Fares Bayoush ( ar, فارس البيوش, born 1970) is a former

lieutenant colonel Lieutenant colonel ( , ) is a rank of commissioned officers in the armies, most marine forces and some air forces of the world, above a major and below a colonel. Several police forces in the United States use the rank of lieutenant colone ...

in the Syrian Arab Air Force who defected to the

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 ...

in 2012.

Military activities in the Syrian Air Force

In 1990, Fares Bayoush joined a Syrian Air Force technical institute and graduated as a lieutenant colonel in 1992. From there he became an aircraft engineer and an officer of the Syrian Air Force's 24th Brigade. He was stationed in the

Deir ez-Zor Airport Deir ez-Zor Airport ( ar, مطار دير الزور) is an airport serving Deir ez-Zor, a city in northeastern Syria. History Deir ez-Zor Airport was established by the British during World War II as LG-416. Before the war in Syria, airlines ...

Syrian Civil War

On 1 April 2011, during the civil uprising phase of the Syrian Civil War, Fares Bayoush went from Deir ez-Zor and traveled to the town of

Kafr Nabl Kafr Nabl ( ar, كَفْرنَبِل, Kafr Nabil, also spelled Kafranbel or Kafr Nabil) is a town administratively belonging to the Idlib Governorate and Ma'arrat al-Numan District in northwestern Syria. It is situated above sea level. In the 2 ...

in the

Idlib Governorate Idlib Governorate ( ar, مُحافظة ادلب / ALA-LC: ''Muḥāfaẓat Idlib'') is one of the 14 governorates of Syria. It is situated in northwestern Syria, bordering Turkey's Hatay province to the north, Aleppo Governorate to the east, Hama ...

. He returned to Deir ez-Zor and contacted other officers to organize a

mutiny Mutiny is a revolt among a group of people (typically of a military, of a crew or of a crew of pirates) to oppose, change, or overthrow an organization to which they were previously loyal. The term is commonly used for a rebellion among member ...

in the Deir ez-Zor Airbase. They were arrested by the Air Force Intelligence Directorate and transferred to the

Mezzeh Military Airport Mezzeh Military Airport (also spelled ''Mazzeh'') is a Syrian Air Force military air base located in Mezzeh, Damascus, Syria, south-west of the old centre of Damascus. It has one runway of 8258 ft length, at elevation 2407 ft.globalsecuri ...

under detainment. Fares Bayoush and two other military officers were released in June 2012. The next month, they announced their defection from the

Syrian Armed Forces The Syrian Arab Armed Forces ( ar, الْقُوَّاتُ الْمُسَلَّحَةُ الْعَرَبِيَّةُ السُّورِيَّةُ, al-Quwwāt al-Musallaḥah al-ʿArabīyah as-Sūrīyah) are the military forces of the Syrian Arab Re ...

and joined the

. They then headed back to Deir ez-Zor to join the rebels there, where heavy clashes between the government and the rebels occurred. He returned to the Idlib Governorate and joined the

Knights of Justice Brigade The Northern Division ( ar-at, الفرقة الشمالية), formerly the Knights of Justice Brigade ( ar, لواء فرسان الحق, '), is a Free Syrian Army group sanctioned by the Syrian National Council and formerly part of the Syri ...

. The group took part in the battles in the province, including the Battle of Maarrat al-Nu'man where Bayoush was wounded in action. In December 2013, Fares Bayoush and Lt. Col. Ahmad al-Saud of the 13th Division were captured by the

Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant An Islamic state is a State (polity), state that has a form of government based on sharia, Islamic law (sharia). As a term, it has been used to describe various historical Polity, polities and theories of governance in the Islamic world. As a t ...

. The two were released after pressure by other rebel groups, including the Idlib Military Council. Later in 2014, the group received BGM-71 TOW

anti-tank missile An anti-tank guided missile (ATGM), anti-tank missile, anti-tank guided weapon (ATGW) or anti-armor guided weapon is a Missile guidance, guided missile primarily designed to hit and destroy Armoured fighting vehicle, heavily armored military v ...

s from the

United States The United States of America (U.S.A. or USA), commonly known as the United States (U.S. or US) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It consists of 50 states, a federal district, five major unincorporated territorie ...

. The Knights of Justice Brigade and other FSA groups in Idlib cooperated with

al-Qaeda Al-Qaeda (; , ) is an Islamic extremism, Islamic extremist organization composed of Salafist jihadists. Its members are mostly composed of Arab, Arabs, but also include other peoples. Al-Qaeda has mounted attacks on civilian and military ta ...

al-Nusra Front Al-Nusra Front or Jabhat al-Nusra ( ar, جبهة النصرة لأهل الشام, Jabhat an-Nuṣrah li-Ahl ish-Sham lit. ''Front of the Supporters of the People of Syria/the Levant''), known as Jabhat Fatah al-Sham ( ar, جبهة فتح ال ...

. In September 2014, Fares Bayoush condemned the

American-led intervention in Syria The American-led intervention in the Syrian Civil War refers to the American-led support of Syrian rebels and the Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF) during the course of the Syrian civil war, including Operation Inherent Resolve, the active mil ...

against the ISIL and the al-Nusra Front. In an interview in 2015, Bayoush stated that "We have to work with Nusra Front and other groups to fight the regime and Daesh". In late 2015, the Knights of Justice Brigade and other FSA groups such as the

Mountain Hawks Brigade The Mountain Hawks Brigade ( ar-at, لواء صقور الجبل, Liwa’ Suqour al-Jabal), known as the Hawks of Mount Zawiya Brigade ( ar, لواء صقور جبل الزاويه, Liwa' Suqour Jabal al-Zawiya) between 2012 and 2015 and the Moun ...

, both supported by the US, were targeted with Russian airstrikes during the

Russian military intervention in Syria {{Infobox military conflict , partof = the foreign involvement in the Syrian civil war, and the military intervention against ISIL , image = , image_size = , border = , caption = To ...

Political activities and resignation

Fares Bayoush was one of the

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 gover ...

delegates during the Astana peace talks which began on 23 January 2017. On 31 January 2017, Lt. Col. Fares Bayoush resigned from his positions in the

Northern Division Northern Division or North Division can refer to: Sports * Northern Division (Rugby Union) Leagues of England * Queensland Rugby League Northern Division * Southern League Northern Division of the Southern Football League in England * FA Women's ...

and the Free Idlib Army, citing foreign fighters and jihadist flags in Idlib. On 10 April 2022, Bayoush, speaking from

Turkey Turkey ( tr, Türkiye ), officially the Republic of Türkiye ( tr, Türkiye Cumhuriyeti, links=no ), is a list of transcontinental countries, transcontinental country located mainly on the Anatolia, Anatolian Peninsula in Western Asia, with ...

, called Russian Army General

Aleksandr Dvornikov Aleksandr Vladimirovich Dvornikov (; born 22 August 1961) is a Russian Ground Forces army general who commanded the Russian military intervention in Syria and the 2022 Russian invasion of Ukraine. After joining the Soviet Army in 1978, Dvornik ...

, who commanded the Russian military intervention in Syria and was appointed commander of the

2022 Russian invasion of Ukraine On 24 February 2022, in a major escalation of the Russo-Ukrainian War, which began in 2014. The invasion has resulted in tens of thousands of deaths on both sides. It has caused Europe's largest refugee crisis since World War II. An ...

, a war criminal. Bayoush said Dvornikov utilized

scorched earth A scorched-earth policy is a military strategy that aims to destroy anything that might be useful to the enemy. Any assets that could be used by the enemy may be targeted, which usually includes obvious weapons, transport vehicles, communi ...

policy in Syria and expected him to do the same in

Ukraine Ukraine ( uk, Україна, Ukraïna, ) is a country in Eastern Europe. It is the second-largest European country after Russia, which it borders to the east and northeast. Ukraine covers approximately . Prior to the ongoing Russian inv ...

References

Defectors to the Free Syrian Army Syrian Air Force personnel 1970 births Syrian Sunni Muslims Living people People from Idlib Governorate {{Syrian Civil War

Military activities in the Syrian Air Force

Syrian Civil War

Political activities and resignation

See also

References