Syrian Free Army in the context of "2024 Syrian opposition offensives"

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⭐ Core Definition: Syrian Free Army

The Syrian Free Army (SFA, Arabic: جيش سوريا الحرة), previously known as the Revolutionary Commando Army (RCA, Arabic: جيش مغاوير الثورة), and the New Syrian Army (NSA, Arabic: جيش سوريا الجديد), was a United States Army–trained opposition faction in southeast Syria. It was hosted at the US military's al-Tanf base and is now part of the Syrian Ministry of Interior.

Founded as an expansion of the Authenticity and Development Front by Syrian Arab Army defectors and other rebels during the Syrian civil war on 20 May 2015, the New Syrian Army sought to expel the Islamic State from southeastern Syria. In December 2016, the New Syrian Army dissolved, and the remnants of the group formed the Revolutionary Commando Army.

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👉 Syrian Free Army in the context of 2024 Syrian opposition offensives

On 27 November 2024, a coalition of Syrian revolutionary factions called the Military Operations Command, led by Hay'at Tahrir al-Sham (HTS) and supported by allied Turkish-backed groups in the Syrian National Army (SNA), launched an offensive against the Ba'athist regime's armed forces in Idlib, Aleppo and Hama Governorates in Syria. It initially began as a localised offensive targeting towns in the Idlib and Aleppo countryside, later evolving into a nationwide campaign that culminated in the toppling of Bashar al-Assad’s regime.

On 29 November 2024, HTS and later the Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF) entered Aleppo and captured most of the city, amid the collapse of pro-government forces. The next day, opposition forces made rapid advances, capturing dozens of towns and villages as pro-government forces disintegrated, and advanced toward Hama in central Syria, subsequently capturing it on 5 December. By 6 December, the SDF captured Deir ez-Zor in an offensive east of the Euphrates, while the newly formed Southern Operations Room and Al-Jabal Brigade captured Daraa and Suwayda in an offensive in the south. The HTS advanced further south toward Homs. The US-backed Syrian Free Army (SFA) took control of Palmyra in the southeast of the country.

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Syrian Free Army in the context of Fall of Damascus (2024)

On 7 December 2024, the Syrian opposition group known as the Southern Operations Room, in co-ordination with the Military Operations Command, led forces that entered the Rif Dimashq region of Syria from the south, and those forces then came within 20 kilometres (12 mi) of the capital Damascus. The Syrian Army withdrew from multiple points in the outskirts. Concurrently with the advance towards Damascus, opposition militia Tahrir al-Sham and the Turkish-backed Syrian National Army in the north launched an offensive into Homs, while the Syrian Free Army advanced into the capital from the southeast. By 8 December 2024, rebel forces entered the city's Barzeh neighborhood. According to official state reports in Russian mass media and media footage, President Bashar al-Assad left Damascus by air to Moscow, where he was granted asylum, sealing the fall of his regime.

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Syrian Free Army in the context of Palmyra offensive (2024)

On 6 December 2024, the United States–backed Syrian Free Army, with support from Suqour al-Sham, launched an offensive from the Al-Tanf "deconfliction zone" on the ancient city of Palmyra in the eastern area of the Homs Governorate. The United States reportedly gave logistical support to the opposition groups. The offensive came following setbacks by the government of Bashar al-Assad on other fronts, especially after the northwestern offensive by Tahrir al-Sham.

The Syrian Free Army (SFA) took control of Palmyra on 7 December after clashing with regime forces before going in the direction of Damascus.

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