The al-Hamza Division (Arabic: فرقة الحمزة) is a Syrian rebel group in northwestern Syria affiliated with the Syrian National Army, trained and equipped by the United States, the United Kingdom and Turkey as part of the Syrian Train and Equip Program. Formed in 2013, it cooperates with the Turkish Armed Forces in the Turkish occupation of northern Syria.
History
edit
2013
editThe Hamza Division was originally formed as the Hamza Brigade of the Free Syrian Army (FSA) in the southern countryside of the Hasakah Governorate in northeast Syria in 2013.[12]
2016
editOn 23 April 2016, five FSA groups based in the town of Mare' in the northern Aleppo Governorate countryside, the Hamza Brigade, the Dhi Qar Brigade, the Northern Thunder Brigade, the Mare Resistance Brigade, and the Special Operations Brigade merged into the Hamza Division, citing "interests of unity" and proclaiming its intention to fight the "crime and terror" of the Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant (ISIL) and the Syrian government. Under the command of Syrian Army defector Lt. Sayf Balud ("Sayf Abu Bakr"),[1] the factions receive military support from CJTF-OIR, the international coalition against ISIL.[13]
In June 2016, the Northern Thunder Brigade received BGM-71 TOW missiles from CJTF-OIR.[14] Also that month, a Syrian Turkmen group called the "Samarkand Brigade", named after the city in Uzbekistan, joined the Hamza Division.[15]
During Operation Euphrates Shield in late August, the Hamza Division became one of the first FSA groups to enter Jarabulus from Karkamış. Sayf Balud was among those who followed behind Turkish Land Forces tanks and troops and entered Jarabulus in the morning of the first day of the operation, reaching the city center by afternoon.[16] He later gave a speech to residents in Jarabulus.[17]
On 18 October 2016, the Northern Thunder Brigade, part of the Hamza Division, issued an ultimatum to the YPG and the Army of Revolutionaries, warning them to leave Tell Rifaat within 48 hours after which they would attack the town. The threat was not carried out.[18]
2017
editOn 24 September 2017, the Hamza Division announced the opening of a military academy in the city of al-Bab. According to Abdullah Halawa, the military commander of the group, 2,200 fighters were to undergo two months of training in the academy, with the goal of forming a "Syrian National Army" in northern Syria.[3]
2018
editIn January 2018, the group participated in Operation Olive Branch, the Turkish Armed Forces' invasion of the Afrin Region, against the YPG-led Syrian Democratic Forces. In February, the Kurdish Falcons Brigade (aka Red Berets) was formed as part of the Hamza Division. Led by Hasan Abdullah Kulli, it claimed to consist of 400 Kurds and 200 Arabs.[5] The TAF and TFSA captured Afrin on 18 March 2018, after SDF fighters withdrew from the city.[citation needed]
On 25 March, Hamza Division fighters killed a commander of Ahrar al-Sharqiya in Afrin in a dispute over territory and spoils of war, resulting in clashes between the two groups.[19] In response, Ahrar al-Sharqiya arrested around 200 Hamza Division fighters. A ceasefire agreement between the two groups was signed on the same day under Turkish supervision.[20]
In June 2018, the Hamza Division assassinated an Ahrar al-Sham commander in al-Bab.[21]
2019
editThe Hamza Division was among the groups which volunteered to send fighters to Libya, as part of the Turkish military intervention in the Second Libyan Civil War, in December 2019.[22]
2020
editIn May 2020, the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights reported several deaths of Syrian fighters in Libya, including Hamza members.[10]
On 28 May protestors in Afrin demanded the withdrawal of the Hamza Division from Afrin after several abuses carried out by the group, including holding female prisoners naked. During the protests members of Ahrar al-Sham and Jaysh al-Islam (exiled from East Ghouta), clashed with the Hamza Division at their headquarters and were eventually able to take over the headquarters, arresting several Hamza Division members in the process. Three Hamza Division members were killed in the course of the confrontation.[23]
2021
editOn September 9, 2021, five Turkish-supported groups announced that they had merged into the Syrian Front for Liberation. They include the Sultan Suleiman Shah Division, Hamza Division, al-Mutasim Brigade, Suqour al-Sham Brigades and the 20th Division.[24]
2023
editOn August 17, 2023, the United States imposed sanctions on the Hamza Division and its leader "in connection to serious human rights abuses committed in northern Syria, including abduction, severe physical abuse, and rape."[25]
References
edit- ^ a b "Hamza Division: a new military formation to fight ISIL". El-Dorar. 23 April 2016.
- ^ "Hamza Brigade's Leader: Few Hours Later We Will Raise The Victory Signs In Bab City (Video)". Qasioun News. 14 November 2016. Retrieved 3 October 2020.[permanent dead link]
- ^ a b c Rami Raj (25 September 2017). "Al-Hamzah Group (all partners): The opening of the military college is a step in the formation of the (National Army)". All4Syria.
- ^ a b "Al-Hamza Division to RFS". Revolutionary Forces of Syria Media Office. 22 September 2016. Archived from the original on 10 June 2017. Retrieved 1 October 2016.
- ^ a b c Suraj Sharma (16 February 2018). "Turkey sends 'Kurdish Falcon' force to Afrin to counter anti-Kurd image". Middle East Eye.
- ^ "FSA mourns the commander of the Hamza Battalion during the battle of Aleppo". Enab Baladi. 8 April 2016.
- ^ "470 FSA fighters killed in Euphrates Shield Operation". Kom News. 17 February 2017. Archived from the original on 25 September 2017. Retrieved 4 July 2017.
- ^ a b c d "Reports Turkey is transferring Syrian militants to Azerbaijan as hostilities against Armenia increases". Greek City Times. 25 September 2020. Retrieved 27 September 2020.
- ^ Khaled Khatib (26 May 2017). "Aleppo: opposition to end "the Knights of the Revolution"". Al-Modon.
- ^ a b SOHR: 13,000 Pro-Turkey Mercenaries Arrive in Libya See.news, May 19, 2020
- ^ Russia says Islamist fighters in Nagorno-Karabakh conflict pose threat to Moscow | Reuters
- ^ Ahmad Zakaraya (30 January 2017). "Al-Hamza Division to RFS: Our blood is not more expensive than our civilians and our goal is to liberate Syria from the regime's crimes and its assistant Daesh, the head of terrorism". RFS Media Office. Archived from the original on 10 June 2017. Retrieved 1 October 2016.
- ^ "Hamza Division: merger of five FSA factions in northern Aleppo". Enab Baladi. 25 April 2016.
- ^ "BMG-71 TOW ATGM Syrian Opposition groups in the Syrian Civil War". Badly Xeroxed. 30 June 2016. Archived from the original on 28 January 2018. Retrieved 4 September 2016.
- ^ ""Samarkand," the name of a new species, "Free Army" in Syria". Enab Baladi. 22 June 2016.
- ^ "Syria à la Carte: Turkish Invasion Highlights Rapidly Shifting Alliances". Spiegel. 26 August 2016.
- ^ "Hamza Division military commander to the civilians of Jarabulus city". Hamza Division/Youtube. 26 August 2016.
- ^ "FSA poised for showdown with Kurdish forces in Aleppo". The New Arab. 19 October 2016.
- ^ "The Investigative Journal". 10 December 2022.
- ^ "A six-item agreement to end the fighting between Ahrar al-Sharqiya and Hamzah in Afrin". El-Dorar al-Shamia. 25 March 2018.
- ^ Aboufadel, Leith (22 June 2018). "Top military commander of Ahrar Al-Sham assassinated in east Aleppo". Archived from the original on 27 March 2019. Retrieved 27 March 2019.
- ^ Ragip Soylu; Harun al-Aswad (27 December 2019). "Turkey to send Syrian rebel fighters to battle Haftar in Libya". Middle East Eye. Retrieved 29 December 2019.
- ^ "Violence in Afrin | People from Damascus and countryside demand the expulsion of "Al-Hamza Division" and be held accountable, and clarification on the presence of naked women in Division prisons • the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights". 28 May 2020.
- ^ Sultan al-Kanj (16 September 2021). "Turkey-backed Syrian opposition groups merge under new banner". al-monitor. Retrieved 16 September 2021.
- ^ Miller, Matthew (17 August 2023). "Designating Two Syrian Factions and Their Leaders in Connection with Serious Human Rights Abuses". United States Department of State. Archived from the original on 17 August 2023. Retrieved 18 August 2023.