Army of Revolutionaries

Army of Revolutionaries
جيش الثوار Participant in the Syrian Civil War
200px Official logo of Jaysh al-Thuwar Jaysh al-Thuwar flag
Active	3 May 2015 – present
Groups	Northern Sun Battalion Martyr Kaseem Al Areef Battalion Jabhat al-Akrad Seljuk Brigade Tel Rifaat Rebel Battalion Truthful Promise Brigade Fighters for Justice Brigade Martyr Yusuf al-Quzhul Brigade Southern Storm Brigade Eagles of the Sunnah Brigade Special Forces Brigade Northern Democratic Brigade
Headquarters	Tel Rifaat, Aleppo Governorate
Area of operations	Al-Hasakah Governorate Aleppo Governorate Raqqa Governorate
Strength	3,000 fighters (claimed)
Part of	Syrian Democratic Forces Euphrates Volcano Manbij Military Council Al-Bab Military Council Free Syrian Army (claimed)
Allies	People's Protection Units Division 30 Liwa Thuwar al-Raqqa
Opponents	Syrian Armed Forces Fatah Halab al-Nusra Front Ahrar ash-Sham Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant Turkish Armed Forces
Battles and wars	Syrian Civil War Syrian Kurdish–Islamist conflict (2013–present) 2015 Al-Hawl offensive Tishrin Dam offensive 2016 Northern Aleppo offensive Al-Shaddadi offensive (2016) Manbij offensive Jarabulus offensive (2016) Western al-Bab offensive (2016)
Website	<strong%20class= "error"><span%20class="scribunto-error"%20id="mw-scribunto-error-1">Lua%20error%20in%20Module:Wd%20at%20line%20405:%20invalid%20escape%20sequence%20near%20'"^'. http://<strong%20class="error"><span%20class="scribunto-error"%20id="mw-scribunto-error-1">Lua%20error%20in%20Module:Wd%20at%20line%20405:%20invalid%20escape%20sequence%20near%20'"^'.

The Army of Revolutionaries (Arabic: جيش الثوار‎‎), or Jaysh al-Thuwar, is a multi-ethnic armed rebel coalition in Syria that is allied with the primarily Kurdish People's Protection Units (YPG) and participating in the Syrian Civil War.

Established in May 2015, with presences in six provinces, it was considered an ambitious grouping uniting Arabs, Kurds, and Turkmens. With its stated aims to fight both the Syrian regime and ISIL, it was expected to become one of the more relevant rebel alliances in northern Syria, consolidating the democratic rebel spectrum. It was considered as one of the "potential powerbrokers" in the Aleppo, Hama, Idlib, and Latakia Provinces.

Though considering itself a part of the rebel mainstream and having turned down the U.S. Train-and-Equip-Program because it wanted to be able to fight the regime as well as ISIL, Jaysh al-Thuwar has always been allied with the Syrian Kurdish YPG. It therefore received neither Turkish nor U.S. support, and became embroiled in open conflict with Islamists, both hard-line and more moderate.

Subsequently, Jaysh al-Thuwar retreated from rebel-held areas and further deepened its bonds with the YPG. In October 2015, it became one of the constituents of the Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF), increasingly integrating with the SDF's common frontlines against ISIL and other Islamist forces.

History

Establishment

Established on 3 May 2015, many of its members belonged to the now defunct Hazzm Movement and the northern branch of the Syria Revolutionaries Front, which were defeated by al-Nusra and allied forces in Idlib and Aleppo. In an October 2015 publication, the Washington D.C.-based Institute for the Study of War considered Jaysh al-Thuwar as one of the "potential powerbrokers" in Aleppo province, where it is part of the Euphrates Volcano joint operations room, as well as in Hama, Idlib and Latakia provinces, though not in Homs province.

The original founding groups were:

• Northern Sun Battalion (Shams al-Shamal)
• Jabhat al-Akrad
• Hazzm Movement (dissolved)
• Syria Revolutionaries Front (northern branch) (dissolved)
  • 99th Brigade
• Special Forces Brigade
• Seljuk Brigade (part of the Syrian Turkmen Brigades)
• Martyr Yusuf al-Quzhul Brigade
• Southern Storm Brigade
• Eagles of the Sunnah Brigade
• Truthful Promise Brigade
• Fighters for Justice Brigade
• 777th Regiment (former)
• Sultan Selim Brigade (part of the Syrian Turkmen Brigades) (former)
• Homs Revolutionary Union (former)
• Martyrs of Atareb Brigade (former)
• Descendants of Othman Brigade (former)
• Brigade 313 – Free Men of Aqrab (former)

Battles and territorial presences

Whilst Jaysh al-Thuwar uses the same "Independence flag" used by many opposition groups, the group also uses its own more specific Jaysh al-Thuwar flag.

Jaysh al-Thuwar fighters near the town of Herbel

Jaysh al-Thuwar did not apply to join the American Train-and-Equip-Program because it declined to restrict itself to fighting ISIS. The Army subsequently released videos of them fighting both against the Syrian Army in Aleppo and the northern Homs pocket, as well as against ISIL in Mare', Kobanê and northern Raqqah.

It controlled territory to the west of Azaz, bordering the Kurdish-held Afrin Canton, and claimed further presences in the Rashidin neighborhood of Aleppo, as well as in Tell Malah and al-Ghab Plain areas in northern Hama, and sleeper cells in Manbij area.

Integration into Syrian Democratic Forces

In spite of occasional denials, the coalition has always been closely allied with the Syrian Kurdish People's Protection Units (YPG). The coalition was therefore met with distrust by more Islamist rebel factions and became embroiled in open conflict with hard-line Islamists such as the al-Nusra Front.

The Army of Revolutionaries did not qualify for any support by Turkey, but neither did it receive any U.S. support. With weaponry considered "sparse by even Syrian standards", the coalition early began to disintegrate. Further deepening bonds with the YPG and other anti-ISIL forces, it established the Syrian Democratic Forces in October. Subsequently, its constituents became involved in clashes with Islamist FSA-groups of the Fatah Halab and Mare' operation rooms. According to observers, it therefore withdrew its presence from rebel-held areas, refocusing on the Syrian Democratic Forces' joint front lines.

Since the establishment of the SDF, additional groups of various sizes have joined Jaysh al-Thuwar and its sub-factions.

See also

• List of armed groups in the Syrian Civil War

External links

• (Arabic)

1. REDIRECT Template:Syrian civil war

• Note that ar-Raqqa province was not covered by the study.