in order to head to southern Aleppo and Idlib. The commander aims for an eventual full merger between the 3 groups after forming a new command structure. On 23 September Russian warplanes bombed a cave in Taybat al-Imam, killing 22 fighters from the Free Idlib Army. In early October a number of Mountain Hawks Brigade fighters defected to join

due to several disagreements, mainly due to the established of the Free Idlib Army. In November, the deputy commanding general of the Free Idlib Army,

first lieutenant First lieutenant is a commissioned officer military rank in many armed forces; in some forces, it is an appointment. The rank of lieutenant has different meanings in different military formations, but in most forces it is sub-divided into a ...

Mohammed Khaled Bayoush, came under fire from

machine gun A machine gun is a fully automatic, rifled autoloading firearm designed for sustained direct fire with rifle cartridges. Other automatic firearms such as automatic shotguns and automatic rifles (including assault rifles and battle rifles) ar ...

s fired by unknown assailants while in his car near the town of

Kafr Nabl Kafr Nabl ( ar, كَفْرنَبِل, Kafr Nabil, also spelled Kafranbel or Kafr Nabil) is a town administratively belonging to the Idlib Governorate and Ma'arrat al-Numan District in northwestern Syria. It is situated above sea level. In the 20 ...

. The commander escaped without injury. On 25 December 2016, 2 FIA commanders were shot and killed in Maarat. Opposition activists accused

Jund al-Aqsa Jund al-Aqsa ( ar, جند الأقصى ''Jund al-‘Aqṣā'', "Garrison of al-Aqsa"), later known as Liwa al-Aqsa after 7 February 2017, was a Salafist jihadist organization that was active during the Syrian Civil War. Formerly known as Sara ...

of conducting the assassination. The next day, the al-Nusra Front raided houses throughout Idlib and captured 16 FIA fighters from the Mountain Hawks Brigade. The rebels were captured on charges of participating in the Turkish military intervention in Syria. On 23 January 2017, the 13th Division of the FIA repelled an al-Nusra advance toward Maarat al-Nu'man. On 25 January 2017, the groups of fighters which left the Mountain Hawks Brigade in September 2016 for

, returned, along with their leader, Lt. Col. Nasha'at Haj Ahmad. On 31 January 2017, Lt. Col. Fares Bayoush resigned from his positions in the Northern Division and the Free Idlib Army, citing "

Black Standard The Black Banner or Black Standard ( ar, الراية السوداء, ar-rāyat as-sawdāʾ, also known as (, "banner of the eagle" or simply as , , "the banner") is one of the flags flown by the Islamic prophet Muhammad according to Muslim tr ...

s" in Idlib. On 5 April 2017, a vehicle carrying Lt. Col. Ahmed al-Saud of the 13th Division and

Colonel Colonel (abbreviated as Col., Col or COL) is a senior military officer rank used in many countries. It is also used in some police forces and paramilitary organizations. In the 17th, 18th and 19th centuries, a colonel was typically in charge o ...

Ali al-Samahi, chief of staff of the Free Idlib Army, came under fire from Hayat Tahrir al-Sham fighters at a checkpoint near Khan al-Subul, which was under complete control of HTS. Al-Samahi and another fighter was killed in the shootout while al-Saud was wounded and was transferred to Turkey for treatment. As a result of internal disputes between the 13th Division and the other factions in the Free Idlib Army, some members of the former reportedly released a statement on 11 April which claimed that the 13th Division will no longer be part of the Free Idlib Army and it will instead join the "central operations room" led by Col. Fadlallah al-Haji of the Sham Legion. This was denied by Lt. Col. Ahmed al-Saud, the overall commander of the 13th Division, who called the statement a "false report". Al-Saud called on all the member groups of the FIA to integrate under one organization. On 11 July 2017, the Free Idlib Army appointed new commanders: Lt. Col. Suhaib Leoush (overall commander, replaced Capt. Hassan Haj Ali), Capt. Naji Mustafa (deputy commander, replaced 1st Lt. Muhammad Bayoush), and Capt. Dumar Qanatri (chief of staff, replaced Col. Ali Samahi, who was killed in April). In May 2018, along with 10 other rebel groups in northwestern Syria, the Free Idlib Army formed the National Front for Liberation, which was officially announced on 28 May. Lt. Col. Suhaib Leoush was appointed as the formation's deputy commander. On 7 March 2019, Amin Haj Ali, a field commander of the free Idlib Army, was killed by an IED in southern Idlib. The unit subsequently fought alongside other rebel factions against the government's northwestern Syria offensive from April 2019. On 31 July 2019, Col. Afif Suleiman, commander of the Free Idlib Army and member of the National Front for Liberation's command council, was arrested by Hayat Tahrir al-Sham's security force at a checkpoint near

Darat Izza Darat Izza ( ar, دارة عزة, also spelled Darat Aza or Darit Izza) is a town in northern Syria, administratively part of the Aleppo Governorate, located northwest of Aleppo. Nearby localities include Deir Samaan to the north, Anadan to t ...

as he was driving from

Afrin District Afrin District ( ar, منطقة عفرين, manṭiqat Afrīn) is a district of Aleppo Governorate in northern Syria. The administrative centre is the city of Afrin. At the 2004 census, the district had a population of 172,095. Also available i ...

to the northern Idlib Governorate. Suleiman was detained in HTS's Oqab Prison in Jabal Zawiya, and released two days later.

Equipment

The Free Idlib Army is known for possessing several new

BM-21 Grad The BM-21 "Grad" (russian: БМ-21 "Град", lit= hail) is a self-propelled 122 mm multiple rocket launcher designed in the Soviet Union. The system and the M-21OF rocket were first developed in the early 1960s, and saw their first com ...

multiple rocket launcher A multiple rocket launcher (MRL) or multiple launch rocket system (MLRS) is a type of rocket artillery system that contains multiple launchers which are fixed to a single platform, and shoots its rocket ordnance in a fashion similar to a volle ...

s which they used to bombard Syrian Army positions in southern Aleppo. In 2016, one of the group's commanders,

Fares Bayoush Fares Bayoush ( ar, فارس البيوش, born 1970) is a former lieutenant colonel in the Syrian Arab Air Force who defected to the Free Syrian Army in 2012. Military activities in the Syrian Air Force In 1990, Fares Bayoush joined a Syrian ...

, confirmed that the rocket systems were newly supplied from foreign sponsors.

References

{{Syrian Civil War Free Syrian Army Anti-government factions of the Syrian civil war Anti-ISIL factions in Syria Operations rooms of the Syrian civil war

History

Equipment

See also

References