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2016 Dabiq Offensive
The 2016 Dabiq offensive was a military offensive and part of the third phase of Operation Euphrates Shield launched by the Turkish Armed Forces and factions from the Free Syrian Army (FSA, a Syrian rebel group) and allied groups, with the goal of capturing the town of Dabiq, north of Aleppo from Islamic State in Iraq and the Levant (ISIL). It began in September and resulted in the capture of Dabiq by Turkish/FSA-allied forces on 16 October. Background In anticipation of the offensive, ISIL reinforced Dabiq with 800 fighters. An ISIL defeat at Dabiq was seen as a potential ideological blow since it has a central place in ISIL's interpretation of Muslim theology. According to ISIL, a battle at Dabiq between Islamic and "infidel" Christian forces would herald the beginning of the apocalypse. The beginning of the Turkish military intervention in Syria also correlates to the 500th anniversary of the Battle of Marj Dabiq, when the Ottoman Empire led by Selim I entered northern Aleppo ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Operation Euphrates Shield
Operation Euphrates Shield ( tr, Fırat Kalkanı Harekâtı) was a cross-border military operation conducted by the Turkish Armed Forces in the Syrian Civil War which led to the Turkish occupation of northern Syria. Operations were carried out in the region between the Euphrates river to the east and the rebel-held area around Azaz to the west. The Turkish military and Turkey-aligned Syrian rebel groups, some of which used the Free Syrian Army label, fought against the forces of the Islamic State (IS) as well as against the Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF) from 24 August 2016. On 29 March 2017, the Turkish military officially announced that Operation Euphrates Shield was "successfully completed". The Turkish president Recep Tayyip Erdoğan said on the first day of the operation that it was aimed against both the IS and Syrian Kurdish "terror groups that threaten our country in northern Syria". The objective to capture Manbij, under the ''de facto'' control of the AANES administra ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Turkish Land Forces
The Turkish Land Forces ( tr, Türk Kara Kuvvetleri), or Turkish Army (Turkish: ), is the main branch of the Turkish Armed Forces responsible for land-based military operations. The army was formed on November 8, 1920, after the collapse of the Ottoman Empire. Significant campaigns since the foundation of the army include suppression of rebellions in southeastern Turkey from the 1920s to the present day, combat in the Korean War, the 1974 Turkish invasion of Cyprus and the current Turkish involvement in the Syrian Civil War, as well as its NATO alliance against the USSR during the Cold War. The army holds the preeminent place within the armed forces. It is customary for the Chief of the General Staff of the Turkish Armed Forces to have been the Commander of the Turkish Land Forces prior to his appointment as Turkey's senior ranking officer. Alongside the other two armed services, the Turkish Army has frequently intervened in Turkish politics, a custom that is now regulated to ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
13th Division (Syrian Rebel Group)
The 13th Division ( ar, الفرقة 13) is a Syrian rebel group sanctioned by the Syrian National Council. It was among the first armed Syrian opposition groups to receive U.S.-made BGM-71 TOW anti-tank missiles. The group's leader lieutenant colonel Ahmad al-Sa’oud said during an interview that the missiles were provided by the Friends of Syria, which also (according to al-Sa'oud) provided training on how to use the advanced weaponry. According to a spokesperson for the FSA's Supreme Military Council, the 13th Division is funded by sources within Qatar and Saudi Arabia. History The 13th Division originated in March 2012 under the name of the "Slaves of Mercy Brigade" and grew that year to 1,000 men according to its leader Lt. Col. Ahmad al-Saoud, who defected from the Syrian Army. In 2013 the group was incorporated into the Free Syrian Army as the 13th Division. In December 2013, Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant (ISIL) overran a Division 13 base in Kafr Nabl, seizin ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Free Idlib Army
The Free Idlib Army ( ''Jaysh ʾIdlib al-Ḥarr'') is a Syrian rebel coalition consisting of 3 armed groups from northwestern Syria affiliated with the Free Syrian Army: the 13th Division, the Northern Division, and the Mountain Hawks Brigade. History On 25 August 2016, the commander of the Northern Division, Lieutenant Colonel Fares Bayoush announced that talks are made in Idlib on the unification of the three FSA-affiliated rebel groups in northwestern Syria. He stated that eventually the merger will be complete and the three component groups will dissolve into the main faction. At its establishment on 19 September 2016, the coalition aims to prioritise fighting the Syrian government and establish relations and coordinate with the Salafist factions of the Army of Conquest, including Ahrar al-Sham and Jabhat Fateh al-Sham, al-Qaeda's renamed al-Nusra Front. However an opposition source stated that the Free Idlib Army will not closely cooperate with Jabhat Fateh al-S ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Mare' Operations Room
The Mare' Operations Room ( ar, غرفة عمليات مارع, tr, Mare Operasyon Odası) was a joint operations room of armed Syrian rebel factions based around the town of Mare' in the Azaz District of Aleppo Governorate to fight against the Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant. History The operations room was in conflict with the People's Protection Units and Army of Revolutionaries, as part of the Syrian Democratic Forces, from late November 2015 until early December 2015, when a truce was reached, though the Army of Revolutionaries refused to abide by it. At the end of December 2015, the Mare' Operations Room cancelled its agreement with the SDF after the latter captured a village from the former. In January 2016 the commander of the Mare' Operations Room, Major Yasser Abdul Rahim, who was also commander of the Sham Legion, resigned due to the lack of coordination between member groups of the operations room. Yasser continued to be the commander of Fatah Halab after he mov ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Sham Legion
The Sham Legion ( ar, فَيْلَق الشَّام, ''Faylaq al-Shām'') is an alliance of Sunni Islamist rebel groups formed in March 2014, during the Syrian Civil War. The alliance was formed from 19 different groups, some of which were previously affiliated with the Muslim Brotherhood of Syria and the Shields of the Revolution Council. History The Sham Legion was formed on 10 March 2014 from 19 Islamist rebel groups in Syria. These groups operated from the Aleppo Governorate to Damascus, but were concentrated in the Idlib, Hama, and Homs governorates. The formation aimed to "unify the ranks" of non-al-Qaeda-affiliated Islamist rebels in Syria. After its formation, the group took part in the Battle of Morek and Khan Shaykhun in 2014. Upon the formation of the group, it immediately distanced itself from the Syrian Muslim Brotherhood in order to win Saudi aid. The group also sent advisers to support Libya Dawn forces based in Tripoli, which were fighting against the Libyan ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Fastaqim Union
The Fastaqim Kama Umirt Union ( ar-at, تجمعُ فاستقم كما أمرتَ, Tajammuʿ Fastaqim Kamā Umirt, lit=Union of Be Upright as Ordered) is a rebel group active during the Syrian Civil War. History Operations of the main faction The Fastaqim Union takes its name from a Quranic verse, and was founded as an "Islamist umbrella movement" of pro- Free Syrian Army factions in December 2012.Aron LunThe Mujahideen Army of Aleppo Carnegie Middle East Centre, April 08, 2014 Its first overall commander was Sheikh Tawfiq Shahabuddin who headed the Nour al-Din al-Zenki Movement which was one of the Fastaqim Union's member groups at the time. Later on, Peace Brigade commander Mustafa Berro ("Saqr Abu Quteiba") became the Fastaqim Union's overall leader. Berro was described by one analyst in 2014 as "a young FSA-linked fighter". Analyst Nicholas A. Heras described Berro as moderate Islamist who regarded his uprising as being motivated by "secular idealism" yet also as part of ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Al-Moutasem Brigade
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 of Mare'. The group was named after al-Mu'tasim (r. 833–842), an Abbasid caliph. Equipment The Mu'tasim Division is known for possessing a large amount of US-supplied weapons from the Syrian Train and Equip Program, including M16 rifles, M249 light machine guns, M240 machine guns, Soltam K6, M224 mortars, M252 mortars, M2 Browning, and technicals. This led to reports being made that this group is supplied by the United States. The group did not receive anti-tank missiles from the US. Ideology The Mu'tasim Division supports the political Syrian peace process. However, it opposes the U.S.–Russia peace proposals on Syria. The commander of the group has called for " freedom and justice", which led to tensions between him and the a ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
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 formed in December 2014. The northern branch of the Levant Front is part of the Turkish-backed Syrian National Army. The Netherlands' public prosecutor declared it to be a terrorist organisation in 2018, despite the Dutch government having earlier provided it with support. Ideology The Levant Front's membership includes the major Sunni Islamist groups operating in northern Syria, representing a spectrum of ideologies from hardline Salafism to apolitical factions linked to the Free Syrian Army. The group imposes Sharia law where murder and apostasy in Islam are punishable by death. In Aleppo, media activists accusing the Levant Front of corruption and otherwise criticizing the group have received threats and faced reprisal attacks. Courts ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Hamza Division (Aleppo)
The al-Hamza Division ( ar, فرقة الحمزة) is a Syrian rebel group in northwestern Syria affiliated with the Syrian National Army, trained and equipped by the United States, the United Kingdom and Turkey as part of the Syrian Train and Equip Program. Formed in 2013, it cooperates with the Turkish Armed Forces in the Turkish occupation of northern Syria. History 2013 The Hamza Division was originally formed as the Hamza Brigade of the Free Syrian Army (FSA) in the southern countryside of the Hasakah Governorate in northeast Syria in 2013. 2016 On 23 April 2016, five FSA groups based in the town of Mare' in the northern Aleppo Governorate countryside, the Hamza Brigade, the Dhi Qar Brigade, the Northern Thunder Brigade, the Mare Resistance Brigade, and the Special Operations Brigade merged into the Hamza Division, citing "interests of unity" and proclaiming its intention to fight the "crime and terror" of the Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant (ISIL) and the Syrian go ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Liwa Ahfad Saladin
The Descendants of Saladin Brigade ( ar, لواء أحفاد صلاح الدين; Liwa Ahfad Saladin) was a Free Syrian Army group active in the northern Aleppo Governorate. The group was supported by Turkey and was initially funded and armed by the United States, mainly fighting the Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant but also opposing the Syrian government and the Democratic Union Party's (PYD) affiliates such as the Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF). The brigade was largely disbanded by the Turkish Army in 2017, following disagreements over the participation in a planned Turkish-led offensive against Afrin Canton, although a small faction within the group (known simply as Saladin Brigade) remained active and participated in the offensive since January 2018. Ideology Named after the Kurdish founder of the Ayyubid dynasty, Saladin, the group is non-sectarian and officially advocates equal rights for all ethnicities in Syria, although it stated that it is not secular. According ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
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 opposition and are heavily supported by Turkey, who provides funding and military training along with artillery and aerial support. It is the most notable group among Syrian Turkmen Brigades supported by Turkey. Ideology and structure The Sultan Murad Division is one of several Syrian rebel groups that support or at least tolerate Turkish nationalist or pan-Turkic ideologies like Neo-Ottomanism and Turanism. Among the commanders of the group are Ahmed Othman, Fehim İsa and Ali Şeyh Salih, who is an ethnic Arab. Equipment Among the Syrian rebel groups participating in the Turkish military intervention in Syria, the Sultan Murad Division is the group that receives the most support from the Turkish Armed Forces. It operates at least 8 FNSS ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
