Hazzm Movement

Hazzm Movement
حركة حزم
Harakat Hazzm
Participant in the Syrian Civil War

Official logo of the Hazzm Movement

Hazzm Movement flag
Active 25 January 2014 – 1 March 2015
Leaders Bilal Atar
Abdullah Awda
Hamza Shamali
Murshid al-Khalid
Mohammed al-Dahik
Area of operations Idlib Governorate, Syria
Aleppo Governorate, Syria
Hama Governorate, Syria
Homs Governorate, Syria[1]
Strength 400[2] (February 2015)
Part of Free Syrian Army[3]
Levant Front[4]
Syrian Revolutionary Command Council[5]
Became Levant Front[6]
Jaysh al-Thuwar
Opponents Syrian Armed Forces
Islamic State of Iraq and Syria[7]
Al-Nusra Front[4]
Battles and wars

Syrian Civil War

The Hazzm Movement (Arabic: حركة حزم‎, Harakat Hazzm, meaning Movement of Steadfastness[11]) was an alliance of Syrian rebels that existed from 25 January 2014[12] until 1 March 2015, when they joined the Levant Front.

History

The Hazzm Movement was established on 25 January 2014 when 12 small rebel factions merged. Several of the factions had been part of the Farouq Brigades.[13] The groups that became the Army of Mujahedeen were originally going to join the Hazzm Movement.[14] The previous incarnation of the group, called Harakat Zaman Mohamed (The movement of the time of Muhammad), was supported by the Syrian Muslim Brotherhood.[14]

The Hazzm Movement had a northern division, led by Murshid al-Khalid (Abu al-Muatassim), and a southern division led by Mohammed al-Dahik (Abu Hatem). The Secretary-General was Bilal Atar (Abu Abd al-Sham).[13] Abdullah Awda (Abu Zeid) was in charge of military operations[11] and Hamza Shamali (Abu Hashem) in charge of political affairs.[13]

The group was supplied BGM-71 TOW anti-tank missiles[13] in a covert CIA program launched in 2014. Scores of the groups fighters also received U.S. military training in Qatar under the same program.[15]

In October 2014, Al-Nusra Front began attacking positions of Hazzm in Idlib Province, overrunning bases and seizing weapon stores, due to its perceived closeness to the United States.[15] Following the loss of men and weapons to Nusra, the Idlib branch of Hazzm stopped receiving funds from the CIA in December 2014, funds to the Aleppo branch continued.[16] In January 2015, Al Nusra attacked Hazzm Movement positions in Aleppo province. The Hazzm Movement reacted by joining the Levant Front, a large alliance of prominent Aleppo-based Islamist rebel groups; the alliance urged al Nusra to resolve its dispute with the Hazzm Movement by negotiating with the Levant Front.[17]

On 1 March 2015, after several heavy clashes with the Al-Nusra Front, the Hazzm Movement announced they were dissolving and joining the Levant Front.[6]

On 5 May 2015, former members of the Hazzm Movement and the Syria Revolutionaries Front based in the north, as well as Jabhat al-Akrad, the Dawn of Freedom Brigades and smaller FSA groups formed Jaysh al-Thuwar.[18][19]

Component groups

The 12 groups that merged on 25 January 2014 to form the Hazzm Movement were:

See also

References

  1. ↑ "Rebels Worth Supporting: Syria's Harakat Hazm". Washington Institute for Near East Policy. 28 April 2014. Retrieved 15 May 2014.
  2. ↑ "U.S. Syria strategy falters with collapse of rebel group". Reuters. 5 March 2015.
  3. ↑ "The new face of the Syrian rebellion". The Arab Chronicle. 5 March 2014. Archived from the original on 26 March 2014. Retrieved 15 May 2014.
  4. 1 2 "Western-backed rebels join Aleppo alliance - Syria monitor". Reuters. 31 January 2015.
  5. ↑ Lund, Aron (1 December 2014). "The Revolutionary Command Council: Rebel unity in Syria?". Carnegie Endowment for International Peace. Retrieved 27 September 2015.
  6. 1 2 "U.S.-backed Syria rebel group dissolves itself after losses". Reuters Media. 1 March 2015. Retrieved 1 March 2015.
  7. ↑ "Syria Update: January 6-12, 2015". Institute for the Study of War. 13 January 2015.
  8. ↑ "Syrian army enters Homs neighbourhoods". Al Jazeera English. 15 April 2014. Retrieved 15 May 2014.
  9. ↑ "Reinforcements rush to Aleppo as battles rage". The Daily Star. 9 July 2014. Retrieved 9 July 2014.
  10. ↑ "Al-Qaeda attacks Syrian rebels in Aleppo". ARA News. 31 January 2015.
  11. 1 2 "Syrian rebels who received first U.S. missiles of war see shipment as ‘an important first step’". Washington Post. 28 April 2014. Retrieved 15 May 2014.
  12. ↑ Lister, Charles (9 April 2014). "Syrian insurgents acquire TOW missiles". Jane's Defence Weekly 51 (20). Archived from the original on 12 April 2014. Retrieved 15 May 2014.
  13. 1 2 3 4 5 Lister, Charles (9 June 2014). "American anti-tank weapons appear in Syrian rebel hands". Huffington Post (Updated ed.). Retrieved 27 September 2015.
  14. 1 2 "Harakat Hazm: America’s new favorite jihadist group". Al Akhbar. 25 May 2014. Retrieved 14 September 2014.
  15. 1 2 "U.S.-backed Syria rebels routed by fighters linked to al-Qaeda". Washington Post. 2 November 2014. Retrieved 9 February 2015.
  16. ↑ "Rebels in northern Syria say U.S. has stopped paying them". McClatchy Newspapers. 9 December 2014. Retrieved 9 February 2015. Those cut off include a larger group of Hazm fighters whom Nusra ousted from their bases in the Zawyah mountains in Idlib province in October
  17. ↑ "Western-backed rebels join Aleppo alliance - Syria monitor". Reuters. 31 January 2015. Retrieved 9 February 2015.
  18. ↑ "#Syria: Seven FSA groups (incl. Jabhat Akrad, Shams Shamal & Homs Revolutionary Union) form "The Revolutionary Army".". Twitter.
  19. ↑ "#SRO - EXCLUSIVE - Former Hazzm and #SRF forces allied with kurds and some #FSA small units to create Jaysh al-Thuwar (in 4 governorates).". Twitter.

External links

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