Sham Liberation Army
Armed rebel group active in the Syrian Civil War / From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
The Sham Liberation Army (Arabic: جيش تحرير الشام, romanized: Jaysh Tahrir al-Sham), originally called the Sham Liberation Brigade (Arabic: لواء تحرير الشام, romanized: Liwa Tahrir al-Sham), is an armed rebel group active in the Syrian Civil War. It was founded and is led by Firas Bitar, a former Syrian Army captain who defected from the Syrian Army in 2012. Until 2016, its sole opponent was the Syrian Armed Forces and its allied militias;[7] it rejected any fighting with the Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant until ISIL attacked its fighters in February 2016.[8]
Sham Liberation Army | |
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جيش تحرير الشام Jaysh Tahrir al-Sham | |
![]() Logo of Saraya Ahl al-Sham, which the Sham Liberation Army is a member group | |
Leaders | |
Dates of operation | 30 September 2015 – present[citation needed] |
Headquarters | Afrin, Aleppo Governorate, Syria (Since 2018)[citation needed] |
Active regions |
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Size | 400 (August 2017 - Saraya Ahl al-Sham total)[6] |
Allies | ![]() ![]() ![]() ![]() ![]() |
Opponents | ![]() ![]() ![]() ![]() ![]() ![]() ![]() ![]() ![]() ![]() |
Battles and wars | Syrian Civil War |
In September 2015, the Sham Liberation Army and other rebel groups in the Qalamoun Mountains formed Saraya Ahl al-Sham (Arabic: سرايا أهل الشام; Company of the People of the Levant).[1]