Jaysh al-Ahrar

Jaysh al-Ahrar (Arabic: جيش الأحرار, lit.'Army of the Free'), is an armed Sunni 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, which led to the group's separation from Ahrar al-Sham.

Jaysh al-Ahrar
Army of the Free
Arabic: جيش الأحرار
Leaders
  • Hasim al-Shaykh ("Abu Jaber", founder and commander until Sept. 2017)
  • Khalil Ismail Arslan ("Abu Ismail Gubas", deputy commander) 
  • Walid al-Mushayil ("Abu Hashim", artillery commander)
Dates of operation1 December 2016 – present
Split from Ahrar al-Sham
Group(s)
  • Liwa al-Tamkeen
  • Liwa Ahrar al-Jabal al-Wastani
  • Martyr Ali Mutlaq Battalion
  • al-Naasan Bloc
Active regionsNorthwestern Syria
IdeologySunni Islamism
Size2,000–2,500 (Jan. 2017)
Part of Tahrir al-Sham (Jan.–Sep. 2017)

National Front for Liberation (since Aug. 2018)

Defeat the Invaders Operations Room (Feb.–May 2018)
Allies Tahrir al-Sham Turkistan Islamic Party in Syria
Ahrar al-Sham
Sham Legion
Free Syrian Army
Opponents Syria
 Iran
 Russia
Hezbollah
Battles and warsSyrian Civil War
Websitehttps://twitter.com/jishalahrar

Most members of the group joined Tahrir al-Sham (HTS) in January 2017. The founding leader of Jaysh al-Ahrar, Hashim al-Shaykh ("Abu Jaber") was appointed as the head of HTS. Jaysh al-Ahrar left HTS in September 2017, and have since then closely cooperated with both HTS and Ahrar al-Sham, as well as other rebel groups in the area.

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