Army of Free Lebanon

Army of Free Lebanon (AFL)
Participant in Lebanese civil war (1975-1990)
Army of Free Lebanon flag 1976-78
Active	Until 1978
Groups	Lebanese Front
Leaders	Antoine Barakat, Fouad Malek, Saad Haddad
Headquarters	Fayadieh (East Beirut)
Strength	3,000 men
Originated as	500 men
Allies	Kataeb Regulatory Forces, Al-Tanzim, Marada Brigade, Tigers Militia, Guardians of the Cedars, Lebanese Forces
Opponents	Lebanese National Movement, Lebanese Arab Army, Palestine Liberation Organization, Syrian Army

Lebanese National Movement, Lebanese Arab Army, Palestine Liberation Organization,

The Army of Free Lebanon – AFL (Arabic: جيش لبنان الحر transliteration Jaiysh Lubnan al-Horr) or ‘Colonel Barakat’s Army’ (Arabic: جيش بركات transliteration Jaiysh Barakat), also designated Armée du Liban Libre (ALL) or ‘Armée du Colonel Barakat’ in French, was a predominantly Christian splinter faction of the Lebanese Army that came to play a major role in the 1975-77 phase of the Lebanese Civil War.

Upon its formation, the AFL adopted as logo a rectangular (or square) red and blue ‘flash’ with a stylished white cedar tree in the middle, which was hastily painted on its armoured and transport vehicles. Sometimes the motto ‘Free Lebanon’ (Arabic: Lubnan al-Horr) written in Arabic script was painted alongside the flash on the hull and turret of the tanks.

The AFL was created on January 23, 1976 in Beirut by Lebanese Colonel Antoine Barakat who declared loyalty to the then President of Lebanon Suleiman Frangieh. A Maronite from Frangieh’s hometown Zgharta, Barakat rose with the troops of the Beirut Command in response for Lieutenant Ahmed al-Khatib’s rebellion two days earlier at the head of the breakway Lebanese Arab Army (LAA). Another officer, the head of Jounieh garrison Major Fouad Malek, supported the Barakat-led faction, as did Major Saad Haddad the commander of the Marjayoun garrison in the south.