Liwa Ahfad Saladin

Descendants of Saladin Brigade
لواء أحفاد صلاح الدين
Liwa Ahfad Saladin

Participant in the Syrian Civil War

A variant of the Syrian opposition flag used by Liwa Ahfad Saladin, in addition to the flag of Kurdistan and the regular independence flag

A variant of the Syrian opposition flag used by Liwa Ahfad Saladin, in addition to the flag of Kurdistan and the regular independence flag
Active 2016–present
Ideology Syrian nationalism
Islamic democracy
Leaders Mahmoud Abu Hamza[1]
Headquarters Azaz
Area of operations Aleppo Governorate
Strength 600
Part of

Syrian opposition Free Syrian Army

  • Division 99
Hawar Kilis Operations Room
Allies Fatah Halab
Opponents SyriaSyrian Arab Army
Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant
Syrian Democratic Forces
Battles and wars

Syrian Civil War

The Descendants of Saladin Brigade (Arabic: لواء أحفاد صلاح الدين; Liwa Ahfad Saladin), is a Free Syrian Army group active in the northern Aleppo Governorate. The groups is claiming to being supported by Turkey and armed by the United States. The group opposes the Syrian government, the Syrian Democratic Forces, led by the People's Protection Units and including the Army of Revolutionaries (rebels).[1]

Named after the Kurdish founder of the Ayyubid dynasty, Saladin, the group claims to have 600 members, with one third of its fighters being Arabs and Syrian Turkmen, in addition to one Christian and one Alawite fighter. They along with the Dhi Qar Brigade are a part of the Division 99.[2] Although Dhi Qar later left to join the Hamza Division.

Liwa Ahfad Saladin members are described as "gangs" by the Syrian Democratic Forces, Syrian government forces and also by some Syrian opposition groups.[3][4]

Ideology

The group opposes the Federation of Northern Syria declared by the Syrian Democratic Forces and claims not to be secular, instead supporting civil democracy with equal rights for all ethnicities. It also claim the Democratic Union Party to be a proxy of the Syrian government.[2]

History

In March 2016 Ahrar ash-Sham ordered the group to take down the flag of Iraqi Kurdistan from its headquarters and threatened military force.[5] However, Liwa Ahfad Saladin's commander denied the incident ever occurred and claimed Ahrar ash-Sham to be its ally.[2]

See also

References

This article is issued from Wikipedia - version of the 12/4/2016. The text is available under the Creative Commons Attribution/Share Alike but additional terms may apply for the media files.