, native_name_lang = , war = the Syrian Civil War , image = , caption = Logo of the group , active = 1 December 2016 – present , ideology =

Sunni Sunni Islam () is the largest branch of Islam, followed by 85–90% of the world's Muslims. Its name comes from the word '' Sunnah'', referring to the tradition of Muhammad. The differences between Sunni and Shia Muslims arose from a disagr ...

Islamism Islamism (also often called political Islam or Islamic fundamentalism) is a political ideology which posits that modern states and regions should be reconstituted in constitutional, economic and judicial terms, in accordance with what is ...

Salafism The Salafi movement or Salafism () is a Islah, reform branch movement within Sunni Islam that originated during the nineteenth century. The name refers to advocacy of a return to the traditions of the "pious predecessors" (), the first three g ...

Salafi Islamism The Salafi movement or Salafism () is a reform branch movement within Sunni Islam that originated during the nineteenth century. The name refers to advocacy of a return to the traditions of the "pious predecessors" (), the first three generati ...

, leaders = * Hasim al-Shaykh *Khalil Ismail Arslan *Walid al-Mushayil , headquarters = , area = Northwestern

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 ...

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 ...

* Aleppo Governorate *

Hama Governorate Hama Governorate ( ar, مُحافظة حماة / ALA-LC: ''Muḥāfaẓat Ḥamā'') is one of the 14 Governorates of Syria, governorates of Syria. It is situated in western-central Syria, bordering Idlib Governorate, Idlib and Aleppo Governorates ...

Latakia Governorate Latakia Governorate, also transliterated as Ladhakia Governorate, ( ar, مُحافظة اللاذقية / ALA-LC: ''Muḥāfaẓat al-Lādhiqīyah'') is one of the 14 governorates of Syria. It is situated in western Syria, bordering Turkey's Hatay ...

, size = 1,500–2,000 () , partof =

Tahrir al-Sham Hay'at Tahrir al-Sham (HTS) (, transliteration: ', "Organization for the Liberation of the Levant" or "Levant Liberation Committee"), commonly referred to as Tahrir al-Sham, is a Sunni Islamist political and armed organisation involved in the ...

National Front for Liberation The National Front for Liberation ( ar, الجبهة الوطنية للتحرير, ''Al-Jabhat al-Wataniya lil-Tahrir'') is a Syrian rebel coalition that is part of the Syrian National Army (SNA) fighting in the Syrian Civil War. The group was ...

()
Defeat the Invaders Operations Room () , clans = *Liwa al-Tamkeen *Liwa Ahrar al-Jabal al-Wastani *Martyr Ali Mutlaq Battalion *al-Naasan Bloc , split_from =

Ahrar al-Sham Harakat Ahrar al-Sham al-Islamiyya ( ar-at, حركة أحرار الشام الإسلامية, Ḥarakat Aḥrāru š-Šām al-Islāmiyah, lit=Islamic Movement of the Freemen of the Levant), commonly referred to as Ahrar al-Sham, is a coalition ...

, successor = , allies =

Jabhat Fatah al-Sham 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 ...

Turkistan Islamic Party in Syria The Turkistan Islamic Party in Syria (TIP; ar, الحزب الإسلامي التركستاني في سوريا tr, Türkistan İslam Partisi, zh, 突厥斯坦伊斯兰党) is the Syrian branch of the Turkistan Islamic Party, an armed Uyghur ...

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 previ ...

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 ...

, opponents =

Hezbollah Hezbollah (; ar, حزب الله ', , also transliterated Hizbullah or Hizballah, among others) is a Lebanese Shia Islamist political party and militant group, led by its Secretary-General Hassan Nasrallah since 1992. Hezbollah's parami ...

, battles = Syrian Civil War *

Battle of Aleppo A battle is an occurrence of combat in warfare between opposing military units of any number or size. A war usually consists of multiple battles. In general, a battle is a military engagement that is well defined in duration, area, and force ...

* Inter-rebel conflict during the Syrian Civil War **

Idlib Governorate clashes (January–March 2017) The Idlib Governorate clashes (January–March 2017), were military confrontations between Syrian rebel factions led by Ahrar al-Sham and their allies on one side and the al-Qaeda-affiliated Jabhat Fatah al-Sham (later as Tahrir al-Sham) and ...

** Idlib Governorate clashes (July 2017) * Northwestern Syria campaign (October 2017–February 2018) * 2018 Idlib crisis *

Northwestern Syria offensive (April 2019–present) Northwestern or North-western or North western may refer to: * Northwest, a direction * Northwestern University, a private research university in Evanston, Illinois ** The Northwestern Wildcats, this school's intercollegiate athletic program ** No ...

, url = https://twitter.com/jishalahrar Jaysh al-Ahrar ( ar, جيش الأحرار, lit=Army of the Free), is an armed

Salafi Islamist The Salafi movement or Salafism () is a reform branch movement within Sunni Islam that originated during the nineteenth century. The name refers to advocacy of a return to the traditions of the "pious predecessors" (), the first three generati ...

rebel group in northwestern

that originated as a clique composed of 16 units in

that opposed involvement in Operation Euphrates Shield, after a

fatwa A fatwā ( ; ar, فتوى; plural ''fatāwā'' ) is a legal ruling on a point of Islamic law (''sharia'') given by a qualified '' Faqih'' (Islamic jurist) in response to a question posed by a private individual, judge or government. A jurist i ...

was released by religious clerics in

, which led to the group's separation from Ahrar al-Sham. Most members of the group joined

(HTS) in January 2017. The founding leader of Jaysh al-Ahrar, Hashim al-Shaykh ("Abu Jaber") was appointed as the head of HTS. Jaysh al-Ahrar left HTS in September 2017, and have since then closely cooperated with both HTS and Ahrar al-Sham, as well as other rebel groups in the area.

History

Formation and HTS

On 20 September 2016, Ahrar al-Sham's shura council authorized its fighters to cooperate with the

Turkish Armed Forces The Turkish Armed Forces (TAF; tr, Türk Silahlı Kuvvetleri, TSK) are the military forces of the Republic of Turkey. Turkish Armed Forces consist of the General Staff, the Land Forces, the Naval Forces and the Air Forces. The current Chi ...

and the

Turkish-backed Free Syrian 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 ...

and participate in Operation Euphrates Shield against 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 ...

and the

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

, while the

was still active. This led to a split between Ahrar al-Sham's majority pro-Turkey, nationalist and pragmatic faction on one side and its minority Salafi jihadist faction, who favoured a merger with Jabhat Fatah al-Sham, the former Syrian branch of

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 ...

, on the other. Members of the pragmatic faction opposed such merger in fears of losing support from foreign backers, mainly

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 ...

. On 1 December, 16 units from the hardliner faction grouped together under the name of Jaysh al-Ahrar, led by Abu Jaber. Soon after its formation, Jaysh al-Ahrar destroyed Liwa Ahfad al-Sahaba in the

Kafr Halab Kafr Halab ( ar, كفر حلب, also spelled Kafar Halab) or Kafr Aleppo is a town in northern Syria, administratively part of the Atarib District of the Aleppo Governorate, located southwest of Aleppo. Nearby localities include Zardana to the wes ...

area after the latter killed one of the former's fighters. On 22 January 2017, amid heavy infighting between Ahrar al-Sham and JFS, Abu Jaber announced the temporary dissolution of Jaysh al-Ahrar, while continuing to push for a merger with JFS. This merger was achieved when JFS, member groups of Jaysh al-Ahrar and other Ahrar al-Sham defectors,

Jabhat Ansar al-Din Jabhat Ansar al-Din ( ar, جبهة أنصار الدين, ''The Supporters of the Religion Front'') is a jihadist alliance that announced itself on 25 July 2014, during the Syrian Civil War. The alliance contains two groups: Harakat Sham al-Isla ...

, Liwa al-Haqq, Jaysh al-Sunna, and the

Nour al-Din al-Zenki Movement The Nour al-Din al-Zenki Movement ( ar, حركة نور الدين الزنكي ''Ḥaraka Nūr ad-Dīn az-Zankī'') was a Sunni Islamist rebel group involved in the Syrian Civil War. In 2014, it was reportedly one of the most influential factio ...

formed

Hayat Tahrir al-Sham Hay'at Tahrir al-Sham (HTS) (, transliteration: ', "Organization for the Liberation of the Levant" or "Levant Liberation Committee"), commonly referred to as Tahrir al-Sham, is a Sunni Islamist political and armed organisation involved in the ...

(HTS) on 28 January. Abu Jaber was named HTS's general commander. In September 2017, a number of Jaysh al-Ahrar members left HTS due to disagreements with HTS after a leak in which Abu Muhammad al-Julani and HTS Idlib commander Abu Hamza Binnish discussed using foreign Salafi jihadist clerics such as Abdullah al-Muhaysini as tools. While Abu Maria al-Qahtani encouraged Abu Muhammad al-Julani to eliminate other rebel groups and to develop a relationship with

Iran Iran, officially the Islamic Republic of Iran, and also called Persia, is a country located in Western Asia. It is bordered by Iraq and Turkey to the west, by Azerbaijan and Armenia to the northwest, by the Caspian Sea and Turkmeni ...

. The split came after Muhaysini as well as another cleric officially resigned from HTS. However Jaysh al-Ahrar and HTS both agreed to maintain good terms and continue to cooperate. Abu Jaber remained with HTS. On 1 October, he resigned as HTS's general commander, being replaced by Abu Muhammad al-Julani, who was considered to be HTS's top commander all along. Abu Jaber was then appointed as the head of HTS's shura council.

Post-HTS

Jaysh al-Ahrar fought alongside other rebel groups, including HTS, Ahrar al-Sham, Free Idlib Army,

Army of Victory The Army of Victory ( ar, ; Jaysh al-Nasr) is an armed opposition faction participating in the Syrian Civil War. Founded in August 2015 as a joint operations room of 16 member groups, three of the groups later fully merged into Jaysh al-Nasr ...

, Army of Glory, Nour al-Din al-Zenki Movement, and Jund al-Malahim against the

Syrian Army " (''Guardians of the Homeland'') , colors = * Service uniform: Khaki, Olive * Combat uniform: Green, Black, Khaki , anniversaries = August 1st , equipment = , equipment_label = , battles = 1948 Arab–Israeli War Six ...

's Northwestern Syria campaign (October 2017–February 2018), which resulted in a rebel defeat. In February 2018, during

fighting Combat ( French for ''fight'') is a purposeful violent conflict meant to physically harm or kill the opposition. Combat may be armed (using weapons) or unarmed ( not using weapons). Combat is sometimes resorted to as a method of self-defense, or ...

between Hayat Tahrir al-Sham and the

Syrian Liberation Front Jabhat Tahrir Suriya , native_name_lang = , war = the Syrian Civil War , image = File:Logo of the Syrian Liberation Front.png , caption = The logo of the Syrian Liberation Front , active = 18 Febru ...

, a coalition of

and the

, Jaysh al-Ahrar released a statement urging the

to not get involved in the fighting on the side of HTS, and for HTS' leader

Abu Mohammad al-Julani Ahmed Hussein al-Shar’a ( ar, أحمد حسين الشرع, ʾAḥmad Ḥusayn aš-Šarʿ), known by the ''nom de guerre'' Abu Mohammad al-Julani ( ar, أبو محمد الجولاني, ʾAbū Muḥammad al-Jawlānī), is the commander-in-chie ...

to submit to the authority of a Sharia court in order to mediate the conflict.https://pbs.twimg.com/media/DWqtG-DW0AAhjuT?format=jpg&name=900x900 On 18 June 2018, unidentified gunmen assassinated Jaysh al-Ahrar deputy commander Khalil Ismail Arslan ("Abu Ismail Gubas") and his son in a village near Saraqib. On 1 August 2018, the group, along with the Ahrar al-Sham-led Syrian Liberation Front,

Suqour al-Sham Brigades The Suqour al-Sham Brigades ( ar, أَلْوِيَةُ صُقُورِ الشَّامِ, ʾAlwiyat Ṣuqūr aš-Šām, en, Hawks of the Levant Brigades), also known as the Sham Falcons Brigades, is an armed rebel organisation formed by Ahmed Abu ...

, and the Damascus Gathering joined the

. Walid al-Mushayil ("Abu Hashim"), artillery commander of Jaysh al-Ahrar, was appointed the NFL's second deputy commander.

References

{{Syrian Civil War Salafi Islamist groups Jihadist groups in Syria Anti-government factions of the Syrian civil war