South Lebanon Army

The South Lebanon Army (SLA; Arabic: جيش لبنان الجنوبي, romanized: Jayš Lubnān al-Janūbiyy), also known as the Lahad Army (جيش لحد) or as the De Facto Forces (DFF), was a Lebanese Christian-dominated rebel paramilitary organization founded by Lebanese military officer Saad Haddad in 1977, during the Lebanese Civil War. Initially formed as a splinter rebel group when it broke away from the Army of Free Lebanon (a Christian splinter rebel faction founded and led by former Lebanese army officers), it evolved to operate as a paramilitary during the South Lebanon conflict, basing itself in Haddad's unrecognized State of Free Lebanon. Officially secular, the army was a multi-confessional force composed of Christians, Druze, and Shia, the latter of whom made up a substantial share of its ranks, estimated at around 30 percent and in some accounts as high as half of its fighters.

Initially, it was known as the "Free Lebanon Army," and after 1979, the SLA's activity was almost exclusively confined to southernmost Lebanon. Under the aegis of Israel, the SLA was bolstered by the 1982 Lebanon War. It came under increasing Israeli supervision following the collapse of the State of Free Lebanon in 1984 and subsequent establishment of the South Lebanon security belt administration.

As the most prominent pro-Israel faction in Israeli-occupied Lebanon, the SLA frequently engaged in armed clashes with Hezbollah, the Palestine Liberation Organization, and other militant groups.

After Israeli forces withdrew from Lebanon on 22 May 2000, the SLA positions collapsed in the face of Lebanese civilians and Hezbollah's advance towards South Lebanon and Saad Haddad's statue was dragged through the streets of Marjayoun. SLA members either fled to Israel, constituting Lebanese people in Israel, or were captured and tried for treason.