What did the Free Syrian Army want?

What did the Free Syrian Army want?

The Free Syrian Army aims to be “the military wing of the Syrian people’s opposition to the regime”, and it aims to bring down the government by armed operations, encouraging army defections and by carrying out armed action.

How was the Free Syrian Army formed?

In response to the crackdown, Assad’s opponents took up arms. Hundreds of rebel brigades formed across the country, and a group of defecting army officers formed the Free Syrian Army in June 2011. Two months later, the political opposition began to organize in Turkey.

Who are rebel forces in Syria?

Supported by Shia militias, Hezbollah and Russia, the Syrian government is involved in non-international armed conflicts against a wide array of rebel groups, namely the Syrian National Army (SNA) (former Free Syrian Army, FSA), Ahrar al-Sham, the Hay’at Tahrir al-Sham (former al-Nusra front), the Islamic State group.

What are the tactics of the Free Syrian Army?

Methods and Tactics. The Free Syrian Army on the local level engages and ambushes the state’s shabiha militia and confronts the army during which it encourages defections. Some members of the Free Syrian Army have stated that the organization does not have the resources to occupy and take control of territories,…

What happened to the Free Syrian Army in 2011?

On 23 September 2011, the Free Syrian Army merged with the Free Officers Movement (Arabic: حركة الضباط الأحرار‎, Ḥarakat aḑ-Ḑubbāṭ al-Aḥrār); The Wall Street Journal considered the FSA since then the main military defectors group.

Is the US embracing the Free Syrian Army?

The U.S. government’s recent embrace of the Free Syrian Army (FSA) has come at a critical time in the Syrian conflict. Momentum now seems to have shifted in favor of the FSA, which is being actively armed by financial and military assistance from a plethora of foreign governments.

Who is the author of the Syrian Jihad?

Lister is the author of the critically acclaimed book, “The Syrian Jihad: Al-Qaeda, the Islamic State and the Evolution of an Insurgency” (Oxford Univer- sity Press, 2016), and “The Islamic State: A Brief Introduction” (Brookings Press, 2015). Lister is now working on a third book, a guide to the Syrian Crisis, for Oxford University Press.

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