Liwa Thuwar al-Raqqa
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Liwa Thuwar al-Raqqa | ||||||||||
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Liwa Thuwar al-Raqqa was a Free Syrian Army unit based in Raqqa governorate. It was formed in September 2012 by Ahmad al-Othman bin Alloush (nom de guerre Abu Issa), a tribal leader who had participated in protests and been arrested twice. The group soon spread from its headquarters in Ayn Issa to operate across the governorate. Ideologically, the group supported a democratic state and formed links with the Muwatana political movement. Like many FSA groups though, it tried to maintain good relations with all other rebels, including jihadists like al-Nusra and ISIS. Relations with the latter soured, however, as ISIS began to throw its weight around eastern Syria. By mid-2013, Abu Issa saw ISIS as his biggest threat, and with few FSA groups left in Raqqa, he saw no choice but to merge his brigade into ISIS' last major rival in the area - al-Nusra. The merger did not go smoothly, with many Thuwar al-Raqqa fighters refusing to adopt Nusra's jihadist ideology. During this time, Thuwar al-Raqqa engaged in clashes with ISIS, against the orders of al-Nusra. This resulted in Thuwar al-Raqqa being expelled from al-Nusra in January 2014, followed shortly by their expulsion from Raqqa altogether. Abu Issa and his fighters took refuge in YPG-controlled Kobanî canton, where they helped to form the Euphrates Volcano operations room in September. The group had a contingent in Kobanî city itself during IS' siege and participated in the subsequent push to free the whole of the canton. Liwa Thuwar al-Raqqa played a major role in freeing Raqqa governorate from IS. Although the conservative tribal background of many of its fighters sometimes resulted in tensions with the militantly progressive YPG, the brigade remained one of the most prominent members of Euphrates Volcano and was the single largest armed group in Raqqa by the end of the war.