Sham Liberation Army
The Sham Liberation Army (Arabic: جيش تحرير الشام, romanized: Jaysh Tahrir al-Sham), originally called the Sham Liberation Brigade (Arabic: لواء تحرير الشام, romanized: Liwa Tahrir al-Sham), is an armed rebel group active in the Syrian Civil War. It was founded and is led by Firas Bitar, a former Syrian Army captain who defected from the Syrian Army in 2012. Until 2016, its sole opponent was the Syrian Armed Forces and its allied militias;[7] it rejected any fighting with the Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant until ISIL attacked its fighters in February 2016.[8]
Not to be confused with Syrian Liberation Army or Tahrir al-Sham.Sham Liberation Army
30 September 2015 – present
Afrin, Aleppo Governorate, Syria (Since 2018)
- Eastern Qalamoun Mountains (until 25 April 2018)
- Western Qalamoun Mountains, Lebanon–Syria border (until August 2017)
- Damascus Governorate (Levant Liberation Division, 2012–2014)[5]
400 (August 2017 - Saraya Ahl al-Sham total)[6]
Turkey (since 2018)
Tahrir al-Sham
Ahrar al-Sham
Al-Rahman Legion
Free Syrian Army
Syria
Iran
Russia
Lebanon (2017)
Galilee Forces
Hezbollah
Islamic State (since February 2016)
Jaysh al-Islam
Arab Nationalist Guard
SSNP
LAAG
History[edit]
In November 2014, Colonel Abdullah al-Rifai of the 11th Special Forces Division of Saraya Ahl al-Sham was arrested by the Lebanese Armed Forces near Arsal. He was detained by the General Directorate of General Security and released on 2 January 2015.[9] On 14 August, he was assassinated in Arsal.[10]
On 30 September 2015, Sham Liberation Army, along with 12 other FSA and Islamist rebel factions, formed Saraya Ahl al-Sham in the western Qalamoun Mountains. The group maintained "good" relations with al-Qaeda's al-Nusra Front and other groups in the former Army of Conquest's Qalamoun branch.[1]
In February 2016, the SLA along with eh Saraya Ahl al-Sham rejected the inter-rebel conflict during the Syrian Civil War against the Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant, remaining neutral in the conflict and stating that its only opponent is the Syrian government.[8] However, during the eastern Qalamoun offensive (September—October 2016), the group joined with the other rebels in fighting ISIL.[11]
In February 2017, negotiations between Saraya Ahl al-Sham and Hezbollah began in order to install a ceasefire and for residents to return to the contest towns and villages between Hezbollah and the rebels.[12]
On 27 July 2017, a ceasefire agreement was reached by Hezbollah with Tahrir al-Sham and Saraya Ahl al-Sham in the Lebanese portion of the Qalamoun Mountains. The agreement called for Tahrir al-Sham forces to withdraw from Lebanon to Idlib, Saraya Ahl al-Sham forces to withdraw to the eastern Qalamoun Mountains, where opposition forces maintain a pocket of control, and exchanges of prisoners from both sides.[13]
On 14 August 2017, the last 400 fighters of Saraya Ahl al-Sham coalition and their families departed the Lebanon–Syria border and headed to the eastern Qalamoun Mountains.[6]
In April 2018, the SLA, along with the rest of Saraya Ahl al-Sham evacuated to Afrin.
On 7 April 2018, the group published a statement condemning the Syrian Government, the Russian intervention and Hezbollah involvement in the war and requested that the United Nations send in military forces to intervene.[14]