Free Syrian Army

Free Syrian Army (FSA) (Arabic: "الحرة لجيش") is a much misused and confused term widely used to describe various factions of anti-government fighters in Syria.

The following much-belated page is a stub. There is no promise it will ever amount to much, but a bit more shouldcome together on the discussion page.

As a starting point, a well-researched March 16, 2013 article at Joshua Landis' Syria Comment blog argues that, essentially, "The Free Syrian Army doesn’t exist." The original group and even its name and symbols have faded away under an array of various organization schemes that have largely fallen apart and given way to more overtly Islamist groupings like Jabhat Al-Nusra. As the author, Aron Lund, pointed out:
 * Today, the FSA brand name remains in use within the Syrian opposition, but mostly as a term for the armed uprising in general. It’s quite similar to how a French person would have employed the term ”La Résistance” during WW2 – not in reference to a specific organization fighting against Hitler, but as an umbrella term for them all. With time, many people inside and outside Syria have started to use the FSA term to distinguish mainstream non-ideological or soft-Islamist groups from salafi factions. The salafis themselves used to be divided on the issue, but they aren’t anymore. The more ideological ones (like Jabhat el-nosra and Ahrar el-Sham) never used it, but at the start of the uprising, others did (like Liwa el-Islam and Suqour el-Sham).

Rebel leaders
Joshua Landis has published a list of the most important rebel leaders.
 * 1) Hassan Abboud, the general head of the Islamic movement of Ahrar Al-Sham, spearheaded the joint position of what some are calling the Islamic Alliance, but which is looser than an alliance of mainly northern-based militias.
 * 2) Zahran Alloush, the general Commander of Jaysh al-Islam or Islam Army, a group of more than 50 brigades. He is the son of a Saudi-based religious scholar named sheikh Abdullah Mohammed Alloush. Syrian authorities released him from prison in mid-2011. He was incarcerated for his Salafist opposition activities.
 * 3) Ahmad `Aisa al-Shaykh, or Abu Aissa, commander of Suqour al-Sham Brigade, Falcons of Syria Brigade, based in Idlib.
 * 4) Abdul Qader Al-Salih, the high Commander of Liwa al-Tawhid, Unity Brigade, in Aleppo. (the formal top leader is Abdelaziz Salame)
 * 5) Bashar Al-Zoubi, the Commander of Liwa al-Yarmouk in the south of Syria around Deraa.