Jaysh al-Ahrar

Jaysh al-Ahrar Army of the Free
Arabic: جيش الأحرار
Leaders	Hasim al-Shaykh ("Abu Jaber", founder and commander until Sept. 2017)[1] Khalil Ismail Arslan ("Abu Ismail Gubas", deputy commander) †[2] Walid al-Mushayil ("Abu Hashim", artillery commander)[3]
Dates of operation	1 December 2016 – present
Split from	Ahrar al-Sham[4]
Group(s)	Liwa al-Tamkeen[5] Liwa Ahrar al-Jabal al-Wastani[5] Martyr Ali Mutlaq Battalion[6] al-Naasan Bloc[7]
Active regions	Northwestern Syria Idlib Governorate Aleppo Governorate Hama Governorate Latakia Governorate
Ideology	Sunni Islamism
Size	2,000–2,500 (Jan. 2017)[8]
Part of	Tahrir al-Sham (Jan.–Sep. 2017) [9] National Front for Liberation (since Aug. 2018)[3] Defeat the Invaders Operations Room (Feb.–May 2018)[10]
Allies	Tahrir al-Sham Jabhat Fatah al-Sham Turkistan Islamic Party in Syria Ahrar al-Sham Sham Legion Free Syrian Army[10]
Opponents	Syria  Iran  Russia Hezbollah
Battles and wars	Syrian Civil War Battle of Aleppo Inter-rebel conflict during the Syrian Civil War Idlib Governorate clashes (January–March 2017) Idlib Governorate clashes (July 2017) Northwestern Syria campaign (October 2017–February 2018)[11][12] 2018 Idlib crisis Northwestern Syria offensive (April 2019–present)
Website	https://twitter.com/jishalahrar

Jaysh al-Ahrar is a Sunni Islamist militant group in northwestern Syria that started off as a small sub group within Ahrar al-Sham that were against Operation Euphrates Shield which led to them leaving Ahrar al-Sham.^[4]

Most of the group's members joined Tahrir al-Sham in January of 2017. The founder of Jaysh al-Ahrar, Abu Jaber Shaykh was appointed as the head of Tahrir al-Sham. Jaysh al-Ahrar left Tahrir al-Sham in September of 2017, and have worked with both Tahrir al-Sham and Ahrar al-Sham, along with some other militant groups.^[13]

References

1. "16 formations of Ahrar al-Sham unite under "Jaysh al-Ahrar"". Orient News. 21 December 2016. Archived from the original on 17 February 2022. Retrieved 17 May 2024.
2. "Number-Two man assassinated of "Jaish Al Ahrar" by unknown gunmen". Syria Call. 18 June 2018. Archived from the original on 12 May 2020. Retrieved 8 August 2018.
3. "Meet the leading leaders of the "National Liberation Front"". Enab Baladi. 1 August 2018.
4. Haid Haid (21 December 2016). "Why Ahrar al-Sham is fighting itself - and how this impacts the battle for Syria". Middle East Eye.
5. Aymenn Jawad Al-Tamimi (7 January 2017). "Syrian Rebel Mergers: A Harakat Nour Al-Din Al-Zinki Perspective".
6. https://pbs.twimg.com/media/DW0_6NjW0AAmymC.jpg^{[permanent dead link] [bare URL image file]}
7. https://pbs.twimg.com/media/DW_NU9JWsAE-sc1.jpg^{[permanent dead link] [bare URL image file]}
8. "Jaish al-Ahrar: A New Crisis Threatens to Split Ahrar al-Sham". Syrian Observer. 5 January 2017. Archived from the original on 11 August 2018. Retrieved 17 May 2024.
9. "Jaish al-Ahrar leaves Tahrir al-Sham alliance: statement". Zaman al-Wasl. 14 September 2017.
10. "New FSA Operations Room To Repel Regime Attacks In Northern Syria". Revolutionary Forces of Syria Media Office. 4 February 2018.^{[permanent dead link]}
11. Joško Barić. "Syrian War Daily – 20th of December 2017". Archived from the original on 2017-12-22. Retrieved 2018-08-08.
12. "Idlib Rebel Groups Unite Under New Joint Operations Room". Enab Baladi. 6 January 2018.
13. "Tahrir Al-Sham Shrinks to its First Core". Enab Baladi. 17 September 2017.