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.
Protests against the Syrian government and violence had been ongoing in the Syrian city of Deir ez-Zor since March 2011, as part of the wider Syrian Civil War, but large-scale clashes started following a military operation in late July 2011 to secure the city of Deir ez-Zor. The rebels took over most of the province by late 2013, leaving only small pockets of government control around the city of Deir ez-Zor.
Riad Mousa al-Asaad is a Syrian military commander, politician who is the founding leader of the Free Syrian Army. One of the prominent faces of the Syrian Revolution, he led the armed resistance to the Assad regime as commander-in-chief of FSA, during the early phase of the Syrian Civil War. Under Riad al-Asaad's command, FSA expanded into a para-military force of 75,000 guerillas and insurgents in March 2012; capable of ousting regime forces from Damascus. He currently serves as the Deputy Prime Minister for Military Affairs of the Syrian Salvation Government, a position he has held since 2 November 2017. He was a former Colonel in the Syrian Air Force who defected to the opposition in July 2011 and became the first Acting Commander-in-chief of the Free Syrian Army.
The 2011–2013 Daraa Governorate clashes are a series of military confrontations between the Syrian Army and the Free Syrian Army in Daraa Governorate, Syria, which began in November 2011, after widescale protests and crackdown on protesters in Daraa had lasted since April 2011. The clashes had been ongoing as part of the Syrian civil war, until the U.N. brokered cease fire came into effect on 14 April 2012. Sporadic clashes continued since then, however.
A second battle between the Syrian Army and the Free Syrian Army for control of the city of Rastan took place from 29 January to 5 February 2012. Located in Homs Governorate, Rastan is a city of 60,000 residents. The FSA captured Rastan after days of intense fighting, according to residents and the opposition.
The first of the two battles in al-Qusayr was fought by the Syrian army and Shabiha against the Free Syrian Army in the small city of Al-Qusayr, near Homs, during late winter and spring of 2012.
The Battle of Yarmouk Camp was a period of fierce clashes in Yarmouk Camp during the Syrian civil war. Yarmouk is a district of Damascus that is home to the biggest community of Palestinian refugees in Syria. The fighting was between the Syrian Army and PFLP-GC on one side, and Syrian rebels on the other. The rebels included the Free Syrian Army (FSA) and a group made up of Palestinians, called Liwa al-Asifa or Storm Brigade. On 17 December, it was reported that the FSA and anti-Assad Palestinians had taken control of the camp. The FSA and Syrian Army agreed to leave Yarmouk as a neutral, demilitarized zone, but sporadic clashes continued.
The June 2012–April 2013 Idlib Governorate clashes was a series of clashes within the scope of the Syrian civil war, that took place in Syria's Idlib Governorate. The events followed the April 2012 Idlib Governorate Operation by the Syrian government and consequent cease-fire attempt, which had lasted from 14 April to 2 June 2012.
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.
The Sham Liberation Army, originally called the Sham Liberation Brigade, is an armed rebel group active in the Syrian Civil War. It was founded and is led by Firas Bitar, a captain who defected from the Syrian Arab Army in 2012. Until 2016, its sole opponent was the Syrian Armed Forces and its allied militias; it rejected any fighting with the Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant until ISIL attacked its fighters in February 2016.
The following is a timeline of the Syrian Civil War from January to July 2015. Information about aggregated casualty counts is found at Casualties of the Syrian Civil War.
The 23rd Division or 16th Infantry Division was a Syrian rebel group affiliated with the Free Syrian Army. Formed in September 2013, the group was active mainly in the city Aleppo and its surroundings. After rebel lines in Aleppo collapsed due to advances by the Syrian Army during the Battle of Aleppo in mid-2016, the 16th Division suffered heavy casualties and was dissolved. Remnants of the group then formed the 23rd Division. The Syrian National Army faction of the group in northern Aleppo was disbanded after its leadership was attacked by the Levant Front in August 2020, with its other members were transferred to other groups under the SNA's 3rd Legion.
The Free Idlib Army is a Syrian rebel coalition consisting of 3 armed groups from northwestern Syria affiliated with the Free Syrian Army: the 13th Division, the Northern Division, and the Mountain Hawks Brigade.
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.
Fares Bayoush is a former lieutenant colonel in the Syrian Arab Air Force who defected to the Free Syrian Army in 2012.
The Syrian National Army (SNA), previously the Free Syrian Army (FSA) and also known as the Turkish-backed Free Syrian Army (TFSA), is a coalition of armed Syrian opposition groups in the Syrian Civil War. Comprising various rebel factions that emerged at the onset of the war in July 2011, it was officially established in 2017 under the auspices of Turkey, which provides funding, training, and military support.
The Free Officers Movement, also called the Free Officers Brigade was a Syrian rebel group that operated during the early phase of the Syrian Civil War in 2011. The group consisted of defected officers and soldiers from the Syrian Armed Forces.
The Northern Democratic Brigade is a Free Syrian Army unit that is closely allied to the Syrian Kurdish YPG and YPJ in Afrin Region since 2014. Led by Absi Taha, Alexander Khalil, and Alexander Alaa, it also joined the Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF) in November 2015. The initial members of the group originated from Jabal Zawiya in Idlib, and it has recruited Arabs from Idlib, Aleppo, and other cities in northern Syria since allying with the YPG. Since joining the SDF, the unit has begun to operate across much of northern and eastern Syria, participating in operations against anti-SDF Syrian opposition factions, the Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant, the Turkish Armed Forces, and the Syrian National Army.
The Saladin Ayubi Brigade was a mainly-Syrian Kurdish armed rebel group that fought in the Syrian Civil War as part of the Free Syrian Army. Formed in May 2012 and named after the early Kurdish Muslim leader Saladin, the group was led by defected Syrian Army Captain Bewar Mustafa and fought against Syrian government forces in and around the city of Aleppo. It was also strongly opposed to the Kurdish-led Democratic Union Party (PYD), and have clashed with the PYD-affiliated People's Protection Units (YPG) and the Women's Protection Units (YPJ) several times.
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.
Syria (previously) 
Syrian National Council (present)
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