Lebanese Forces (militia)

Lebanese Forces القوات اللبنانية
Participant in Lebanese civil war (1975-1990)
Lebanese Forces flags (1977-present; 1983-1990)
Active	1976 – 1994
Leaders	Bachir Gemayel, Fadi Frem, Elias Khoury, Fouad Abou Nader, Elie Hobeika, Samir Geagea, Antonios Bayssari
Headquarters	Ashrafieh, Karantina, Amsheet
Strength	147,000 fighters
Originated as	approximately 11,000 fighters
Allies	Israel Defense Forces (IDF), Lebanese Armed Forces (LAF), South Lebanon Army (SLA)
Opponents	Lebanese National Movement (LNM), Tigers Militia, Marada Brigade, Lebanese Forces – Executive Command, Amal Movement, Lebanese Armed Forces, Palestine Liberation Organization (PLO), Syrian Armed Forces

The Lebanese Forces – LF (Arabic: القوات اللبنانية | al-quwwat al-lubnāniyya) or Forces Libanaises (FL) in French, were one of the main Christian militia of the Lebanese Civil War. Originally an umbrella organization for different Christian party militias, the Lebanese Forces later became a separate organization. It was mainly staffed by Maronite Christians.

The Lebanese Front was informally organized in January 1976 under the leadership of Pierre Gemayel and Camille Chamoun. It began as a simple coordination or joint command between the predominantely Christian Kataeb Party/Kataeb Regulatory Forces (KRF), Tyous Team of Commandos (TTC), Ahrar/Tigers Militia, Al-Tanzim, Marada Brigade and Lebanese Renewal Party/Guardians of the Cedars (GoC) parties and their respective military wings. The main reason behind the formation of the Lebanese Front was to strengthen the Christian side against the challenge presented by the Lebanese National Movement (LNM), an umbrella alliance of leftist Muslim parties/militias backed by the Palestine Liberation Organization (PLO) and Rejectionist Front Palestinian guerrilla factions.