Faruq Brigades
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|
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|---|---|
| Lineup | July 29, 2011 |
| Country | Syria |
| Strength | 14,000 (June 2013-20,000) |
| Insinuation |
 Free Syrian Army National Coalition of Syria Syrian National Council 
|
| Location |
Homs Idlib Deraa |
| Colours | Black, red, white and green |
| Butcher | civil war in Syria |
| Military leadership | |
| Brigadier General | Abdelilah Baschir ( Chief of Staff FSA, February 2014 - present) |
| general | Osama Juneidi battle name (Abu Sayeh) |
| general | Taleb al-Dayech |
The Faruq Brigades ( Arabic كتائب الفاروق) are an armed rebel organization in the Syrian Civil War and a division of the Free Syrian Army . The Faruq Brigades fight mainly in the governorates : Homs , Idlib and Darʿā . They were named after the second caliph of Islam ʿUmar ibn al-Chattāb (634–644). ʿUmar was nicknamed "al-Fārūq" (which distinguishes the truth from the lie) and was a Sahāba of the Prophet Mohammed . According to observers, the Faruq Brigades associated with Al Qaeda include armed men from various Wahhabi groups as well as mercenaries from Libya and Iraq.
Foundation and development
The Faruq Brigades were established out of the central city of Homs just a few months after the civil war in Syria broke out. It began as a sub-unit of the Chalid-bin-Walid-Brigade, a group of defectors from the Syrian Army , which then announced their amalgamation with other rebels under the name Faruq-Brigades in June 2011. In the second half of 2011, the Faruq Brigades were mainly active in Homs, particularly in the neighboring town of Baba Amr. In late 2011, Lieutenant Abdul-Razaq Tlas, a nephew of long-time Syrian Defense Minister Mustafa Tlas , deserted and joined the Faruq Brigades. The successes of the Faruq were initially relative, so they were able to hold some districts of the city of Homs, as well as the neighboring city of Baba Amr and numerous villages in Homs Governorate. With the steady escalation of the Syrian civil war and an offensive by the Syrian army in spring 2012, the rebels suffered heavy losses and withdrew from the area around Homs. In the process they lost the cities of Baba Amr, al-Qusair and Rastan .
In the following months of 2013, the Faruq Brigades absorbed other rebel units, mainly from the area around the Darʿā Governorate near the Jordanian border, and grew to a strength of 20,000 fighters, and the brigades also took control of the border posts in the north to Turkey.
At the end of June 2013, government troops and pro-government militias launched an offensive to wrest control of several parts of the city from the rebels. They used the air force and artillery to destroy key positions of rebel troops.
On February 6, 2014, the Faruq Brigades and the Syrian Army finally agreed on a three-day “humanitarian ceasefire ”. During the ceasefire, women, children and the elderly were to be evacuated from Homs and relief supplies were to be delivered to the city under the auspices of the UNHCR . The first civilians left Homs on February 7, 2014, and despite the broken ceasefire, the first aid convoy of the United Nations reached the beleaguered districts one day later. At the beginning of May 2014, Homs was completely taken by government troops, parts of the Faruq brigades then withdrew to the Idlib governorate, the remaining troops moved to the Darʿā governorate.
Human rights violations
According to a report by the Fides Service of the Catholic Church in March 2012, the Syrian Orthodox Church , to which around 60% of Christians in Syria belong, complained about religiously motivated " purges " against Christians living in Homs by the Faruq Brigades . The Christians were visited and driven out of their homes and asked to leave the city. Their property has been confiscated.
The Faruq Brigades gave the Spiegel an interview in March 2013 in which they decisively rejected the allegations. Your spokesman Abdel-Razaq Tlas, nephew of the former Syrian Defense Minister Mustafa Tlas , accused Fides Service of "wanting to drag our revolution in the mud".
Individual evidence
- ↑ Foreign Policy: Holy Warriors
- ↑ Gruesome Syria video pinpoints West's dilemma . BBC
- ^ Kurdish fighters and Free Syrian Army clash with IS at strategic border town . Reuters
- ↑ Free Syrian Army reports successes in the battle for Kobani . Time online
- ↑ Syrian FSA rebels reach Kobane . FAZ
- ^ FSA take control of ancient city Bosra in southern Syria
- ↑ Rebels conquer World Heritage in Bosra . World online
- ↑ Syrian aircraft bomb area near captured Jordan crossing . Reuters
- ^ Free Syrian Army fires military chief. Al Jazeera English, February 18, 2014, accessed September 16, 2014 .
- ↑ Aron Lund: Freedom fighters? Cannibals? The truth about Syria's rebels. The Independent , June 17, 2013, accessed May 15, 2014 .
- ↑ FSA Denies Shelling Hizbullah Positions in Lebanon, Syria. Naharnet, February 21, 2013, accessed May 15, 2014 .
- ^ Rania Abouzeid: Syria's Up-and-Coming Rebels: Who Are the Farouq Brigades? Time Magazine , October 5, 2012, accessed May 15, 2015 .
- ↑ a b Observers complain about human rights abuses by the opposition and "ethnic cleansing" in Homs while Jesuits are providing humanitarian aid. Fides Service , 21 March 2012.
- ^ Syrian general Mustafa Tlas breaks from Assad's inner circle . Reuters
- ↑ Too few weapons: Syrian rebels give up Bab Amr stronghold . Mirror online
- ↑ Syria's Up-and-Coming Rebels: Who Are the Farouq Brigades? TIME
- ^ Dominic Evans: Syrian army, backed by jets, launch Homs assault. Reuters, June 29, 2013; accessed June 29, 2013
- ↑ Civilians are allowed to leave the besieged Syrian city of Homs . Deutsche Welle , February 7, 2014.
- ↑ Aid supplies reach Homs despite the broken ceasefire . Zeit Online , February 9, 2014.
- ↑ Assad regime takes control of Homs . Mirror online
- ↑ FSA: Don't mess up our revolution. Qantara.de, 2012.