Harakat Ahrar al-Sham al-Islamiyya, commonly referred to as Ahrar al-Sham, is a coalition of multiple Islamist units that coalesced into a single brigade and later a division in order to fight against the Syrian Government led by Bashar al-Assad during the Syrian Civil War. Ahrar al-Sham was led by Hassan Aboud until his death in 2014. In July 2013, Ahrar al-Sham had 10,000 to 20,000 fighters, which at the time made it the second most powerful unit fighting against al-Assad, after the Free Syrian Army. It was the principal organization operating under the umbrella of the Syrian Islamic Front and was a major component of the Islamic Front. With an estimated 20,000 fighters in 2015, Ahrar al-Sham became the largest rebel group in Syria after the Free Syrian Army became less powerful. Ahrar al-Sham and Jaysh al-Islam are the main rebel groups supported by Turkey. On 18 February 2018, Ahrar al-Sham merged with the Nour al-Din al-Zenki Movement to form the Syrian Liberation Front.
Syrian Liberation Front is a Syrian Islamist rebel group that was formed in early 2018. and is based out of the Aleppo Governorate in northwestern Syria.
The Authenticity and Development Front is an alliance of rebel groups that is active during the Syrian Civil War. The alliance is considered to be moderate by Charles Lister and the BBC.
The coalition referred to as the Islamic coalition or Islamic alliance was founded in September 2013 in Syria in the context of the Syrian Civil War. It was founded in opposition to the National Coalition for Syrian Revolutionary and Opposition Forces (SNC), and initially included 13 Sunni Islamist groups, including the Tawhid Brigade, Islam Brigade, and Suqour al-Sham Brigade, three members of the Supreme Military Council, which was considered the SNC's military wing. The groups stressed that they remained supportive of Salim Idris' SMC - they were abandoning only the political coalition, saying it "does not represent us." Other members included al-Nusra Front, part of al-Qaeda, and Ahrar ash-Sham. The Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant was not a member, but its joining was not ruled out.
Junud al-Sham, sometimes also called Jund al-Sham, is a group of Chechen Sunni mujahideen that fight in the Syrian Civil War and were led by Muslim Abu Walid al Shishani until his death in 2021. Abu Turab al-Shishani as deputy leader has led the group since.
The Nour al-Din al-Zenki Movement was a Sunni Islamist rebel group involved in the Syrian Civil War. In 2014, it was reportedly one of the most influential factions in Aleppo, especially the Western Aleppo countryside. Between 2014 and 2015, it was part of the Syrian Revolutionary Command Council and recipient of U.S.-made BGM-71 TOW anti-tank missiles. The Movement made multiple attempts to merge with the larger Islamist rebel group Ahrar al-Sham but were refused by Ahrar al-Sham's leadership. The Zenki Movement also made attempts to merge with other Islamist factions, Jaysh al-Islam and the Sham Legion. However, all merging efforts with these groups failed, leading to the Zenki Movement joining the Salafi Islamist Hayat Tahrir al-Sham (HTS) in 2017. But after a few months the group left HTS and within a year went to war with HTS by joining the Turkish-backed Syrian Liberation Front alongside Ahrar al-Sham on 18 February 2018. After a series of clashes in early 2019 Al Zenki were largely defeated by HTS, expelled to Afrin and absorbed in the Turkish-backed Syrian National Army.
The Fastaqim Kama Umirt Union is a rebel group active during the Syrian Civil War.
The Jaysh Halab was a coalition of Syrian rebel groups based in rebel-held areas inside the city of Aleppo, Syria. The coalition was created by Hashim al-Sheikh, the former general commander of Ahrar ash-Sham with the intent of unifying various rebel groups in Aleppo. After the announcement, nothing was heard of the group until December 2016.
The Idlib Governorate clashes , were military confrontations between Syrian rebel factions led by Ahrar al-Sham and their allies on one side and the al-Qaeda-aligned Jabhat Fatah al-Sham and their allies on the other. After 7 February, the clashes also included Jund al-Aqsa as a third belligerent, which had re-branded itself as Liwa al-Aqsa and was attacking the other combatants. The battles were fought in the Idlib Governorate and the western countryside of the Aleppo Governorate.
Hay'at Tahrir al-Sham (HTS), also referred to as Tahrir al-Sham, is a Sunni Islamist political and paramilitary organisation involved in the Syrian civil war. It was formed on 28 January 2017 as a merger between several armed factions: Jaysh al-Ahrar, Jabhat Fateh al-Sham (JFS), Ansar al-Din Front, Jaysh al-Sunna, Liwa al-Haqq, and the Nour al-Din al-Zenki Movement. The unification process was held under the initiative of Abu Jaber Shaykh, an Islamist militant commander who had been the second emir of Ahrar al-Sham. HTS, along with other Syrian opposition groups, launched an offensive and toppled the Assad regime on 8 December 2024, and now controls most of the country.
The Raqqa campaign (2012–2013) was a series of battles and offensives launched by various Syrian rebel groups, led by Ahrar al-Sham and the al-Nusra Front, against Syrian government forces in the Raqqa Governorate as part of the Syrian Civil War. The campaign was launched at the second half of 2012 and ended in the capture of the city of Raqqa as well as dozens of smaller towns and facilities.
On 19 February 2018, heavy clashes erupted between the newly established Syrian Liberation Front, which consists of Ahrar al-Sham and the Nour al-Din al-Zenki Movement, backed by the Suqour al-Sham Brigades, and Hayat Tahrir al-Sham (HTS) in the western Aleppo Governorate. The conflict soon spread to the Idlib Governorate and the SLF captured several towns from HTS. A ceasefire between the two groups was reached on 24 April 2018. Fighting again resumed on 1 January 2019, ending with a total HTS military victory on 9 January.
Tanzim Hurras al-Din, sometimes referred to as Al-Qaeda in Syria, is a Salafi Jihadist organization fighting in the Syrian civil war. The group's former head, Abu Humam al-Shami, was the general military commander of the defunct Al-Nusra Front, and had fought for Al-Qaeda during the Third Afghan Civil War and the Iraqi insurgency. Hurras al-Din was established by the leaders of the AQ-affiliated Khorasan group and Al-Qaeda loyalists of Al-Nusra Front who opposed Al-Nusra's dissolution and merger with other Islamic groups to form Tahrir al-Sham. Al-Shami announced the formation of Hurras al-Din on 27 February 2018.
The National Front for Liberation is a Syrian rebel coalition that is part of the Syrian National Army (SNA) fighting in the Syrian Civil War. The group was formed by 11 rebel factions in northwestern Syria in May 2018, and was officially announced on 28 May 2018. The formation receives major support from Turkey. The group joined the SNA on 4 October 2019.
Jaysh al-Ahrar, is an armed Salafi Islamist rebel group in northwestern Syria that originated as a clique composed of 16 units in Ahrar al-Sham that opposed involvement in Operation Euphrates Shield, after a fatwa was released by religious clerics in Jabhat Fatah al-Sham, which led to the group's separation from Ahrar al-Sham.
Ansar al-Tawhid is an armed Islamist group fighting in the Syrian Civil War. The group is made up of former Jund al-Aqsa members. It was allied with Al-Qaeda and part of the Hurras al-Din-led Rouse the Believers Operations Room until May 2020, when it announced its departure from the coalition.
Liwa Ahrar al-Raqqa, formerly known as the Jihad in the Path of God Brigade is a Free Syrian Army unit active during the Syrian Civil War, originating from the Raqqa Governorate but also active in the eastern Aleppo Governorate. It became part of the Euphrates Volcano operation room in 2015 and remained part of the operations room as it expanded into the Syrian Democratic Forces.
Insurgency in Idlib was an insurgency in the regions Idlib Governorate between multiple factions. The conflict is primarily between the supporters of Syrian Salvation Government and forces loyal to Syrian Arab Republic. Other factions participating in insurgency range from the Syrian opposition forces in the Syrian National Army supported by Turkey; to supporters of Al-Qaeda branch Hurras al-Din and members of the Islamic State group. The insurgency has been marked by assassinations and bombings, as well as armed confrontations with small arms and raids.
The Unified Military Council, also known as the Joint Tripartite Military Committee, is a Turkish intelligence and military-sponsored joint operations room between the National Front for Liberation and Hayat Tahrir al-Sham, the two major armed rebel groups based in the Idlib Governorate in northwestern Syria. The council was formed as a restructuring of the Great Conquest Operations Room in October 2020, after several months of preparation following the end of the latest offensive by the Syrian Armed Forces against rebels in Idlib.
Clashes occurred between the Levant Front and the Hamza Division, two factions of the Turkish-backed Syrian National Army, across the Turkish-occupied areas of the Aleppo Governorate on 10 October 2022, as part of the on-going civil war in Syria. On 12 October, the Sunni Islamist group Tahrir al-Sham (HTS) joined the fighting on the side of the Hamza Division, entering the Afrin region.
Syrian Opposition 
Suqour al-Sham Brigades (2012-2013)
Ahrar al-Sham (2013-2016)
Fajr al-Sham 
Hayat Tahrir al-Sham (2017-2019)
Jihad Coordination