Syrian Islamic Liberation Front

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Syrian Islamic Liberation Front
جبهة تحرير سوريا الإسلامية
Jabhat Tahrir Suriya al-Islamiyya


Official logo of the SILF


flag of the SILF
active September 2012 to November 25, 2013 (joining the IF )
Country Syria
Strength 35,000 - 40,000
(June 2013)
Insinuation Islamic front
headquarters Sarjeh, Idlib Governorate
Nickname SILF
Colours Red, green, black and white.
Butcher civil war in Syria
Commanders
Commander in chief Ahmed Eissa al-Sheikh
(Suqour al-Sham)
Spokesman and Commander Zahran Alloush (speaker)
( Liwa al-Islam )

The Syrian Islamic Liberation Front ( Arabic جبهة تحرير سوريا الإسلامية Jabhat Tahrīr Sūriyā al-Islāmīya ), formerly the Syrian Liberation Front , was an amalgamation of several brigades thatfought against the government of Bashar al-Assad in the Syrian civil war . At the end of November 2013 she founded the Islamic Front with six other Islamist groups, since the founding of the latter, the SILF has been fully integrated into it and has become a separate party.

composition

The group included about 20 independent brigades and battalions operating in different parts of Syria. It was not part of the Free Syrian Army (FSA), but was linked to it through a joint “Supreme Military Command” of the armed opposition. The most famous brigades were the "Islamic Brigades" (Liwa al-Islam) in Damascus , the "Unity Brigades" (Liwa at-Tauhid) in Aleppo , the "Falcons of the Levant" (Suqur asch-Sham) in the Idlib region and the Faruk Brigades in Homs . The information on the number of fighters on the liberation front varies between 25,000 and 37,000. The front itself gave it in June 2013 with 35,000 to 40,000. The individual units fought largely independently of one another and there was no coherent common strategy or tactic.

Ideology and funding

The groups united in the Syrian Islamic Liberation Front united an Islamic-religious attitude, but they had no pronounced ideology. Their program was largely limited to calling for more Islam and less Assad.

Several of the units emerged from self-defense groups of the conservative rural population against the forces of the Assad government. Although the front worked with the FSA, it criticized its overseas leadership for being too detached from the realities of the struggle in the country. It was considered to be moderately Islamist and distanced itself from al-Qaida in Iraq, which was also active in Syria, as well as the al-Nusra front associated with it .

The main foreign donor to the liberation front was the government of Saudi Arabia . In April 2013, however, they agreed not to support them directly, but only through the Supreme Military Command.

Individual evidence

  1. ↑ Mariam Karouny: Syria's Islamist rebels join forces against Assad . Reuters. October 11, 2012. Retrieved November 10, 2013.
  2. ↑ Aron Lund: Freedom fighters? Cannibals? The truth about Syria's rebels , The Independent . June 17, 2013. Accessed May 30, 2013. 
  3. ↑ a b c d e f Ken Sofer: The Structure and Organization of the Syrian Opposition. Center for American Progress, May 14, 2013.
  4. ↑ a b c Ulrike Putz: Militia alliances against Assad. Syrian rebels forge fighting alliances. In: Spiegel Online , June 27, 2013.
  5. ↑ a b Aron Lund: Freedom fighters? Cannibals? The truth about Syria's rebels . In: The Independent , June 17, 2013, accessed July 12, 2013.
  6. ↑ Beate Seel: Islamists are not green . In: taz.de , April 17, 2013.