The Sultan Suleiman Shah Division (), is a Turkish-backed faction in

Syria Syria, officially the Syrian Arab Republic, is a country in West Asia located in the Eastern Mediterranean and the Levant. It borders the Mediterranean Sea to the west, Turkey to Syria–Turkey border, the north, Iraq to Iraq–Syria border, t ...

operating under the

Syrian National Army The Syrian National Army (SNA; ), also known as the Turkish-backed Free Syrian Army (TFSA), is a coalition of armed Syrian opposition groups that participate in the Syrian civil war. Comprising various rebel factions that emerged at the sta ...

in the Syrian civil war. The group is also known as Suleiman Shah Brigade, and Amsha or al-Amshat after the

nom de guerre A ''nom de guerre'' (, 'war name') is a pseudonym chosen by someone to use when they are involved in a particular activity, especially fighting in a war. In Ancien régime, ''ancien régime'' Kingdom of France, France it would be adopted by each n ...

of its commander, Mohammed al-Jassem. The group committed many crimes throughout its existence, these include

looting Looting is the act of stealing, or the taking of goods by force, typically in the midst of a military, political, or other social crisis, such as war, natural disasters (where law and civil enforcement are temporarily ineffective), or rioting. ...

extortion Extortion is the practice of obtaining benefit (e.g., money or goods) through coercion. In most jurisdictions it is likely to constitute a criminal offence. Robbery is the simplest and most common form of extortion, although making unfounded ...

kidnapping Kidnapping or abduction is the unlawful abduction and confinement of a person against their will, and is a crime in many jurisdictions. Kidnapping may be accomplished by use of force or fear, or a victim may be enticed into confinement by frau ...

rape Rape is a type of sexual assault involving sexual intercourse, or other forms of sexual penetration, carried out against a person without consent. The act may be carried out by physical force, coercion, abuse of authority, or against a person ...

and

forced displacement Forced displacement (also forced migration or forced relocation) is an involuntary or coerced movement of a person or people away from their home or home region. The UNHCR defines 'forced displacement' as follows: displaced "as a result of perse ...

. The group was sanctoned by United States for its

human rights Human rights are universally recognized Morality, moral principles or Social norm, norms that establish standards of human behavior and are often protected by both Municipal law, national and international laws. These rights are considered ...

abuses in

Afrin region Afrin Region (; ; ) was the westernmost of the three original regions of the Autonomous Administration of North and East Syria. The region previously had two subordinate cantons, the Afrin Canton, consisting of the Afrin city area (with the ...

. The group also participated in

2025 massacres of Syrian Alawites A series of mass killings and massacres against Alawites occurred in Syria from 6 March 2025 to 17 March 2025, with a resurgence in early April. They were part of communal and sectarian violence by fighters aligned with the Syrian caretake ...

History

The group was founded by Mohammed al-Jassem, a former commander of

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 ...

-affiliated militias. The group claims to have more than 2000 fighters which it trains in camps in northern

Aleppo Aleppo is a city in Syria, which serves as the capital of the Aleppo Governorate, the most populous Governorates of Syria, governorate of Syria. With an estimated population of 2,098,000 residents it is Syria's largest city by urban area, and ...

. In the early days of Syrian civil war, al-Jassem founded a rebel group called "Line of Fire Brigade", it was mainly composed of his Bani Jamil clan. Line of Fire Brigade initially aligned with the

and received financial support from Gulf-based donors. Later, the group became affiliated with the Syria Revolutionaries Front and then with the

Levant Front The Levant Front (, Jabhat al-Shamiyah, also translated as the Sham Front or the Levantine Front) was a Syrian revolutionary group based around Aleppo involved in the Syrian Civil War. It was formed in December 2014. The northern branch of th ...

after their disagreement with

Hay'at Tahrir al-Sham Hay'at Tahrir al-Sham (HTS) was a Sunni Islamist political organisation and paramilitary group involved in the Syrian civil war. It was formed on 28January 2017 as a merger between several armed groups: Jaysh al-Ahrar (an Ahrar al-Sham facti ...

. The group was forced to flee to

Idlib Idlib (, ; also spelt Idleb or Edlib) is a city in northwestern Syria, and is the capital of the Idlib Governorate. It has an elevation of nearly above sea level, and is southwest of Aleppo. It is located near the border with Turkey. History ...

after clashes with other Syrian rebel groups. In 2016, Abu Amsha rebranded Line of Fire Brigade to Sultan Suleiman Shah Division to solidify Turkish support. The group and its commander has been accused of widespread

human rights abuses Human rights are universally recognized moral principles or norms that establish standards of human behavior and are often protected by both national and international laws. These rights are considered inherent and inalienable, meaning t ...

and

war crimes A war crime is a violation of the laws of war that gives rise to individual criminal responsibility for actions by combatants in action, such as intentionally killing civilians or intentionally killing prisoners of war, torture, taking hos ...

, including extrajudicial killings, kidnappings, torture, extortion, sexual violence, and looting. A criminal investigation was opened against al-Jassem and his two brothers for alleged

corruption Corruption is a form of dishonesty or a criminal offense that is undertaken by a person or an organization that is entrusted in a position of authority to acquire illicit benefits or abuse power for one's gain. Corruption may involve activities ...

and

of people from

Afrin Region Afrin Region (; ; ) was the westernmost of the three original regions of the Autonomous Administration of North and East Syria. The region previously had two subordinate cantons, the Afrin Canton, consisting of the Afrin city area (with the ...

. A lawsuit was also filed against the group by opposition factions in late 2021, for its "alleged violations" in the village of Sheikh Hadid. In addition, al-Jassem was also accused of

sexual assault Sexual assault is an act of sexual abuse in which one intentionally Physical intimacy, sexually touches another person without that person's consent, or Coercion, coerces or physically forces a person to engage in a sexual act against their w ...

after a woman named Israa publicly accused him of repeated rape. The woman would disappear in suspicious circumstances shortly after her accusation, making people suspect al-Jassem's involvement. The group reportedly carried out

robberies Robbery is the crime of taking or attempting to take anything of value by force, threat of force, or use of fear. According to common law, robbery is defined as taking the property of another, with the intent to permanently deprive the person o ...

and

of the local property in the town of Sheikh al-Hadid in 2020, the value of the items stolen by the group is estimated at about 12 million dollars. The group also carried out many false arrests of

Kurds Kurds (), or the Kurdish people, are an Iranian peoples, Iranic ethnic group from West Asia. They are indigenous to Kurdistan, which is a geographic region spanning southeastern Turkey, northwestern Iran, northern Iraq, and northeastern Syri ...

in the same town after accusing them of false pretenses and fabricated

criminal charges A criminal charge is a formal accusation made by a governmental authority (usually a public prosecutor or the police) asserting that somebody has committed a crime. A charging document, which contains one or more criminal charges or counts, can t ...

in order to displace them from their homes. Sultan Suleiman Shah Division is reportedly present in

Libya Libya, officially the State of Libya, is a country in the Maghreb region of North Africa. It borders the Mediterranean Sea to the north, Egypt to Egypt–Libya border, the east, Sudan to Libya–Sudan border, the southeast, Chad to Chad–L ...

mercenaries A mercenary is a private individual who joins an War, armed conflict for personal profit, is otherwise an outsider to the conflict, and is not a member of any other official military. Mercenaries fight for money or other forms of payment rath ...

for

Turkey Turkey, officially the Republic of Türkiye, is a country mainly located in Anatolia in West Asia, with a relatively small part called East Thrace in Southeast Europe. It borders the Black Sea to the north; Georgia (country), Georgia, Armen ...

to help the

Government of National Accord The Government of National Accord (GNA; ) was an interim government for Libya that was formed under the terms of the Libyan Political Agreement, a United Nations–led initiative, signed on 17 December 2015. The agreement was unanimously endors ...

against the

Libyan National Army The Libyan National Army (LNA; , ''al-jaysh al-waṭaniyy al-Lībii''), also known as the Libyan Arab Army (LAA; , ''al-Jaysh al-'Arabiyy al-Lībii'') or the Libyan Arab Armed Forces (LAAF; ), is a component of Libyan Armed Forces, Libya's mil ...

. The group carried out many violations here as well, including looting houses, imposing royalties on shops and stealing food from others. Fighters from the Sultan Suleiman Shah Division participated in the

together with Hamza Division. Allegedly, they committed large-scale massacres and

ethnic cleansing Ethnic cleansing is the systematic forced removal of ethnic, racial, or religious groups from a given area, with the intent of making the society ethnically homogeneous. Along with direct removal such as deportation or population transfer, it ...

against Alawite communities living in coastal Syria.

Sanctions

The group was sanctioned by the

United States Department of the Treasury The Department of the Treasury (USDT) is the Treasury, national treasury and finance department of the federal government of the United States. It is one of 15 current United States federal executive departments, U.S. government departments. ...

for "serious human rights abuses against those residing in the Afrin region of northern Syria" in 2023. The group was accused of

and

extorting Extortion is the practice of obtaining benefit (e.g., money or goods) through coercion. In most jurisdictions it is likely to constitute a criminal offence. Robbery is the simplest and most common form of extortion, although making unfounded t ...

residents living in the city of Afrin to force them to abandon their homes and flee or to “pay large ransoms for return of their property or family members”. The group has mainly targeted

Kurdish Kurdish may refer to: *Kurds or Kurdish people *Kurdish language ** Northern Kurdish (Kurmanji) **Central Kurdish (Sorani) **Southern Kurdish ** Laki Kurdish *Kurdish alphabets *Kurdistan, the land of the Kurdish people which includes: **Southern ...

residents of the city. According to US government's sanction announcement against the group, the Sultan Suleiman Shah Division has been "directed to forcibly displace Kurdish residents and seize their property, providing vacated homes for Syrians from outside the region who are often related to fighters in the brigade”, it haven't specified whether the orders came from

or president

Recep Tayyip Erdoğan Recep Tayyip Erdoğan (born 26 February 1954) is a Turkish politician who is the 12th and current president of Turkey since 2014. He previously served as the 25th prime minister of Turkey, prime minister from 2003 to 2014 as part of the Jus ...

himself.

References

{{Syrian Civil War Syrian civil war 2016 establishments in Syria