, native_name_lang = , other_name = , leaders = *Mutasim Abbas ( commander-in-chief) *See leaders section , foundation = , dates = 9 September 2021–present , dissolved = , merger = *

Mu'tasim Division The Mu'tasim Division ( ar, فرقة المُعتصم, Firqat al-Mu'tasim), formerly the Mutasim Brigade ( ar, لواء المعتصم, Liwa al-Mu'tasim), is a Free Syrian Army faction active in the northern Aleppo Governorate, based in the town ...

* Hamza Division *Sultan Suleiman Shah Division (al-Amshat, until 2 November) *20th Division (until 14 October 2021) *Northern Hawks Brigade (until 14 October 2021) *Special Forces Division (from 28 September 2021) , split = Azm Operations Room , predecessor = , merged = , successor = , country = Syria , allegiance =

Syrian Interim Government The Syrian Interim Government ''(SIG)'' is an alternative government in Syria, formed by the umbrella opposition group, the National Coalition for Syrian Revolutionary and Opposition Forces. The interim government indirectly controls some areas ...

, motives = , area = Turkish-occupied northern Syria , headquarters =

Al-Bab Al-Bab ( ar, الْبَاب / ALA-LC: ''al-Bāb'') is a city, ''de jure'' administratively belonging to the Aleppo Governorate of the Syrian Arab Republic. As of December 2016, the city is under the control of pro-Turkish militias, as part of t ...

, newspaper = , ideology = , position = , crimes = , attacks = , status = Active , size = 15,000–20,000 , revenue = , financing = , partof =

Syrian National Army The Syrian National Army (SNA) ( ar, الجيش الوطني السوري, al-Jayš al-Waṭanī as-Sūrī), previously the Free Syrian Army (FSA) and also known as the Turkish-backed Free Syrian Army (TFSA), is a coalition of armed Syrian op ...

Free Syrian Army The Free Syrian Army (FSA) ( ar, الجيش السوري الحر, al-jaysh as-Sūrī al-ḥur) is a loose faction in the Syrian Civil War founded on 29 July 2011 by officers of the Syrian Armed Forces with the goal of bringing down the governm ...

, allies = , opponents = *

Syrian Democratic Forces , war = the Syrian Civil War , image = Flag of Syrian Democratic Forces.svgborder , caption = Flag , active = 10 October 2015 – present , ideology = DemocracyDecentralizationSecularism ...

* Azm Unified Command Room (sometimes) , battles = , flag = , website = https://twitter.com/SyrianFront1 , module = , module2 = , module3 = , module4 = , module5 = , module6 = The Syrian Front for Liberation ( ar, الجبهة السورية للتحرير, translit=Jabhat al-Suriya lil-Tahrir) is a

Syrian opposition The Syrian opposition ( ar, المعارضة السورية ', ) is the political structure represented by the Syrian National Coalition and associated Syrian anti-Assad groups with certain territorial control as an alternative Syrian govern ...

faction operating within the

Turkish Turkish may refer to: *a Turkic language spoken by the Turks * of or about Turkey ** Turkish language *** Turkish alphabet ** Turkish people, a Turkic ethnic group and nation *** Turkish citizen, a citizen of Turkey *** Turkish communities ...

-backed

, formed by the

, the Hamza Division, the Sultan Suleiman Shah Division (al-Amshat), the 20th Division, and the Northern Hawks Brigade on 9 September 2021. The Front soon began to fracture after its formation, with the Northern Hawks Brigade and 20th Division having withdrawn by 14 October and the Sultan Suleiman Shah Division by 2 November.

Background and establishment

The Azm Operations Room was formed in the areas of

Azaz Azaz ( ar, أَعْزَاز, ʾAʿzāz) is a city in northwest Syria, roughly north-northwest of Aleppo. According to the Syria Central Bureau of Statistics (CBS), Azaz had a population of 31,623 in the 2004 census.

and Afrin under auspice of Turkey's

National Intelligence Organization The National Intelligence Organization ( tr, Millî İstihbarat Teşkilatı, MİT) is the state intelligence agency of Turkey. Established in 1965 to replace National Security Service, its aim is to gather information about the current and po ...

(MİT) in mid-July 2021 by the

Levant Front The Levant Front ( ar, الجبهة الشامية, al-Jabhat aš-Šāmiyya, Jabhat al-Shamiyah, also translated as the Sham Front or the Levantine Front) is a Syrian rebel group based around Aleppo involved in the Syrian Civil War. It was fo ...

and the

Sultan Murad Division The Sultan Murad Division ( ar, فرقة السلطان مراد; ''Firqat al-Sultan Murad'', tr, Sultan Murat Tümeni) is an armed rebel group in the Syrian Civil War, created around a Syrian Turkmen identity. It is aligned with the Syrian o ...

, with the Hamza Division, Sultan Malik Shah Division,

Ahrar al-Sharqiya Tajammu Ahrar al-Sharqiya (Gathering of Free Men of the East), commonly referred to as Ahrar al-Sharqiya, is an active armed Syrian rebel group founded in 2016 by individuals exiled and displaced mostly from the Deir ez-Zor Governorate and other ...

Division,

Jaysh al-Sharqiya The Lions of the East Army ( ar, جيش أسود الشرقية; ''Jaysh Usud al-Sharqiya'') is a Syrian rebel group formerly affiliated with the Free Syrian Army's Southern Front that was formed in August 2014 and is based in southeastern Syri ...

, and

Jaysh al-Islam Jaysh al-Islam ( ar, جيش الإسلام, Jayš al-ʾIslām, meaning ''Army of Islam''), formerly known as Liwa al-Islam ( ar, لواء الإسلام, links=no, Brigade of Islam), is a coalition of Islamist rebel units involved in the Syrian Civ ...

later joining. The Levant Front blocked the Sultan Suleiman Shah Division (al-Amshat) from joining the operations room, although it later also joined. By 23 August, the Hamza Division, al-Amshat, and Northern Hawks Brigade had withdrawn from the Azm Operations Room, which led to the Levant Front surrounding the camps of Hamza and al-Amshat in

Hawar Kilis Hawar Kilis ( ar, حوار كلس, Ḥiwār Kalas, tr, Havar Kilis or ), alternatively spelled Hiwar Kalas, is a village in northern Aleppo Governorate, northwestern Syria. It is located between Azaz and Al-Rai, on the Queiq Plain, some north o ...

and threatening to attack the three groups if they do not rejoin the operations room. The Syrian Front for Liberation was then formed, also under orders from the MİT, as a counter to the Azm Operations Room. The founding ceremony of the SFL took place on 9 September in the center of

al-Bab Al-Bab ( ar, الْبَاب / ALA-LC: ''al-Bāb'') is a city, ''de jure'' administratively belonging to the Aleppo Governorate of the Syrian Arab Republic. As of December 2016, the city is under the control of pro-Turkish militias, as part of t ...

. Muhammad al-Jassim (Abu Amsha), leader of al-Amshat, refused to attend the ceremony, and instead sent his brother, prompting the leadership of the SFL to threaten to expel him. While the leadership of the Front emphasizes the complete integration of the five groups under a unified leadership, Firas Faham, an

Istanbul Istanbul ( , ; tr, İstanbul ), formerly known as Constantinople ( grc-gre, Κωνσταντινούπολις; la, Constantinopolis), is the List of largest cities and towns in Turkey, largest city in Turkey, serving as the country's economic, ...

-based researcher, said they're still separate. A freelance journalist based in the region also said that "These formations are only for show and they are not united in reality. Each faction still has its own leaders and members who do not take orders from the leaders of other factions. These formations only aim to protect themselves. Whenever factions feel threatened, they form new military bodies to protect themselves, but once the threat is gone, the formations fall apart."

Leadership and organization

Leaders

During the founding ceremony of the Syrian Front for Liberation on 9 September 2021, Mutasim Abbas, leader of the Mutasim Division, was appointed the commander-in-chief of the Front, and Hamza Division leader

Sayf Balud A scimitar ( or ) is a single-edged sword with a convex curved blade associated with Middle Eastern, South Asian, or North African cultures. A European term, ''scimitar'' does not refer to one specific sword type, but an assortment of different ...

as the deputy commander. Mutasim Division political leader Mustafa Sejari became the leader of the Front's political office. On 4 October, the group announced the appointment of Mahmoud al-Boushi as its overall commander in the regions of north-central and northeastern Syria captured during the 2019 offensive, with Khalil Khayriyah as his deputy. In addition,

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 ...

Ibrahim Daas al-Harbi was appointed the commander of the eastern sector of the region, Major Muhammad Riad Noura as commander of the

Ras al-Ayn Ras al-Ayn ( ar, رَأْس ٱلْعَيْن, Raʾs al-ʿAyn, ku, سەرێ کانیێ, Serê Kaniyê, syc, ܪܝܫ ܥܝܢܐ, Rēš Aynā), also spelled Ras al-Ain, is a city in al-Hasakah Governorate in northeastern Syria, on the Syria–Turkey ...

sector, and Nour Tlass as commander of the

Tell Abyad Tell Abyad; ku, گرێ سپی, Girê Spî; hy, Թել Աբյադ; syr, ܬܠ ܐܒܝܕ. is a town in northern Syria. It is the administrative center of the Tell Abyad District within the Raqqa Governorate. Located along the Balikh River, it con ...

sector.

Composition

In addition to its five founding member groups, the Special Forces Division led by Abdullah Halawa joined the Front on 28 September 2021. The Division was formed during the

northwestern Syria offensive (December 2019–March 2020) The 2019–2020 northwestern Syria offensive, codenamed "Dawn of Idlib 2," was a military operation launched by the armed forces of the Syrian Arab Republic, Russia, Iran, Hezbollah and other allied militias against Syrian opposition and allied ...

and consists of 1,550 fighters spread across the

Idlib ar, إدلبي, Idlibi , coordinates = , elevation_m = 500 , area_code = 23 , geocode = C3871 , blank_name = Climate , blank_info ...

and Aleppo governorates, Tell Abyad, and Ras al-Ayn, with its largest force concentrated in Idlib with 800 fighters. Halawa was previously a military commander of the Hamza Division before he broke away to form the Special Forces Division. An anonymous

source Source may refer to: Research * Historical document * Historical source * Source (intelligence) or sub source, typically a confidential provider of non open-source intelligence * Source (journalism), a person, publication, publishing institute ...

reported to

Orient News Orient News (in Arabic تلفزيون أورينت) is a Syrian media group owned by Syrian businessman, journalist and opposition figure Ghassan Aboud, based in Dubai, providing news service to the Middle East with a focus on Syria. History Ori ...

that the 20th Division demanded to assume control over the Front's political office. When the Front's leadership refused the demand, the 20th Division led by Abu Barzan withdrew from the Front. The Northern Hawks Brigade also withdrew, citing the delay in the arrival of

salaries A salary is a form of periodic payment from an employer to an employee, which may be specified in an employment contract. It is contrasted with piece wages, where each job, hour or other unit is paid separately, rather than on a periodic basis. F ...

for its members. On 14 October, the 20th Division joined the Azm Operations Room. The Azm Operations Room demanded the Northern Hawks Brigade, which also left the Syrian Front for Liberation, to hand over persons involved in the torture of a prisoner by the latter, to which the Northern Hawks Brigade complied and rejoined the Azm Operations Room. On 2 November, the Sultan Suleiman Shah Division left the Syrian Front for Liberation to join the Revolutionaries Movement, part of the Azm Operations Room. The withdrawal of the three factions from the Front was reportedly due to the Front being dominated by the Hamza and Mutasim divisions, who are rivals of the Levant Front and the Sultan Murad Division, two dominant groups in the Azm Operations Room.

History

On 1 November, Syrian Front for Liberation political leader Mustafa Sejari announced the group's readiness to participate in a new Turkish-led offensive against the

to occupy the

Autonomous Administration of North and East Syria The Autonomous Administration of North and East Syria (AANES), also known as Rojava, is a de facto autonomous region in northeastern Syria. It consists of self-governing sub-regions in the areas of Afrin, Jazira, Euphrates, Raqqa, Tabq ...

. It was reported later in November than the Hamza and Mutasim divisions were in negotiations with the Azm Operations Room to join the Third Corps under the operations room. The operations room also claimed that Abdullah Halawa, commander of the Special Forces Division, fled to Turkey after being charged with smuggling and

drug trafficking A drug is any chemical substance that causes a change in an organism's physiology or psychology when consumed. Drugs are typically distinguished from food and substances that provide nutritional support. Consumption of drugs can be via insuffla ...

. On 13 November, the Syrian Front for Liberation praised

Qatar Qatar (, ; ar, قطر, Qaṭar ; local vernacular pronunciation: ), officially the State of Qatar,) is a country in Western Asia. It occupies the Qatar Peninsula on the northeastern coast of the Arabian Peninsula in the Middle East; it ...

's rejection of normalizing relations with the

Syrian government Government of the Syrian Arab Republic is the union government created by the constitution of Syria where by the president is the head of state and the prime minister is the head of government. Executive power is exercised by the government. S ...

References