Syrian Martyrs' Brigades

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

Union of Syrian Martyrs' Brigades and Battalions

Details
Active: 2011-2014; 2016-2018
Area: Idlib Governorate
Ideology: Secularism
Part of: Idlib Liberation Front
Operations Rooms: Idlib Revolutionary Council


The Union of Syrian Martyrs' Brigades and Battalions, usually known simply as the Syrian Martyrs' Brigades, was a Free Syrian Army unit operating in Idlib governorate. It was formed as the Martyrs of Mount Zawiya Battalion in December 2011 by Capt. Yousef Yahya, one of the original members of Hussein Harmoush's Free Officers Movement. He left to form another battalion in Feburary 2012, passing leadership to Lt. Alaa Hussein. The group quickly expanded and adopted its current name, becoming one of two dominant groups in the Mt. Zawiya region (the other being Suqour al-Sham) and one of the leading rebel brigades in Idlib. By late 2012 local construction worker Jamal Maarouf had become its leader.

In its early days, the Syrian Martyrs' Brigades had a good reputation. It generally treated captured SAA soldiers well, letting them join the group or returning them to their families. Unlike Suqour al-Sham, religious ideology was absent from its program. Rebel media praised Maarouf as a model revolutionary who put aside his profession for the sake of his country. Over time, though, this image degenerated. As the group's influence expanded, so did its corruption. By December 2013, when Maarouf and the Syrian Martyrs' Brigades led the creation of the Syria Revolutionaries Front, many Idlibis felt that the group was more concerned with extorting the countryside and maintaining its own power than with fighting the regime. The Al-Nusra Front used these feelings to its advantage and attacked and defeated the Brigades and the wider SRF in late 2014. Maarouf fled to Turkey and never returned, despite promises to the contrary. One of its former leaders (WHO???), however, did return after a year of growing resentment against al-Nusra. (WHO???) reactivated the Syrian Martyrs' Brigades in January 2016 as part of the wider Idlib Liberation Front, essentially a reformation of certain SRF brigades with a mission to defeat Nusra. With help from other FSA groups, this mission was accomplished by early 2018.