Sham Liberation Army
The Sham Liberation Army, also known as Jaysh Tahrir al-Sham, is a rebel group that fought in the Syrian Civil War. It started as the Sham Liberation Brigade and was founded by Firas Bitar, a former Syrian Army captain who defected in 2012.
The group is led by commander-in-chief Abu Muwaffaq al-Shami and military commander Abu Mohsen al-Qalamouni. It has had other leaders, including Col. Abdullah al-Rifai, who was killed in 2015, and Firas Ibn Bitar and Zuhair Mohammad in key roles. It was part of the Free Syrian Army and maintained ties with other rebel groups.
In September 2015, the Sham Liberation Army helped form Saraya Ahl al-Sham (Companies of the People of the Levant) with about a dozen other rebel factions in the western Qalamoun Mountains.
At first, the group fought the Syrian government and its allies. It did not want to fight ISIS until ISIS attacked its forces in February 2016, after which it also fought ISIS in the eastern Qalamoun area in late 2016.
The group had friendly relations with al-Qaeda’s Nusra Front and other members of the former Army of Conquest in the Qalamoun region. In 2017, a ceasefire was negotiated with Hezbollah in the Lebanese side of Qalamoun, and by August 2017 many Sham Liberation Army fighters moved to the eastern Qalamoun Mountains.
In April 2018, the Sham Liberation Army and Saraya Ahl al-Sham evacuated to Afrin. On 7 April 2018, they issued a statement condemning the Syrian government, Russia, and Hezbollah, and called for United Nations intervention.
The group has been allied with Turkey since 2018 and has operated mainly from Afrin since then.
This page was last edited on 2 February 2026, at 15:39 (CET).