| First Army | |
|---|---|
| الجيش الأول Jaysh al-Awal | |
| Leaders | Col. Saber Safar † |
| Dates of operation | 1 January – July 2015 [1] |
| Group(s) |
|
| Active regions | Daraa Governorate Quneitra Governorate [4] |
| Size | 5,000 [6] -10,000 [1] |
| Part of | Free Syrian Army |
| Allies | Al-Rahman Legion Ajnad al-Sham Islamic Union |
| Opponents | |
| Battles and wars | Syrian Civil War |
The First Army was created on 1 January 2015 in an effort to unify rebel ranks in southern Syria. Three prominent rebel units merged under this command structure. [7]
During the 2015 Southern Syria offensive, the commander of the 1st Army, Colonel Saber Safar, was killed in action.
On 13 April 2015, it joined a number of other Southern Front affiliates in condemning the al-Nusra Front's ideology and discontinuing all forms of cooperation with it. [8]
After the Daraa offensive (June–July 2015), the 1st Army disbanded and only the Hamza Division continues to use the name. [9]
The Free Syrian Army (FSA) is a big-tent coalition of decentralized resistance militias in the Syrian Civil War founded on 29 July 2011 by Colonel Riad al-Asaad and six officers who defected from the Syrian Armed Forces. The officers announced that the immediate priority of the Free Syrian Army is to safeguard the lives of protestors and civilians from the deadly crackdown by Bashar al-Assad's security apparatus; with the ultimate goal of accomplishing the objectives of the Syrian revolution, namely, the end to the decades-long reign of the ruling al-Assad family. In late 2011, the FSA was the main Syrian military defectors group. Initially a formal military organization at its founding, its original command structure dissipated by 2016, and the FSA identity has since been used by various Syrian opposition groups.
The Syrian Revolutionaries Front is an alliance of 14 relatively moderate religious and some secular armed groups fighting under the banner of the Free Syrian Army, formed in December 2013, thus according to Arutz Sheva further sidelining the FSA and its leadership Supreme Military Council. It was established as a response to the merger of Islamist Syrian rebels into the Islamic Front.
The 2014 Daraa offensive was a campaign during the Syrian Civil War launched by rebel forces, including the Free Syrian Army and the Islamic Front and Al-Nusra Front, to push back government forces in the Daraa Governorate, Quneitra Governorate, and As-Suwayda Governorate, in southwestern Syria, and thus opening the road to Damascus.
The Sham Legion is an alliance of Sunni Islamist rebel groups formed in March 2014, during the Syrian Civil War. The alliance was formed from 19 different groups, some of which were previously affiliated with the Muslim Brotherhood of Syria and the Shields of the Revolution Council.
The 21st Combined Force, formerly called the 101st Infantry Division and the 33rd Infantry Division, is a Syrian rebel group affiliated with the Free Syrian Army, sanctioned by the Syrian National Council, and part of the Syrian Revolutionary Command Council. The group was led by Colonel Hassan Hamada. It received U.S.-made BGM-71 TOW anti-tank missiles, and was funded by the Supreme Military Council.
The Southern Front was a Syrian rebel alliance consisting of 54 or 58 Syrian opposition factions affiliated with the Free Syrian Army, established on 13 February 2014 in southern Syria.
The Mountain Hawks Brigade, known as the Hawks of Mount Zawiya Brigade between 2012 and 2015 and the Mountain Hawks Division since 2020, is a Syrian rebel group affiliated with the Free Syrian Army operating in northwestern Syria, mainly in the Idlib Governorate. The group is supported by Turkey and previously by Qatar and Saudi Arabia.
Jabhat Ansar al-Islam, originally formed as Tajamu' Ansar al-Islam in August 2012, is an independent Sunni Islamist Syrian rebel group active in the Quneitra and Daraa Governorates.
The Youth of Sunna Forces or Sunni Youth Forces, formerly the Youth of Sunna Division and the Youth of Sunna Brigade, was a Syrian rebel group affiliated with the Free Syrian Army's Southern Front that was armed with U.S.-made BGM-71 TOW anti-tank missiles. It operated in the Daraa and Quneitra Governorates until it surrendered and later joined ranks of Syrian Arab Army in 2018.
The Yarmouk Martyrs Brigade was a rebel group in southern Syria during the Syrian Civil War. For part of its existence it was connected to the Islamic State. It fought against several Syrian Opposition groups for dominance in the Yarmouk Basin. On 21 May 2016, it merged with other Islamist groups into the Khalid ibn al-Walid Army.
The 18 March Division was a rebel group part of the Free Syrian Army that is active during the Syrian Civil War. It was named after the 18 March 2011 protests in Daraa. It was created on 11 April 2013 by colonel Mohammed Khaled al-Duhni out of three units. On 18 July 2013, the Southern Tawhid Brigade, one of the affiliated groups, left the 18 March Division following internal disputes. It joined the Southern Front on 14 February 2014.
The Daraa offensive , was a rebel offensive launched in Daraa Governorate during the Syrian civil war, in an attempt to capture the remaining Army positions in Shaykh Maskin, and thus secure the Daraa–Damascus highway, and other positions in Daraa province.
The Lions of the East Army is a Syrian rebel group formerly affiliated with the Free Syrian Army's Southern Front that was formed in August 2014 and is based in southeastern Syria. Many of the group's fighters are al-Shaitat tribesmen from the Deir ez-Zor Governorate. The group was also active in Damascus city between January and July 2015, when its unit in Damascus merged into Jaysh al-Islam's 8th Brigade. It mainly focused on defeating the Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant in the eastern Syrian Desert, where it gained control over large areas since 2016.
The Daraa and As-Suwayda offensive was launched in eastern Daraa Governorate during the Syrian Civil War, by the Southern Front of the Free Syrian Army and allied Islamic Front rebel group against government positions in and around the 52nd Mechanized Brigade base, which housed an infantry unit, an artillery battalion and a T-72 tank battalion. The offensive moved directly onto nearby al-Thula airbase in western As-Suwayda Governorate after the swift capture of Brigade 52. However, after initially managing to capture parts of the airbase, the rebels were forced to withdraw.
The Daraa offensive was a rebel operation in the Daraa Governorate, during the Syrian Civil War. It was led by the Southern Front of the Free Syrian Army and also included the Army of Conquest "southern sector", of which the Al-Qaeda-linked al-Nusra Front and Ahrar al-Sham are part of, against Syrian government forces defending Daraa city and the surrounding towns.
The Daraa offensive was a military operation of two groups allegedly affiliated with the Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant, the Yarmouk Martyrs Brigade and the Islamic Muthanna Movement, against Syrian opposition forces in the Daraa Governorate.
The Hamza Division was a Syrian rebel group affiliated with the Free Syrian Army. It was based in Inkhil, Daraa Governorate. It was formed on 8 April 2013 by Colonel Saber Safar as the "Hamza Brigade". It was composed of six subunits. The group received U.S.-made BGM-71 TOW anti-tank missiles. It was a member of the Daraa Military Council and the Southern Front.
The Army of the Revolution was a Syrian rebel alliance affiliated with the Southern Front of the Free Syrian Army. It was composed of 5 FSA factions which mainly operated in the Daraa Governorate in southwestern Syria. One of its commanders stated that the group is a "temporary operations room" due to the separation between western and eastern Daraa, and that the "door is open" for other groups to join the alliance.
The Alliance of Southern Forces was a Syrian rebel coalition consisting of 8 rebel factions from the Free Syrian Army's Southern Front. The group operated in southwestern Syria. The coalition supported the High Negotiations Committee and its participation in the Geneva peace talks on Syria.
Opposition–ISIL conflict during the Syrian Civil War started after fighting erupted between Syrian opposition groups and the Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant (ISIL). In early January 2014, serious clashes between the groups erupted in the north of the country. Opposition groups near Aleppo attacked ISIL in two areas, Atarib and Anadan, which were both strongholds of the fundamentalist Sunni organization. Despite the conflict between ISIL and other rebels, one faction of ISIL has cooperated with the al-Nusra Front and the Green Battalion to combat Hezbollah in the Battle of Qalamoun. By 2018, the Islamic State was destroyed in the territories held by the opposition.
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