The Army of Victory ( ar, ; Jaysh al-Nasr) is an armed opposition faction participating in the Syrian Civil War. Founded in August 2015 as a joint

operations room A control room or operations room is a central space where a large physical facility or physically dispersed service can be monitored and controlled. It is often part of a larger command center. Overview A control room's purpose is produc ...

of 16 member groups, three of the groups later fully merged into Jaysh al-Nasr. The group was supplied with US-made

BGM-71 TOW The BGM-71 TOW ("Tube-launched, Optically tracked, Wire-guided") is an American anti-tank missile. TOW replaced much smaller missiles like the SS.10 and ENTAC, offering roughly twice the effective range, a more powerful warhead, and a greatly ...

anti-tank missile An anti-tank guided missile (ATGM), anti-tank missile, anti-tank guided weapon (ATGW) or anti-armor guided weapon is a guided missile primarily designed to hit and destroy heavily armored military vehicles. ATGMs range in size from shoulder ...

History

Formation as a joint operations room

''Jaysh al-Nasr'' was formed in early August 2015 as a joint operations room with the stated objective being the "liberation of the northern countryside of Hama, breaking the regime's first defense line toward the city of Hama." It was announced as a first step towards unifying the Free Syrian Army in Idlib and Hama provinces into a single operations room. The alliance initially comprised the following 16 groups: * Falcons of al-Ghab * Gathering of Glory * Levant Front * Salvation Front * Falcons of Mount Zawiya Brigade * 6th Brigade * 111th Brigade * 60th Brigade * Bilad ash-Sham Brigade * 111th Regiment * Revolutionary Fedayeen Movement (former member of the Army of Revolutionaries) * Hawks of Jihad Battalion * Martyrs of

Tremseh Tremseh ( ar, التريمسة, ''al-Turaymisah''), or in various dialects ''Tremseh'', ''Treimsa'', ''Taramsah'', ''Taramseh'' in the Hama Governorate in northern Syria. It is roughly 22 miles northwest of the central city of Hama. Nearby localiti ...

Brigade * Al-Mashhour Battalions *

Antiquities Antiquities are objects from antiquity, especially the civilizations of the Mediterranean: the Classical antiquity of Greece and Rome, Ancient Egypt and the other Ancient Near Eastern cultures. Artifacts from earlier periods such as the Meso ...

Brigade

Reformation as a unified group

In late October 2015, it was announced that three of its component groups, the Falcons of al-Ghab, 111th Regiment, and the Salvation Front, completely merged into ''Jaysh al-Nasr'' with Suqour al-Ghab's commander, Major Muhammad Mansour, assuming the leadership of the new unified group. In late September 2016, the group previously known as ''Liwa Ahrar Darayya'' (who had been evacuated from Darayya due to a deal made with the Syrian government) announced their merge into Jaysh al-Nasr. Jaysh al-Nasr have taken mainly Alawite civilians, including children, as prisoners. 112 of them were released from Qalaat al-Madiq on 7 February 2017 as part of a

prisoner exchange A prisoner exchange or prisoner swap is a deal between opposing sides in a conflict to release prisoners: prisoners of war, spies, hostages, etc. Sometimes, dead bodies are involved in an exchange. Geneva Conventions Under the Geneva Conven ...

Rebel infighting

On 7 February 2017,

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 ...

attacked the headquarters of Jaysh al-Nasr near the town of Murak in northern Hama. Jund al-Aqsa captured more than 250 fighters from Jaysh al-Nasr. On 14 February, they reportedly killed at least 80 Jaysh al-Nasr prisoners before withdrawing from their positions north of

Khan Shaykhun Khan Shaykhun ( ar, خَان شَيْخُون, Ḵān Šayḵūn), sometimes spelled Khan Sheikhoun or Khan Shikhoun, is a town in the Maarrat al-Nu'man District, within the southern Idlib Governorate of northwestern Syria. Khan Shaykhun is locate ...

. Kafr Nuboudah and Kafr Zita villages were the origin of the Jaysh Nasr members whom Liwa al-Aqsa executed according to Moussa al-Omar. The casualties given for Jaysh Nasr were 56 fighters, 3 media reporters, and 11 military commanders, according to Moussa al-Omar. After Jund al-Aqsa committed slaughter at Khan Shaykhun, only one person lived to tell the tale. After the infighting with Jund al-Aqsa, Captain Muhannad Junaid of Jaysh al-Nasr stated that "The whole of Idlib will be painted black". On 22 May 2017,

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 ...

Alaa Rakhmon of Jaysh al-Nasr was assassinated by unknown assailants in the village of

Kafr Nabudah Kafr Nabudah ( ar, كفر نبودة, also spelled Kafar Nabuda) is a town in northern Syria, administratively part of the Hama Governorate, located northwest of Hama. Nearby localities include Qalaat al-Madiq and Jamasat Udayat to the west, a ...

. Rakhmon was a prominent operator of

missiles and was responsible for destroying several Syrian Army tanks during the

2017 Hama offensive Seventeen or 17 may refer to: *17 (number), the natural number following 16 and preceding 18 * one of the years 17 BC, AD 17, 1917, 2017 Literature Magazines * ''Seventeen'' (American magazine), an American magazine * ''Seventeen'' (Japanese m ...

Turkish support

Western financial support for Jaysh al-Nasr largely ended in October 2017. On 9 February 2018, the 111th Regiment and the Salvation Front left Jaysh al-Nasr. The Falcons of al-Ghab, led by Major Muhammad Mansour, became the only significant faction left in the group.

Turkey Turkey ( tr, Türkiye ), officially the Republic of Türkiye ( tr, Türkiye Cumhuriyeti, links=no ), is a transcontinental country located mainly on the Anatolian Peninsula in Western Asia, with a small portion on the Balkan Peninsula in ...

continues to provide financial and military support for Jaysh al-Nasr and other rebel groups in the region. In exchange for continued support, Turkey requested these rebel groups to participate in the

Turkish military operation in Afrin Operation Olive Branch ( tr, Zeytin Dalı Harekâtı) was a cross-border military operation conducted by the Turkish Armed Forces and Syrian National Army (SNA) in the majority-Kurdish Afrin District of northwest Syria, against the People's Pro ...

, which Jaysh al-Nasr did beginning on 16 February. On the same day, Jaysh al-Nasr appointed 3 new leaders. In May 2018, along with 10 other rebel groups in northwestern Syria, the Army of Victory formed the National Front for Liberation, which was officially announced on 28 May. Maj. Muhammad Mansour, commander of Jaysh al-Nasr, was appointed chief of staff of the formation. After it left the Army of Victory, the 111th Regiment joined the Sham Legion's northern Hama branch, which is also part of the NFL. On 6 January 2019, the Sham Legion expelled the 111th Regiment for

insubordination Insubordination is the act of willfully disobeying a lawful order of one's superior. It is generally a punishable offense in hierarchical organizations such as the armed forces, which depend on people lower in the chain of command obeying ord ...

References

{{Syrian Civil War

External links

Official website
Anti-government factions of the Syrian civil war Free Syrian Army Military units and formations established in 2015 Turkish supported militant groups of the Syrian civil war