The 18 March Division () was a
rebel group part of the
Free Syrian Army
The Free Syrian Army (FSA; ) is a Big tent, big-tent coalition of decentralized Syrian opposition (2011–2024), Syrian opposition rebel groups in the Syrian civil war founded on 29 July 2011 by Colonel Riad al-Asaad and six officers who defe ...
. The 18 March Division named after the
18 March 2011 protests in
Daraa
Daraa (, Levantine Arabic: ) is a city in southwestern Syria, north of the border with Jordan. It is the capital of Daraa Governorate in the Hauran region. Located south of Damascus on the Damascus–Amman highway, it serves as a way sta ...
and was active during the
Syrian Civil War. The group was created on 11 April 2013 by
Colonel
Colonel ( ; abbreviated as Col., Col, or COL) is a senior military Officer (armed forces), 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 colon ...
Mohammed Khaled al-Duhni out of three affiliated groups. On 18 July 2013, the Southern Tawhid Brigade, one of the affiliated groups, left the 18 March Division due to internal disputes.
It joined the
Southern Front on 14 February 2014, and also joined the
Hawks of the South alliance on 27 December 2014.
History
In April 2015, after five Southern Front groups unilaterally rejected all forms of cooperation with the
al-Nusra Front
Al-Nusra Front or Jabhat al-Nusra or Jabhat Nusrat Ahl al-Sham, also known as Front for the Conquest of the Levant, and also later known as Jabhat Fatah al-Sham was a Salafi-jihadist organization that fought against Ba'athist Syria, Ba'athist ...
, the 18 March Division clashed with al-Nusra in the
Daraa al-Balad district of Daraa. Conflicting reports stated that the al-Nusra Front captured a member of the Southern Tawhid Brigade and threw a
grenade
A grenade is a small explosive weapon typically thrown by hand (also called hand grenade), but can also refer to a Shell (projectile), shell (explosive projectile) shot from the muzzle of a rifle (as a rifle grenade) or a grenade launcher. A mod ...
at the latter group's headquarters.
On 28 September 2016, one of the group's field commanders, Hosam Abazid, was
assassinate
Assassination is the willful killing, by a sudden, secret, or planned attack, of a personespecially if prominent or important. It may be prompted by political, ideological, religious, financial, or military motives.
Assassinations are orde ...
d in the eastern Daraa countryside. Hosam Abazid was previously a member of the al-Nusra Front, then defected to the Southern Tawhid Brigade, then to the
Islamic Muthanna Movement, and re-defected back to the 18 March Division.
[
]
See also
*List of armed groups in the Syrian Civil War
A number of states and armed groups have involved themselves in the Syrian civil war (2011–present) as belligerents. The main groups were Ba'athist Syria and allies, Syrian opposition, the Syrian opposition and allies, Al-Qaeda and affiliate ...
References
Anti-Assad factions of the Syrian civil war
Free Syrian Army
Military units and formations established in 2013
Military units and formations disestablished in 2018
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