al-Tawhid Brigade | |
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لواء التوحيد Participant in the Syrian Civil War |
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Official logo of the Tawhid Brigade
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Active | 18 July 2012—2014 (central group, some remnants still use the name) |
Ideology | Sunni Islamism |
Leaders |
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Headquarters | Aleppo, Mare', and Tell Rifaat |
Area of operations | of Syria |
Size | 10,000 (own claim) (Nov 2012) 11,000 (Oct 2013) |
Part of | |
Merger of | Ahrar al-Shamal Brigade Fursan al-Jabal Brigade Daret Izza Brigade |
Allies | |
Opponents | |
Battles and wars |
The al-Tawhid Brigade (Arabic: لواء التوحيد, translit. Liwa al-Tawhid, lit. 'Brigade of Oneness'), named after Tawhid, the "oneness of God," but often mistranslated as Unity Brigade, was an armed Islamist insurgent group involved in the Syrian Civil War.
The al-Tawhid Brigade was formed in 2012. Reportedly backed by Qatar, al-Tawhid was considered one of the biggest groups in northern Syria, dominating much of the insurgency around Aleppo.
Affiliated with the Muslim Brotherhood, in late 2013 it co-signed a joint statement calling for Sharia law and rejecting the authority of the Syrian National Coalition.
Originally, al-Tawhid was composed of three subunits, the Fursan al-Jabal Brigade, the Daret Izza Brigade, the Ahrar al-Shamal Brigade, and the Aleppo Shahba Battalions.
Its leader Abdul Qader Saleh died late 2013 in a devastating Syrian Army airstrike. Its northern branch, the Ahrar al-Shamal Brigade, was in 2014 reportedly "superseded" by the Northern Sun Battalion (Shams al-Shamal).
The Tawhid Brigade consisted was organized into three branches:
Around June 2013 the Tawhid Brigade was reorganised into nearly 30 sub-factions.
In November 2013, the Elite Islamic Battalion left the Tawhid Brigade.
On 2 March 2014 the Northern Storm Brigade announced that they would join the Islamic Front under the leadership of the al-Tawhid Brigade. Also in 2014, the Euphrates Jarabulus Brigades left to join the Dawn of Freedom Brigades.