Jamal Maarouf (

Arabic Arabic (, ' ; , ' or ) is a Semitic languages, Semitic language spoken primarily across the Arab world.Semitic languages: an international handbook / edited by Stefan Weninger; in collaboration with Geoffrey Khan, Michael P. Streck, Janet C ...

: جمال معروف) is a Syrian rebel leader who was one of the most powerful rebel leaders in northern

Syria Syria ( ar, سُورِيَا or سُورِيَة, translit=Sūriyā), officially the Syrian Arab Republic ( ar, الجمهورية العربية السورية, al-Jumhūrīyah al-ʻArabīyah as-Sūrīyah), is a Western Asian country loc ...

The rise and ugly fall of a moderate Syrian rebel offers lessons for the West
/ref> during the earlier stages of the Syrian Civil War. He is the military chief of the Syria Revolutionaries Front and leader of the

Syrian Martyrs' Brigade The Syrian Martyrs' Brigades, full name Union of Martyrs of Syria Battalions and Brigades ( ar, تجمع كتائب وألوية شهداء سوريا), was a unit of the Free Syrian Army and the Syria Revolutionaries Front which was active in the ...

, both part of 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 ...

Biography

Before the uprising against president

Bashar al-Assad Bashar Hafez al-Assad, ', Levantine pronunciation: ; (, born 11 September 1965) is a Syrian politician who is the 19th president of Syria, since 17 July 2000. In addition, he is the commander-in-chief of the Syrian Armed Forces and the ...

, Jamal Maarouf was a construction worker. He was one of the first to take up arms in the Idlib province against the

Assad government The Cabinet of Syria (Arabic: مجلس وزراء سوريا, majlis wuzara' suria) or Council of Ministers is the chief executive body of the Syrian Arab Republic Syria ( ar, سُورِيَا or سُورِيَة, translit=Sūriyā), ...

. Jamal Maarouf created the

in December 2011 and later the Syria Revolutionaries Front, with funding by

Saudi Arabia Saudi Arabia, officially the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia (KSA), is a country in Western Asia. It covers the bulk of the Arabian Peninsula, and has a land area of about , making it the fifth-largest country in Asia, the second-largest in the A ...

. The SRF was accused of corruption and of hoarding bread to raise prices in areas under its control, prompting the

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 ...

to attack it. Maarouf then fled to

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 ...

after his force was defeated by the

in late 2014.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Maarouf, Jamal 1975 births Living people Members of the Free Syrian Army Place of birth missing (living people)