South Lebanon Army

South Lebanon Army جيش لبنان الجنوبي
Participant in Lebanese Civil War
Active	Active as a military force until May 2000; since then, active solely as a political party.
Leaders	Saad Haddad, Antoine Lahad
Headquarters	Metulla, Marjayoun
Strength	2,700-3,000 men
Originated as	1,200 men
Allies	Israeli Army Lebanese Forces Tigers Militia Guardians of the Cedars
Opponents	Hezbollah Amal Movement Palestine Liberation Organization Syrian Social Nationalist Party Lebanese Communist Party UNIFIL Lebanese Army Syrian Army Lebanese National Movement Jammoul

The South Lebanon Army or South Lebanese Army (SLA) (Arabic: جيش لبنان الجنوبي‎‎, transliterated: Jaysh Lubnān al-Janūbi) was a Lebanese Christian militia during the Lebanese Civil War and its aftermath, until disbanded in the year 2000. It was originally named the Free Lebanon Army, which split from the Army of Free Lebanon. After 1979, the militia operated in southern Lebanon under the authority of Saad Haddad's Government of Free Lebanon. It was supported by Israel, and became its primary ally in Lebanon during the 1985–2000 South Lebanon conflict to fight against Hezbollah.

In 1976, as a result of the ongoing civil war, the Lebanese army began to break up. Major Saad Haddad, commanding an army battalion in the south which had been part of the Army of Free Lebanon, broke away and founded a group known as the Free Lebanon Army (FLA). The FLA was initially based in the towns of Marjayoun and Qlayaa in southern Lebanon. The FLA fought against various groups including the Palestine Liberation Organization (PLO), the Amal Movement and (after the 1982 Israeli invasion of Lebanon) the emerging Hezbollah. While the group was no longer under the direct control of the Lebanese army, from 1976 to 1979 its members were still paid as Lebanese soldiers by the government.

The 1978 Israeli invasion allowed the Free Lebanon Army to gain control over a much wider area in southern Lebanon. On April 18, 1979 Haddad proclaimed the area controlled by his force "Independent Free Lebanon". The following day, he was branded a traitor by the Lebanese government and officially dismissed from the Lebanese Army. Part of the Free Lebanon Army returned to government control, while Haddad's part split away and was renamed the South Lebanon Army (SLA) in May 1980. Following Haddad's death from cancer in 1984, he was replaced as leader by retired Lieutenant General Antoine Lahad.

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