Jabhat al-Akrad

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This is an alternate history wiki. It mixes fact and fiction, and should not be mistaken for a reliable source.

Liwa Jabhat al-Akrad

Details
Active: 2013-2018
Area: Aleppo and Raqqa Governorates
Ideology: Secularism
Kurdish interests
Part of: Free Syrian Army
Operations Rooms: Euphrates Volcano


Liwa Jabhat al-Akrad, usually known simply as Jabhat al-Akrad, was a Kurdish Free Syrian Army unit operating in Aleppo and Raqqa governorates. It was formed in January 2013 as part of Liwa Ahrar Souriya; it split from the latter in March. It was distinguished from other Kurdish rebel groups by its close relationship with the Democratic Union Party (PYD) and the People's Protection Units (YPG). As such, it increasingly came into conflict with other rebels over the course of 2013. By August, after fighting alongside the YPG against ISIS, al-Nusra, and several allied FSA groups, the mainstream opposition no longer considered Jabhat al-Akrad part of the rebellion. Nevertheless, as ISIS/IS waged war on its former rebel allies, Jabhat al-Akrad was able to maintain contact and occasional cooperation with other rebels. It was one of the founders of the Euphrates Volcano operations room, an anti-IS alliance between the YPG and several FSA groups formed in September 2014. After successfully defending the city of Kobanî from IS and reversing the latter's momentum, Euphrates Volcano expanded and would come to be one of the war's major players, encompassing most of northeast Syria.

Critics of the PYD often saw Jabhat al-Akrad as a PYD puppet, used to reach out to the rebels when needed. Nevertheless, the group played an important part in drawing the PYD/YPG into reconciliation with the mainstream opposition.