Hamza Division (Aleppo)
| Hamza Division | |
|---|---|
|
فرقة الحمزة Furqat al-Hamza Participant in the Syrian Civil War |
|
Official logo of the Hamza Division
|
|
| Active | 23 April 2016 – present |
| Groups |
|
| Leaders |
|
| Headquarters | Mare, Aleppo Governorate |
| Area of operations | Aleppo Governorate |
| Part of | |
| Originated as | Levant Front |
| Allies | |
| Opponents | |
| Battles and wars | |
The Hamza Division is a Syrian rebel group affiliated with the Free Syrian Army, and trained and equipped by the United States and Turkey as part of the Syrian Train and Equip Program in northwestern Syria.
On 23 April 2016, 5 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 due to the "interests of unity" with the intention to fight the "crime and terror" of ISIL and the Syrian government. Under the command of Syrian Army defector Lt. Saif Abu Bakr, the factions receive military support from the international coalition against ISIL. Dhi Qa Brigade were a member of Division 99 along with Liwa Ahfad Saladin.
In June 2016, the Northern Thunder Brigade received BGM-71 TOW missiles from the coalition. Also that month, a Syrian Turkmen group called the "Samarkand Brigade", named after the city in Uzbekistan, joined the Hamza Division.
...
Wikipedia