The Retribution Army ( ar, جيش القصاص; Jayš al- Qiṣaṣ) was a

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 ...

(FSA)-affiliated group formed by

Deir ez-Zor , population_urban = , population_density_urban_km2 = , population_density_urban_sq_mi = , population_blank1_title = Ethnicities , population_blank1 = , population_blank2_title = Religions , population_blank2 = ...

natives that fought in the Syrian Civil War against the government and 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 ...

(ISIL).

History

The Retribution Army was originally founded in Deir ez-Zor by

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 ...

Arabs The Arabs (singular: Arab; singular ar, عَرَبِيٌّ, DIN 31635: , , plural ar, عَرَب, DIN 31635, DIN 31635: , Arabic pronunciation: ), also known as the Arab people, are an ethnic group mainly inhabiting the Arab world in Wester ...

and took part in the three-way battle for the city between loosely allied rebel factions, 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 ISIL. When the FSA units in Deir ez-Zor were overrun by ISIL in mid-2014, surviving remnants of the Retribution Army retreated north into areas held by the

People's Protection Units The People's Defense Units (YPG), (YPG) ; ar, وحدات حماية الشعب, Waḥdāt Ḥimāyat aš-Šaʽb) also called People's Protection Units, is a mainly-Kurdish militia in Syria and the primary component of the Syrian Democra ...

(YPG). Eventually relocating to

Kobanî Canton Euphrates Region, formerly Kobanî Canton, ( ku, Herêma Firatê, ar, إقليم الفرات, syc, ܦܢܝܬܐ ܕܦܪܬ, translit=Ponyotho d'Prat) is the central of three original regions of the Autonomous Administration of North and East Sy ...

, the Retribution Army became a founding member of the

Euphrates Volcano Euphrates Volcano ( ar-at, بركان الفرات, Burkān al-Furāt) was a joint operations room/coalition established during the Syrian Civil War. It mainly consisted of the Syrian Kurdish People's Protection Units (YPG) and certain factions o ...

operations room A control room or operations room is a central space where a large physical facility or physically dispersed service can be monitored and controlled. It is often part of a larger command center. Overview A control room's purpose is produc ...

in September 2014. The group then took part in the defence of the town of

Kobanî Kobanî (, , also rendered , ar, كُوبَانِي, Kūbānī) (Kurdish: Kobanî/ کۆبانی) officially Ayn al-Arab ( ar, عَيْن الْعَرَب, ʿAyn al-ʿArab ), is a Kurdish-majority city in northern Syria, lying immediately ...

against the

siege A siege is a military blockade of a city, or fortress, with the intent of conquering by attrition warfare, attrition, or a well-prepared assault. This derives from la, sedere, lit=to sit. Siege warfare is a form of constant, low-intensity con ...

by ISIL, and continued to fight with the YPG and its allies until mid-2015. At the time led by Abu Ali, a former primary schoolteacher, they took part in the

Tell Abyad offensive The Tell Abyad offensive or Martyr Rubar Qamışlo operation was a military operation that began in late May 2015 in the northern Raqqa Governorate, during the Syrian Civil War. It was conducted by the Kurdish-majority People's Protection Units ...

. After

Tell Abyad Tell Abyad; ku, گرێ سپی, Girê Spî; hy, Թել Աբյադ; syr, ܬܠ ܐܒܝܕ. is a town in northern Syria. It is the administrative center of the Tell Abyad District within the Raqqa Governorate. Located along the Balikh River, it const ...

was captured, however, disputes erupted between the Retribution Army and the YPG. Abu Ali later claimed that his men had hoisted the

Syrian Independence flag As a result of the Syrian Civil War since 2011, there are at least two flags used to represent Syria, used by different factions in the war. The incumbent government of the Syrian Arab Republic led by the Ba'ath Party uses the red-white-black tri ...

over the city per a previous agreement, but it was taken down and replaced by the YPG banner. Feeling insulted, the Retribution Army then left Euphrates Volcano and went 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 ...

. There, Abu Ali said in an interview that the

Syrian Kurds The Kurdish population of Syria ( ar, كرد سورية) is the country's largest ethnic minority, usually estimated at around 10% of the Syrian population Kurds are the largest ethnic minority in Syria, constituting around 10 per cent of the ...

are "like the devil", though admitted that many other FSA units remained allied to the YPG. Though Abu Ali claimed that the Retribution Army would continue to fight in Syria at another front after "some much-needed rest", the unit has not resurfaced since.

References

{{Syrian Civil War Anti-government factions of the Syrian civil war Free Syrian Army Anti-ISIL factions in Syria Military units and formations disestablished in 2015

History

See also

References