Sham Liberation Army

Sham Liberation Army
Sham Liberation Army
جيش تحرير الشام; Jaysh Tahrir al-Sham
	Logo of Saraya Ahl al-Sham, which the Sham Liberation Army is a member group
Leaders	Abu Muwaffaq al-Shami (commander-in-chief); Abu Mohsen al-Qalamouni (military commander); Col. Abdullah al-Rifai † (Western Qalamoun Union); Capt. Firas Ibn Bitar (Levant Liberation Army); Zuhair Mohammad (LLA second-in-command);
Dates of operation	30 September 2015 – 2019?
Headquarters	Afrin, Aleppo Governorate, Syria (Since 2018)
Active regions	Eastern Qalamoun Mountains (until 25 April 2018); Western Qalamoun Mountains, Lebanon–Syria border (until August 2017); Damascus Governorate (Levant Liberation Division, 2012–2014);
Size	400 (August 2017 - Saraya Ahl al-Sham total)
Part of	Free Syrian Army
Allies	Turkey (since 2018); Hay'at Tahrir al-Sham; Ahrar al-Sham; Jaysh al-Islam; Al-Rahman Legion
Opponents	Ba'athist Syria; Iran; Russia; Lebanon (2017); Galilee Forces; Hezbollah; Islamic State (since February 2016); Arab Nationalist Guard; SSNP; LAAG
Wars	the Syrian Civil War

The Sham Liberation Army (Arabic: جيش تحرير الشام, romanized: Jaysh Tahrir al-Sham), originally called the Sham Liberation Brigade (Arabic: لواء تحرير الشام, romanized: Liwa Tahrir al-Sham), was an armed rebel group active in early phases of the Syrian Civil War. It was founded and led by Firas Bitar, a former Syrian Army captain who defected from the Syrian Army in 2012. Until 2016, its sole opponent was the Syrian Armed Forces and its allied militias; it rejected any fighting with the Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant until ISIL attacked its fighters in February 2016.

In September 2015, the Sham Liberation Army and other rebel groups in the Qalamoun Mountains formed Saraya Ahl al-Sham (Arabic: سرايا أهل الشام; Companies of the People of the Levant).