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 Syrian Revolutionary Command Council. The group received

BGM-71 TOW The BGM-71 TOW ("Tube-launched, Optically tracked, Wire-guided") is an American anti-tank missile. TOW replaced much smaller missiles like the SS.10 and ENTAC, offering roughly twice the effective range, a more powerful warhead, and a greatly ...

missiles 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 territori ...

and

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 ...

, and is also armed, trained, and funded by

Qatar Qatar (, ; ar, قطر, Qaṭar ; local vernacular pronunciation: ), officially the State of Qatar,) is a country in Western Asia. It occupies the Qatar Peninsula on the northeastern coast of the Arabian Peninsula in the Middle East; it ...

History

The Knights of Justice Battalion was formed on 25 February 2012 by a defected Syrian Army

first lieutenant First lieutenant is a commissioned officer military rank in many armed forces; in some forces, it is an appointment. The rank of lieutenant has different meanings in different military formations, but in most forces it is sub-divided into a ...

Mohammed Khaled Bayoush in 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 20 ...

in the Idlib Governorate. In September 2012 the group changed its name to the Knights of Justice Brigade after absorbing several smaller rebel groups. Former

Syrian Air Force ) , mascot = , anniversaries = 16 October , equipment = , equipment_label = , battles = * 1948 Arab-Israeli War * Six-Day War * Yom Kippur War * ...

lieutenant colonel

Fares Bayoush Fares Bayoush ( ar, فارس البيوش, born 1970) is a former lieutenant colonel in the Syrian Arab Air Force who defected to the Free Syrian Army in 2012. Military activities in the Syrian Air Force In 1990, Fares Bayoush joined a Syrian ...

became its overall commander. In June 2013, the group was one of the founding members of the 13th Division, but later left the group. The group received funding, including

salaries A salary is a form of periodic payment from an employer to an employee, which may be specified in an employment contract. It is contrasted with piece wages, where each job, hour or other unit is paid separately, rather than on a periodic basis. ...

for its fighters, from the

CIA The Central Intelligence Agency (CIA ), known informally as the Agency and historically as the Company, is a civilian foreign intelligence service of the federal government of the United States, officially tasked with gathering, processing, ...

, before being cut off in December 2014 following battlefield reversals at the hands of the al-Nusra Front. The brigade joined a "quick response unit" of 600 fighters alongside other moderate and jihadist groups on 8 July 2014 to fight the Syrian Army and the

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

in Aleppo. It suspended its cooperation with al-Nusra Front on 21 July 2014. On 7 September 2014, the Knights of Justice Brigade announced that they were allying their forces with four other rebel groups, including the 101st Division and the 13th Division, into the 5th Corps. In March 2015, the "Famous Brigade" which consisted of 170 fighters joined the Knights of Justice Brigade. In mid-2015 the group renewed cooperation with the al-Nusra Front as part of the Army of Conquest during the

northwestern Syria offensive (April–June 2015) The Northwestern Syria offensive (April–June 2015), dubbed by the rebels as the Battle of Victory, took place in the Idlib Governorate, Idlib and Hama Governorate, Hama governorates during the Syrian Civil War. The campaign consisted of a thr ...

. In September 2015 the 117 recruits from the group graduated after 3 months of training. In December 2015 the Knights of Justice Brigade and the 101st Infantry Division formed the Northern Division. However, the 101st Division later left the group in June 2016, making the Knights of Justice Brigade the only component of the group. In June 2016, Mohammed Khaled Bayoush survived an assassination attempt by car bomb near Kafr Nabl. He later became the deputy commander in the

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. ...

which the Northern Division is part of, and survived another assassination attempt near Kafr Nabl. 31 January 2017, Lt. Col. Fares Bayoush resigned from his positions in the Northern Division and the

, citing "

Black Standard The Black Banner or Black Standard ( ar, الراية السوداء, ar-rāyat as-sawdāʾ, also known as (, "banner of the eagle" or simply as , , "the banner") is one of the flags flown by the Islamic prophet Muhammad according to Muslim tr ...

s" in Idlib. Bayoush claims that 12,000 rebel fighters have recently sought refuge in Turkey.

References

{{reflist

External links

Northern Division Youtube channel
Anti-government factions of the Syrian civil war Anti-ISIL factions in Syria Free Syrian Army Military units and factions of the Syrian civil war