Levant Front

{{seealso|Human rights violations during the Syrian Civil War#Free Syrian Army and other armed opposition fighters}}

The Levant Front's membership includes the major Sunni Islamist groups operating in northern Syria, representing a spectrum of ideologies from hardline Islamism to apolitical factions linked to the Free Syrian Army. The group imposes Sharia law where murder and apostasy in Islam are punishable by death. In Aleppo, media activists accusing the Levant Front of corruption and otherwise criticizing the group have received threats and faced reprisal attacks. Courts affiliated with the group have also been accused of summary killings by Amnesty International.{{cite web|url=https://www.amnesty.org/en/latest/news/2016/07/syria-abductions-torture-and-summary-killings-at-the-hands-of-armed-groups/|title=Syria: Abductions, torture and summary killings at the hands of armed groups|work=Amnesty International|date=5 July 2016}}

Following months of negotiations in Turkey and northern Syria between the Islamic Front (mainly the al-Tawhid Brigade), the Army of Mujahideen, the Nour al-Din al-Zenki Movement, the Fastaqim Union, Liwa Ahrar Souriya and the Authenticity and Development Front, on 25 December 2014, the factions announced that they combined their forces into a joint command called the Levant Front.Arab Newspaper article from 25 December 2014 including a picture of the leaders of the Levant Front: [http://sirajpress.com/%D9%85%D9%82%D8%A7%D9%84/%D8%A7%D9%84%D8%AC%D8%A8%D9%87%D8%A9-%D8%A7%D9%84%D8%B4%D8%A7%D9%85%D9%8A%D8%A9-%D8%AA%D8%AC%D9%85%D8%B9-%D8%AB%D9%88%D8%A7%D8%B1-%D8%AD%D9%84%D8%A8-%D9%85%D8%B9-%D8%A8%D8%AF%D8%A7%D9%8A%D8%A9-2015/4879/ الجبهة الشامية تجمع ثوار حلب مع بداية 2015] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160919144400/http://sirajpress.com/%D9%85%D9%82%D8%A7%D9%84/%D8%A7%D9%84%D8%AC%D8%A8%D9%87%D8%A9-%D8%A7%D9%84%D8%B4%D8%A7%D9%85%D9%8A%D8%A9-%D8%AA%D8%AC%D9%85%D8%B9-%D8%AB%D9%88%D8%A7%D8%B1-%D8%AD%D9%84%D8%A8-%D9%85%D8%B9-%D8%A8%D8%AF%D8%A7%D9%8A%D8%A9-2015/4879/ |date=19 September 2016 }}, sirajpress.com The US-backed Hazzm Movement joined the coalition on 30 January 2015,{{Cite news|title=Hazem Movement joins al- Jabha al- Shameyyah

|url=http://syriahr.com/en/2015/01/hazem-movement-joins-al-jabha-al-shameyyah/ |date=30 January 2015|publisher=SOHR}} and announced its dissolution and merger with into other Levant Front factions on 1 March 2015.{{Cite news|title=U.S.-backed Syria rebel group dissolves itself after losses|url=http://www.jamestownsun.com/news/nation-and-world/3690163-us-backed-syria-rebel-group-dissolves-itself-after-losses|date=1 March 2015|access-date=1 March 2015|publisher=Reuters Media|archive-date=9 December 2018|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20181209165425/https://www.jamestownsun.com/news/nation-and-world/3690163-us-backed-syria-rebel-group-dissolves-itself-after-losses|url-status=dead}}

On 20 February 2015, the Levant Front successfully forced Syrian Army forces to retreat from rural towns in Aleppo;{{cite web|url=http://www.alankabout.com/arabic_international_news/middle_east_news/75543.html|title=قائد في "حزب الله": قوات النظام ارتكبت مجزرة بحلب والضباط تركونا لوحدنا|work=alankabout.com|url-status=dead|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150325160049/http://www.alankabout.com/arabic_international_news/middle_east_news/75543.html|archive-date=25 March 2015}} during the clashes group claimed to have killed 300 Syrian soldiers and captured 110.{{cite web|url=http://www.alaraby.co.uk/politics/2015/2/24/%D8%AD%D9%84%D8%A8-%D8%A7%D9%84%D9%85%D8%B9%D8%A7%D8%B1%D8%B6%D8%A9-%D8%A7%D9%84%D8%B3%D9%88%D8%B1%D9%8A%D8%A9-%D8%AA%D8%AD%D8%B1%D8%B2-%D8%AA%D9%82%D8%AF%D9%85%D8%A7-%D9%88%D8%A7%D9%84%D9%86%D8%B8%D8%A7%D9%85-%D9%8A%D8%B3%D8%AA%D8%AF%D8%B9%D9%8A-%D9%85%D9%82%D8%A7%D8%AA%D9%84%D9%8A%D9%86-%D8%A3%D8%AC%D8%A7%D9%86%D8%A8|title=العربي الجديد - حلب: المعارضة السورية تحرز تقدماً والنظام يستدعي مقاتلين أجانب|author=حلب - أنس الكردي|work=alaraby}} During the same month, the group signed an agreement with the YPG and installed Sharia courts in Sheikh Maqsood and Afrin.{{cite web|url=http://www.aymennjawad.org/16318/the-administration-of-the-local-council-in-azaz|title=The Administration of the Local Council in Azaz|work=Syria Comment|author=Aymenn Jawad Al-Tamimi|date=21 March 2015}}

File:Levant Front Chief of Staff Mudar al-Najjar.png of the Levant Front until his resignation on 11 October 2015.{{cite web|title=OCTOBER 12–18, 2015|work=Aleppo Weekly|publisher=Shattuck Center on Conflict, Negotiation and Recovery, Central European University|quote=Recent protests in and near Aleppo, including ones in the eastern part of the city and Tall Refaat, north of Aleppo on the main road to Turkey, contributed to the resignation of Deputy Levant Front leader Mudar Najjar. Najjar wrote in his October 11 resignation that he would "continue the fight along with jihadis and revolutionaries in the struggle for justice and what's good for Syria and Syrians."|url=https://ccnr.ceu.edu/aleppo-weekly}}]]

On 18 April 2015, the Levant Front announced its dissolution as an alliance, however it stated that the member factions would continue to coordinate with each other militarily. Reasons behind the split were believed to include a lack of coordination between the groups and increasing defections of its members to other factions.{{Cite news|title=بعد 3 أشهر من تشكيلها .."الجبهة الشامية" بحلب تحلّ نفسها |url=http://eldorar.com/node/74465|date=19 April 2015|access-date=20 April 2015 |publisher=El Dorar}}{{Cite news|title=Key Islamist group Shamiya Front resolves itself: source |url=https://en.zamanalwsl.net/news/9718.html|access-date=20 April 2015 |publisher=Zaman al-Wasl}}

Between May and June 2015, the Trotskyist Leon Sedov Brigade joined the Levant Front. In June 2016, it largely separated from the group, before completely leaving in October 2016.{{cite web|url=https://medium.com/@badly_xeroxed/the-trotskyist-le%C3%B3n-sedov-brigade-in-the-syrian-revolution-bf6ebf5ae851|title=The Trotskyist León Sedov Brigade in the Syrian Revolution|work=Medium|author=Cody Roche|date=5 December 2017|access-date=21 June 2018|archive-date=21 June 2018|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180621070254/https://medium.com/@badly_xeroxed/the-trotskyist-le%C3%B3n-sedov-brigade-in-the-syrian-revolution-bf6ebf5ae851|url-status=dead}}

The group announced its reactivation on 18 June. Its new leader is Abu Amr, who was an Ahrar ash-Sham commander. On 29 June, the Levant Front released their charter.{{Cite tweet|number=615657601209135104|user=IbnNabih1|title=The Levant Front's charter:
http://shamiah.net/ar/%D9%85%D9%86-%D9%86%D8%AD%D9%86
1) Fall of Regime & ISIS
2) Establish sovereign Islamic gov
3) Sharia sole source of law|author=Ibn Nabih|date=29 June 2015|access-date=23 December 2022}}

Since its reactivation on 18 June, the Levant Front operates as a unified group with former members acting as independent groups. Various groups have joined and left the group since its reactivation, such as Abu Amara Battalions and the Levant Revolutionaries Battalions.{{cite web |url=https://docs.google.com/document/d/1aI3yAmNGW1vLpJCOrhiVLqpUUIX9PG1RNsCqJGGfhxI/edit|title=Syrian Civil War factions|work=Google Docs|access-date=25 May 2016}}{{bsn|date=February 2025}}

On 16 November 2015, the Syrian Democratic Forces announced the formation of its branch in the Aleppo and Idlib governorates. The YPG, YPJ, and the Army of Revolutionaries were the founding members of the coalition.{{cite web|url=http://syriadirect.org/news/15-opposition-groups-in-idlib-aleppo-join-sdf-forces/|title=15 opposition brigades in Idlib, Aleppo join SDF forces|work=Syria:direct|author1=Osama Abu Zeid|author2=Maria Nelson|date=18 November 2015|access-date=30 April 2017|archive-date=25 September 2018|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180925122913/https://syriadirect.org/news/15-opposition-groups-in-idlib-aleppo-join-sdf-forces/|url-status=dead}} Subsequently, clashes erupted between the SDF and the Levant Front, comprising Ahrar al-Sham, the al-Nusra Front, and the Mare' Operations Room.

On 10 February 2016, the SDF successfully drove out the Levant Front from the Menagh Military Airbase. After days of fierce clashes, the YPG and the Army of Revolutionaries captured a series of villages before reaching and capturing the airbase and the town of Menagh from the Levant Front. According to sources quoted by Reuters, the SDF were supported by Russian airstrikes. The SDF initiated this offensive following the recent Syrian Army offensive on rebel forces in Aleppo supported by Russian airstrikes. The SDF advanced from the Afrin Canton, the westernmost part of Rojava, which had been attacked multiple times by Islamist groups such as the al-Nusra Front. The aim was to prevent attacks on Afrin canton and close the Turkish border to these various Islamist groups.{{cite web|url=http://rudaw.net/english/middleeast/syria/11022016|title=YPG Kurds successfully overrun former Syrian airbase|work=Rudaw|access-date=11 April 2016}}{{cite web|url=http://anfenglish.com/kurdistan/ypg-takes-control-of-menagh-military-airbase-and-minih-village|title=YPG takes control of Menagh Military Airbase and Minîh village|website=ANF News}}{{cite web|url=https://news.yahoo.com/kurds-allies-seize-most-key-air-north-syria-214423459.html|title=Kurds, allies seize most of key air base in north Syria: monitor|access-date=11 April 2016}}

{{main|Operation Euphrates Shield}}

On 24 August 2016, Turkey launched a large-scale military campaign in the northern Aleppo Governorate against both ISIL and the SDF. The Levant Front's northern branch was one of the Syrian National Army factions (SNA) that participated in the operation, which captured Jarabulus, al-Bab, and dozens of other towns in northern Aleppo.

On 24 January 2017, the al-Nusra Front backed by Nour al-Din al-Zenki attacked the Army of Mujahideen and the Levant Front west of Aleppo, defeating both. The former two groups then merged with several other Islamist factions and declared the formation of Tahrir al-Sham.{{Cite web|url=http://www.al-monitor.com/pulse/zh/originals/2017/02/syria-jihadist-factions-tahrir-al-sham-jabhat-fateh.html|title=Will major opposition groups face off in Syria?|work=Al-Monitor|author=Haytham Mouzahem|date=17 February 2017}} The Levant Front's western Aleppo branch and several other former Levant Front groups, such as the Army of Mujahideen and the Fastaqim Union, joined Ahrar al-Sham.{{fact|date=October 2022}}

In July 2017, the Levant Front's northern branch attacked its former ally and co-SNA group, the Descendants of Saladin Brigade, kidnapping its leader and raiding its bases with other SNA units. This followed the Descendants of Saladin Brigade's declaration that it would not take part in a planned Turkish-led offensive against Afrin Canton, which is ruled by the secular, Kurdish-dominated PYD. The Levant Front reportedly justified this operation by claiming that the Descendants of Saladin Brigade's leader Mahmoud Khallo was an al-Qaeda member and allied to the PYD; according to Khallo, the Levant Front tortured him until he was handed over to the Turkish security forces.{{cite news |url=http://syriadirect.org/news/%E2%80%98afrin-is-a-red-line%E2%80%99-kurdish-fsa-commander-loses-his-faction-after-refusing-to-fight/ |title='Afrin is a red line': Kurdish FSA commander loses his faction after refusing to fight |author1=Mohammad Abdulssattar Ibrahim |author2=Maria Nelso |work=Syria:direct |date=23 August 2017 |access-date=23 August 2017 |archive-date=10 April 2019 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190410164909/https://syriadirect.org/news/%E2%80%98afrin-is-a-red-line%E2%80%99-kurdish-fsa-commander-loses-his-faction-after-refusing-to-fight/ |url-status=dead }}

In September 2024, the Levant Front ceased relations with the Turkish-backed Syrian Interim Government and called for the governments dissolution as well as the arrest of SIG prime minister Abdul Rahman Mustafa. This announcement had come after a meeting between Mustafa and a Levant Front delegation arranged by Turkish intelligence, in which Mustafa accused the Levant Front of "terrorist activates" through some factions in the group such as the Ahrar Al-Sharqiya.{{Cite web |date=6 September 2024 |title=Syrian rebels cut ties with Turkey-backed opposition 'government' amid disputes over crossing |url=https://www.newarab.com/news/syria-rebels-cut-ties-turkey-backed-opposition-government |access-date=23 October 2024 |website=The New Arab}}

The government of the Netherlands provided materials to the Levant Front as part of a program of non-lethal assistance for 22 rebel groups in Syria from 2015 to 2018. In September 2018, the Dutch public prosecution department declared the Levant Front to be a "criminal organisation of terrorist intent", describing it as a "salafist and jihadistic" group that "strives for the setting up of the caliphate".{{Cite web|url=https://www.dutchnews.nl/news/2018/09/dutch-funded-jihadist-group-in-syria-terror-trial-may-now-falter/|title=Dutch funded 'jihadist' group in Syria, terror trial may now falter|date=11 September 2018|website=Dutch News|access-date=16 September 2018}}{{Cite web|url=https://nos.nl/nieuwsuur/artikel/2249806-nederland-steunde-terreurbeweging-in-syrie.html|title=Nederland steunde 'terreurbeweging' in Syrië|last1=Holdert|first1=Milena|last2=Dahhan|first2=Ghassan|date=10 September 2018|website=Nieuwsuur|access-date=16 September 2018}}

In an interview an official from the group stated that the Levant Front takes ISIL members and their families captive and will sell them to foreign governments and intelligence agencies for revenue, among the nations listed included the United States and United Arab Emirates, rewards for captured ISIL members are over 10 million USD and the transactions are arranged by brokers and Turkish officials.{{Cite news |last1=Solomon |first1=Erika |last2=Mhidi |first2=Ahmad |date=8 January 2017 |title=The black market trade in Isis fighters |newspaper=Financial Times |url=https://www.ft.com/content/c7a7d804-d357-11e6-b06b-680c49b4b4c0}}

• List of armed groups in the Syrian Civil War

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{{Syrian Civil War}}

Category:Anti-Assad factions of the Syrian civil war

Category:Free Syrian Army

Category:Anti-ISIL factions in Syria

Category:Military units and formations established in 2014

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Category:Turkish supported militant groups of the Syrian civil war

Category:2025 disestablishments in Syria

Category:Military units and formations disestablished in 2025