Northern Division | |
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الفرقة الشمالية Participant in the Syrian Civil War |
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Logo of the Northern Division Flag of the Knights of Justice Brigade |
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Headquarters | Kafr Nabl |
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Originated as | Knights of Justice Battalion |
Became | Free Idlib Army |
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The Northern Division (Arabic: الفرقة الشمالية), formerly the Knights of Justice Brigade (Arabic: لواء فرسان الحق, Liwa Fursan al-Haqq), is a Free Syrian Army group sanctioned by the Syrian National Council and formerly part of the Syrian Revolutionary Command Council. The group received BGM-71 TOW missiles from the United States and Saudi Arabia, and is also armed, trained, and funded by Qatar.
The Knights of Justice Battalion was formed on 25 February 2012 by a defected Syrian Army first lieutenant Mohammed Khaled Bayoush in the town of Kafr Nabl in the Idlib Governorate. In September 2012 the group changed its name to the Knights of Justice Brigade after absorbing several smaller rebel groups. Former Syrian Air Force lieutenant colonel Fares Bayoush became its overall commander.
In June 2013, the group was one of the founding members of the 13th Division, but later left the group.
The group received funding, including salaries for its fighters, from the CIA, before being cut off in December 2014 following battlefield reversals at the hands of the al-Nusra Front.