Profile: Furqat al-Mu’tasim (SNA)
Furqat al-Mu’tasim - فرقة المعتصم
‘al-Mu’tasim Division’
Until June 2018: Liwa’ al-Mu’tasim (‘al-Mu’tasim Brigade’), previously Liwa’ al-Mu’tasim Billah
Basic information:
Founded in August 2015 under the name Liwa’ al-Mu’tasim as a merger of several factions active in Mare’ including Liwa’ al-Mu’tasim Billah, soon joined by Kata’ib al-Da’wah wa’l-Jihad led by current faction leader al-Mu’tasim ‘Abbas
Was one of two SNA factions (along with Furqat al-Hamzah) supported by the US Department of Defense as part of the Train and Equip program from 2015-2017. This entailed several dozen fighters affiliated with the group receiving training by US Army Special Forces at a base in Turkey over the course of 2015 (up until the training part of the program was cancelled in October) and the faction receiving American small arms and and air support in battles against the Islamic State in 2016 up until Turkey fully took over the group portfolio from the US over the course of Operation Euphrates Shield (2016-17).
Was a member of the Mare’ Operations Room (Sep 2015 - Jan 2016) and the Hawar Kilis Operations Room (April 2016 - Dec 2017), opposition coordinating coalitions active in northern Aleppo
A member of the SNA since its founding on December 30 2017, affiliated with the Second Legion
Took part in Turkey’s Operation Euphrates Shield (2016), Operation Olive Branch (2018), and Operation Peace Spring (2019)
Sent fighters to Libya as part of Turkey’s SNA mercenary program
Recently witnessed a coup attempt in which several prominent commanders tried and failed to overthrow faction leader al-Mu’tasim ‘Abbas over accusations of corruption
Size estimate: large, several thousand fighters (grown significantly in recent years, as of April 2017 Mu’tasim only fielded 400 fighters)
Primarily based around the town of Mare’ in Euphrates Shield region, also present in Afrin and Peace Spring (Serê Kaniyê/Ras al-’Ain) regions
Leadership:
al-Mu’tasim ‘Abbas aka Abu al-‘Abbas (‘المعتصم عباس ‘أبو العباس)
born in Mare’ in 1984
Commander of local Mare’ faction Kata’ib al-Da’wah wa’l-Jihad since its founding in 2012, primarily active in battles against the regime in Aleppo city
‘Abbas announcing the faction’s joining Liwa’ Halab al-Shahba’ in Oct 2012
Worked as a field commander for various coalitions that Kata’ib al-Da’wah wa’l-Jihad joined between 2012-2015, most notably Liwa’ al-Tawhid
Kata’ib al-Da’wah wa’l-Jihad announcing their joining of Liwa’ al-Tawhid in 2013
‘Abbas interviewed by Turkmen News Agency at Bab al-Salamah in Oct 2013:
Known for leading opposition forces in breaking the brief besiegement of Mare’ imposed by the Islamic State in late May 2016. See this interview he gave to Syria Direct at the time
Led the brief intra-SNA alliance al-Jabhah al-Suriyah lil-Tahrir in 2021
‘Abbas is a now Turkish citizen and posted a photo of himself voting for Turkish President Erdoğan in the May 2023 election to Twitter
Survived an internal coup attempt launched by several Mu’tasim subcommanders in April 2024
center: al-Mu’tasim ‘Abbas (source)
Mustafa Sejri (مصطفى سيجري)
Born in Aleppo in 1984, moved to Latakia as a teenager.
Was involved in Salafi-influenced opposition activity prior to the outbreak of the civil war, serving a prison sentence for anti-government activity from 2006-08
Helped form rural Latakia-based opposition faction Liwa’ Suqour al-Sahil in 2012 before moving north to the Jabal al-Akrad and Jabal al-Turkman areas where he came to lead Kata’ib Izz bin ‘Abd al-Salam, a prominent FSA-aligned group
Was exiled to Turkey after Kata’ib Izz bin ‘Abd al-Salam joined the Syrian Revolutionaries’ Front and became party to the coalition’s clashes with Jabhat al-Nusra in 2014
Was recruited into the US-backed Liwa’ al-Mu’tasim project in the northern Aleppo countryside, in which he has acted as a political representative of the faction until this day, commonly appearing as a spokesman for the SNA more broadly on opposition and Arab media
Involved in the April 2024 coup attempt against faction leader al-Mu’tasim ‘Abbas, currently being held on related charges by the SNA Military Police
(source)
‘Alaa’ al-Din Ayyoub (علاء الدين أيوب) aka al-Farouq Abu Bakr (الفاروق أبو بكر)
was born in the al-Sukari neighborhood of Aleppo in 1984
went on to found several Islamist factions active within opposition-controlled parts of the city, including Harakat al-Fajr al-Islamiyah which eventually joined Ahrar al-Sham
became a leading local figure within the Aleppo city opposition, negotiating the December 2016 ceasefire and evacuation deal with Russia that saw the entire city come under regime control
After run-ins with HTS in Idlib and Western Aleppo, Ayyoub left for SNA territory where he took part in Operation Olive Branch in early 2018. In June of the same year he left Ahrar al-Sham for Furqat al-Mu’tasim
Involved in the April 2024 coup attempt against faction leader al-Mu’tasim ‘Abbas, currently being held on related charges by the SNA Military Police
(source)
Muhammed al-Dhahir aka Abu Iskandar (‘محمد الضاهر ‘أبو إسكندر)
A commander within the ill-fated US Department of Defense trained group Division 30, dismantled by Jabhat al-Nusra soon after entering Syria. Abu Iskandar was one of the initial 54-strong contingent of Division to be deployed to Syria on July 12th 2015. By a mid-August visit by al-Aan correspondent Jenan Mousa he was hiding out in an unnamed location in northern Aleppo with several other Division 30 members. According to an interview with him conducted by CNN in August 2015 Abu Iskandar was able to relay target coordinates for US airstrikes.
Abu Iskandar being interviewed by al-Aan TV’s Jenan Mousa in northern Aleppo as part of Division 30, Aug 2015 (source) Was present for the formation announcement of the ‘Syrian Democratic Forces in Aleppo and Idlib’ on November 16th 2015, representing the remnants of Division 30 that fled west to YPG-controlled Afrin
Abu Iskandar at the announcement of the Aleppo/Idlib contingent of the SDF, Nov 2015 (source) Defected from the SDF to the opposition at some point after, eventually working as a ‘security official’ within Furqat al-Mu’tasim
Involved in the April 2024 coup attempt against faction leader al-Mu’tasim ‘Abbas, currently being held on related charges by the SNA Military Police
Abu Iskandar on the far left, with al-Farouq Abu Bakr, al-Mu’tasim ‘Abbas and members of the SIG Ministry of Defense including then Minister of Defense Salim Idris (3rd from left), 2019 (source)
Ahmad ‘Abbas aka Abu Hazim (‘أحمد عباس ‘أبو حازم)
Brother of al-Mu’tasim ‘Abbas
Killed during the 2024 coup attempt
Col. Bassam al-Sanbaki aka Abu Muhammed al-Kurdi (العقيد بسام محمد السنبكي)
Information based on this Twitter thread by @sol_0_4
SAA defector from historically (Arabized-) Kurdish neighborhood Rukn al-Din in western Damascus where he was involved in the armed opposition beginning in 2012
Later ended up in Eastern Ghoutah where he fought within the ranks of both Faylaq al-Rahman and Jaysh al-Islam, the two primary factions within the opposition-controlled pocket
Left for northern Aleppo in April 2018 as part of the Ghoutah evacuation/reconciliation agreement, where he eventually joined Furqat al-Mu’tasim
L to R: al-Farouq Abu Bakr, current SIG Minister of Defense Hassan Hamadah, al-Mu’tasim ‘Abbas, and Bassam al-Sanbaki (source)
Muhammed Ayyoub aka Abu al-’Izz (‘محمد أيوب ‘أبو العز)
Involved in the April 2024 coup attempt against faction leader al-Mu’tasim ‘Abbas, currently being held on related charges by the SNA Military Police
Jamil Lala aka Abu Hadou (‘جميل لالا ‘أبو حدو)
Involved in the April 2024 coup attempt against faction leader al-Mu’tasim ‘Abbas, currently being held on related charges by the SNA Military Police
Dhahir al-Dhahir (ضاهر الضاهر)
Killed in a targeted IED attack in the town of Akhtarin, northern Aleppo on October 24th 2019.
Lt. Col. Muhammed Hasan Khalil (المقدم محمد حسن خليل) or Abu Tariq (أبو طارق)
Former SAA officer from Kabanah, Latakia, who left the army in 2006 after a sixteen year career reportedly due objections over corruption
According to Khalil he took part in the very early March 16th 2011 protest in front of the Ministry of the Interior in Damascus after which he was arrested. He eventually left the country for Turkey where he joined the nascent ‘FSA’
Took part in battles against the regime in his native northern Latakia, left for Aleppo several years later after coming into conflict with Jabhat al-Nusra.
He ended up as a military commander of Liwa’ al-Mu’tasim or its predecessor Liwa’ al-Mu’tasim Billah at some point before his disappearance in June 2016
According to statements to the press by Mustafa Sejri, Khalil was arrested by the Shari’ah committee of Darat ‘Izzah on June 2nd 2016, while traveling from Aleppo to Mare’ by way of Western Aleppo to join the battle against the Islamic State. The Shari’ah committee - including representatives of Jabhat al-Nusrah, Ahrar al-Sham, and Faylaq al-Sham - claimed to have released Khalil an hour later however he appears to have never resurfaced. His arrest and disappearance is likely due to his opposition to Nusrah and/or Mu’tasim’s US ties.
Areas of activity:
Euphrates Shield - Mare’ subdistrict
Afrin - Markaz, Sharran, Bulbul subdistricts
Peace Spring - Ras al-’Ain/Serê Kaniyê subdistricts
SNA unit number:
Second Legion, 23rd Division or 3rd Division
Intra-SNA affiliations:
al-Jabhah al-Suriyah lil-Tahrir (Sep 9 2021 - Jan 23 2022)
Hay’at Tha’iroun lil-Tahrir (Jan 23 2022 - defunct c. Nov 2022)
al-Quwwah al-Muwahiddah (Nov 5 2023 - Feb 12 2024)
Sub-factions/entities or mergers:
June 7, 2016: Joined by a number of small brigades in Mare’ affiliated with larger factions al-Jabhah al-Shamiyah, Kata’ib al-Safwah al-Islamiyah (such as Kata’ib Minhaj al-Sunnah), and al-Furqah 13
Liwa’ Rijal al-Harb (see here and here for more information)
Faction History:
According to RFS Media Office Liwa’ al-Mu’tasim founded on August 4th 2015 as a merger of several factions active in Mare’ into the ranks of Liwa’ al-Mu’tasim Billah, a local group formed at some point in 2014. I have not found a live link to a copy of the formation announcement video online.
Liwa’ al-Mu’tasim members were reportedly among the contingent of 75 fighters from US DoD’s Train and Equip program who entered Syria through Bab al-Salamah on September 20th 2015. Notably the group was intercepted by Jabhat al-Nusra who seized some of their American made and supplied weaponry. This fiasco quickly led to the end of American efforts to train vetted opposition fighters to be inserted into the fight against the Islamic State in northern Aleppo, with a focus instead on equipping vetted commanders’ groups and providing them air support.
It’s a little unclear what the relationship of al-Mu’tasim ‘Abbas and Kata’ib al-Da’wah wa’l-Jihad were to Liwa’ al-Mu’tasim in the first several months of its existence. ‘Abbas is quoted by al-Modon and allegedly by Anadolu Agency claiming that some of the US-trained fighters that entered Syria on September 20th were affiliated with him either under the name Liwa’ al-Mu’tasim or Kata’ib al-Da’wah wa’l-Jihad and were trained abroad either in Turkey or, in the second hand Anadolu account in Saudi Arabia, which is unlikely. Meanwhile an undated statement published by a Syrian Facebook page of September 21st using al-Da’wah wa’l-Jihad stationary claiming that none of its fighters received US training abroad however members of Liwa’ al-Mu’tasim Billah had and were “working with [them]” in Mare’.
This ambiguity disappeared soon after following the almost immediate cessation of US training abroad following the Division 30 fiasco and the solidification of Liwa’ al-Mu’tasim under al-Mu’tasim ‘Abbas’s leadership.
In April 2017 ‘Abbas told the Daily Beast that only 50 of the group’s 500 fighters had received direct US training
For more on the US weaponry supplied to the group between 2015-17 see this October 2017 write up
Liwa’ al-Mu’tasim was the only opposition faction coordinating US airstrikes against Islamic State targets on the northern Aleppo front in late 2015 up until Turkey’s direct intervention in August 2016:
The US War Against ISIS: How American and its Allies Defeated the Caliphate, Aaron Stein, 2022 (p. 88) [Agate Noble: code name of 2015-16 American concept of operations for assisting Mare’/A’zaz-based rebels in pushing Islamic State out of northern Aleppo, with Turkish coordination]
Following an late May 2016 offensive by the Islamic State, Furqat al-Mu’tasim and other opposition factions were besieged in Mare’ for about a week. The siege was broken on June 8th, reportedly due to an IS withdrawal in reaction to SDF gains in Manbij to the east. Within the context of the siege all the local opposition factions present reportedly merged within the ranks of Furqat al-Mu’tasim however this was disputed by representatives of other factions from the outset.
During Turkey’s Operation Olive Branch (Jan - Mar 2018) Liwa’ al-Mu’tasim was likely active on the northern Bulbul and Sharran front as this is where the Second Legion declared its presence over the course of the offensive (Liwa’ al-Mu’tasim did not publish any media of its own during this time)
The faction switched its name from Liwa’ al-Mu’tasim (al-Mu’tasim Brigade) to Furqat al-Mu’tasim (al-Mu’tasim Division) between June 11th and June 14th, 2018
During Turkey’s Operation Peace Spring (Oct - Dec 2019) Furqat al-Mu’tasim was active on the Ras al-’Ain/Serê Kaniyê front as well as involved in ancillary actions on the Manbij front
al-Mu’tasim ‘Abbas meeting with a civilian in the recently captured Ras al-’Ain/Serê Kaniyê countryside, Nov 2019 (source) In late December 2019 Furqat al-Mu’tasim was one of several SNA factions that recruited fighters to partake in Turkey’s military intervention in Libya in support of the Tripoli government. The first geolocated footage proving SNA mercenaries were deployed to Libya reportedly showed Furqat al-Mu’tasim fighters in the southern Tripoli suburbs.
SNA fighters reportedly affiliated with Furqat al-Mu’tasim in Tripoli Furqat al-Mu’tasim, along with Furqat al-Hamzah, Furqat al-Sultan Suleiman Shah, al-Furqah 20, and Furqat Suqour al-Shamal, was a of the founding faction of the “al-Jabhah al-Suriyah lil-Tahrir” alliance formed in September 2021 and headed by al-Mu’tasim ‘Abbas. On January 23rd 2022 al-Jabhah al-Suriyah merged with the Harakat al-Tha’iroun alliance to form Hay’at Tha’iroun lil-Tahrir, a Furqat al-Sultan Murad headed force counter balancing al-Jabhah al-Shamiyah. Hay’at Tha’iroun lasted until soon after the October 2022 HTS invasion of Afrin in which Furqat al-Mu’tasim remained neutral.
On November 5th 2023 Furqat al-Mu’tasim founded the al-Quwwah al-Muwahhidah alliance along with al-Jabhah al-Shamiyah and Tajammu’ al-Shahba’. It left al-Muwahhidah. Three months later, citing “the requirements of public interest” - likely a reference to the Tajammu’ al-Shahba’’s rumored HTS and the constant intra-SNA clashes related to such, al-Mu’tasim left the short lived coalition.
On April 24th 2024 “senior commanders…attempted to oust group commander Mu’tasim ‘Abbas, sparking clashes around the faction’s headquarters in the Mare’ and Akhtarin subdistricts of northern Aleppo. The series of events began with the announcement relayed by faction political officer Mustafa Sejri that Furqat al-Mu’tasim’s ‘Military Council’ had decided to strip Mu’tasim ‘Abbas of his leadership title and was investigating him along with four of his relatives on “charges of treason, corruption, abuse of power,” and theft. The coup plotters - led by Sejri, public relations director al-Farouq Abu Bakr, security officer Abu Iskandar and several military commanders - reportedly besieged ‘Abbas in the faction’s headquarters outside the the town of Ashraf, arresting the commander, shooting him in the hand and killing of his brother Ahmad in the process. The Military Council turned ‘Abbas over to the SNA Military Police who promptly released him and issued arrest warrants for Sejri, al-Farouq Abu Bakr and their fellow conspirators, signalling the rejection of the coup on the part of the broader SNA and, in the background, Turkey. Two days later it was reported that wanted members of the Furqat al-Mu’tasim Military Council turned themselves into the Military Police while Mustafa Sejri was arrested in A’zaz by al-Jabhah al-Shamiyah. On April 29th SIG Minister of Defense Hassan al-Hamadah paid a visit to wounded Mu’tasim ‘Abbas, symbolically ending the whole affair.
Lineage:
Early northern Aleppo countryside opposition brigades (Kata’ib al-Da’wah wa’l-Jihad) that entered Aleppo city in mid 2012. Floated around various major Aleppine opposition coalitions before joining Liwa’ al-Tawhid in June 2013. Not part of the defector-led secular milieu and not doctrinal Islamists, but somewhere in between to the extent that they had an ideology.
One of two DoD-supported opposition groups in northwestern Syria
Known bases:
General Command HQ, Mare’, Euphrates Shield region
(source) 
Interior (source) Ashraf, Euphrates Shield region
(source) 
Training grounds, Ghabtoun, Euphrates Shield region
Likely temporary
(source) Cûmkê, Afrin
(source) 
Serê Kaniyê/Ras al-’Ain, Peace Spring region
former SDF cemetery
Also used by an “al-Furqah 40” of defunct alliance Hay’at Tha’iroun lil-Tahrir in Nov 2022, unclear if associated with Furqat al-Mu’tasim
(source) 
Social Media:
Twitter account (Dec 2015 - ) [handle changed from previous @lewaamotasem]
Telegram channel (Jan 2016 - )
Facebook page (June 2019)
YouTube channel (Nov 2015 - )