Syrian National Army

Syrian National Army
الجيش الوطني السوري
Emblem Flag[a]
Leaders	Salem al-Meslet (President of SIG) Abdurrahman Mustafa (Prime Minister of SIG) Brig. Gen. Hasan Hamadah[citation needed] (Minister of Defense and Chief of Staff) Brig. Gen. Adnan al-Ahmad (Deputy Chief of Staff) Brig. Gen. Fadlallah al-Haji (Deputy Chief of Staff)
Dates of operation	2017[5]–present
Allegiance	Syrian Interim Government[5]
Headquarters	Azaz, Aleppo Governorate
Active regions	Northern Syria Idlib Governorate Latakia Governorate Aleppo Governorate Hama Governorate Raqqa Governorate Hasakah Governorate Western Libya[6] Tripolitania Region Fezzan Region Karabakh (during the 2020 war)[7]
Ideology	Syrian opposition Anti-Assadism
Size	22,000[8]–35,000[9] (2017–19, prior to merger with NFL) 80,000–100,000 (since October 2019, after merger with NFL, reported)[10][11][12]
Allies	Turkey[13]  Qatar[14]  Azerbaijan[15] Government of National Accord[16]
Opponents	Syrian Arab Armed Forces[13] Armenia[7] Artsakh (until 2023)[7] Syrian Democratic Forces[17][18] Tahrir al-Sham (sometimes)[19][20][21]  Islamic State[22] Libyan National Army  Russia[23]  Iran[23]
Battles and wars	Syrian Civil War Operation Euphrates Shield Siege of Northern Homs[24] Operation Olive Branch SDF insurgency in northern Syria Idlib Governorate clashes (January 2019) 2019 Tell Rifaat clashes Northwestern Syria offensive (April–August 2019)[25][26] 2019 Turkish offensive into north-eastern Syria Northwestern Syria offensive (December 2019–March 2020) 2020–21 Ayn Issa clashes Libyan Civil War (2014–2020)[16] 2019–20 Western Libya campaign Central Libya offensive (2020) Nagorno-Karabakh conflict[7] 2020 Nagorno-Karabakh war

The Syrian National Army (SNA;^[27] Arabic: الجيش الوطني السوري, romanized: al-Jayš al-Waṭanī as-Sūrī), previously the Free Syrian Army (FSA) and also known as the Turkish-backed Free Syrian Army (TFSA),^[28][29][30] is a coalition of armed Syrian opposition groups in the Syrian Civil War. Comprising various rebel factions that emerged at the onset of the war in July 2011, it was officially established in 2017 under the auspices of Turkey, which provides funding, training, and military support.^[31]

The SNA has its roots in the FSA, a loose collection of armed opposition groups founded on 29 July 2011 by defected Syrian military officers.^[32] After Turkey formally condemned the regime of Bashar al-Assad in November 2011,^[33] it provided arms, training, and sanctuary to the FSA.^[34] Initially the principal opponent of the Syrian government,^[35] the FSA was gradually weakened by infighting, lack of funding, and rival Islamist groups.^[36] In August 2016, Turkey began assembling a new coalition of Syrian rebel groups, which included many former FSA fighters, in an effort to create a more cohesive and effective opposition force;^[31] following Operation Euphrates Shield, the Turkish government coordinated with the Syrian Interim Government to form a "National Army" to secure Turkish territorial gains.^[37]

The official aims of the SNA are to create a "safe zone" in northern Syria, consolidate with other rebel factions, and combat both Syrian government forces and Islamists.^[38][39] Its presence expanded to the neighboring Idlib Governorate during the Syrian government's 2019 northwestern offensive,^[25][26] after which it incorporated the National Front for Liberation on 4 October 2019.^[31]

Closely aligned with the Turkish government,^[40] the SNA has been described as an auxiliary army of the Turkish Armed Forces^[41] and as "mercenaries" by their critics.^[42][43] Outside Syria, SNA fighters have been deployed by Turkey as a proxy force^[44][45] in conflicts from Libya to the south Caucasus.^[46][47] The SNA mostly consists of Arabs and Syrian Turkmen.^[48]

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