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Syrian Free Army (SFA)
Jaysh Maghawir al-Thawra (MaT)
Revolutionary Commando Army

Maghawir al-Thawra [Revolutionary Commando Army (RCA)], also known as Syrian Free Army (SFA), or the New Syrian Army (NSA), is a small military force of several hundred troops, carrying out reconnaissance missions and monitoring the borders of Area 55 with the support of the coalition. In December 2016, the New Syrian Army dissolved, and the remnants of the group formed Maghawir al-Thawra. Following a 2022 US Central Command attempt to integrate the group into the Syrian Democratic Forces, it rebranded as the Syrian Free Army.

One group receiving Counter-ISIS Train and Equip Fund [CTEF] money from the Pentagon is the Syrian Free Army (SFA), not to be confused with the Free Syrian Army (FSA), which was an umbrella group of different factions within the Syrian opposition and is now known as the Syrian National Army (SNA). The SFA operates in southeastern Syria near the border with Iraq and Jordan. It has even been hosted by the US at its military base at al-Tanf, a garrison in the Syrian desert on the highway linking Damascus to Baghdad. "The SFA remains a crucial partner for coalition forces operating near At Tanf Garrison (ATG) in southeast Syria," a Pentagon budget document says.

The Al-Tanf military base was actually established in 2016 at the intersection of the Syrian borders with Jordan and Iraq, and is administratively affiliated with Homs, the largest governorate in Syria. The Washington Institute for Near East Policy indicates in a report that it includes between 100 and 200 American soldiers, but other reports indicate larger numbers, in addition to the presence of British soldiers and soldiers from other countries participating in the coalition.

The base is used - according to the same report, citing sources in the US Department of Defense - to continue operations against ISIS, hinder the activities of Iranian agents in Syria, and at the same time is a card of influence in the long-standing negotiations over the future of Syria. The base is located on one of the main highways between Baghdad and Damascus, which Washington says is responsible for transporting weapons supplies from Iran to Syria and Lebanese Hezbollah fighters. The base is also surrounded by a 55-kilometer-radius buffer zone formed as part of a US-Russian understanding in 2016.

According to military experts, the importance of the American base in Al-Tanf lies in its location at the border triangle between Syria, Iraq and Jordan, which gives the forces there room to maneuver inside Syria in more than one direction and even outside it if necessary. It is also located on the main supply route between Iran, Damascus and Beirut via Iraq. Its importance lies in fighting ISIS cells, whose activity has generally increased in the “Al-Shamiya” desert, after the organization lost its territorial control in both Syria and Iraq. Before 2016, the area surrounding the base was under the control of ISIS before it was expelled by the US-led international coalition forces, and since then the United States has used it as a training base for Syrian opposition groups.

The area has enabled U.S. forces and their allies to undermine ISIS operations and prevent Iranian militias from entering, according to the Washington Institute report. It has also had a secondary effect in attracting thousands of displaced Syrians to the Rukban camp, just a few miles from the base on the Syrian side of the border, and protecting them from regime attacks. At its peak, Rukban was home to more than 50,000 displaced Syrians, although that number has reportedly fallen to around 10,000 over the years as some of its residents have returned to regime-controlled areas following several deals with Damascus.

Residents of the Rukban camp said that support from US forces for the Rukban camp in the tri-border area in southern Syria and for the Maghawir al-Thawra Army has enabled them to live there safely, despite their fear of having to stay there permanently. In addition, the presence of these forces has helped maintain stability in a potentially explosive situation, as the parties to the Syrian conflict compete for control of the area, a de-escalation zone with a radius of 55 kilometers located where the borders of Syria, Jordan and Iraq meet. Many of the camp's approximately 7,000 residents fear returning to areas controlled by the Syrian regime , where infrastructure remains in ruins and reprisals pose a serious threat.

The SFA was previously named Maghawir al-Thawra [Revolutionary Commando Army] and has been backed and trained by the US for years. The program forbids fighting the regime if the latter does not pose a threat to the coalition. The “Revolutionary Commando Army,” was a group of former Syrian officers and soldiers, most of whom come from the Deir ez-Zor governorate (east), which ISIS took control of in its large-scale attack in Syria and Iraq in the summer of 2014 before being expelled from it years later.

Regarding the role played by the US-backed faction in the base, the media office of the Maghawir al-Thawra Army stated in a previous written statement to Al Jazeera Net that its main mission is to protect the area in which the base is located and its surroundings, and to prevent infiltration attempts by ISIS and the regime, in addition to combating drug smuggling in all its forms.

Regarding its ability to protect this vast area despite its limited number of members, the faction indicated that it is doing so through “well-crafted military plans and high coordination with friends in the international coalition,” according to the same source. The US State Department estimates that about 300 members of the "Maghaweer al-Thawra" faction are deployed in the buffer zone surrounding the base. US forces have trained the faction since establishing a presence at the base, and are currently cooperating with it on anti-ISIS and humanitarian missions.

Iran utilized proxies to create a Tehran to Beirut land route - the “Iranian Crescent” - across Syria, Iraq, and Lebanon. The Anti-ISIS coalition military base at al-Tanf, operated in coordination with Jordanian security forces, is a strategic crossing connecting the M2 highway, the most direct route from Baghdad to Damascus. In May 2017, a brief incursion between coalition forces, coalition-backed Maghawir al-Thawra, and Iranian-linked militias occurred after Shi’a fighters aggressively violated the US-Russian de-confliction line, resulting in coalition strikes against Assad’s allies. In the months following, reports surfaced that Iranian proxies would attempt to take al-Tanf from coalition forces by force, but no such attack materialized.

In August 2017 the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights reported that negotiations were taking place between coalition force, U.S. forces, and the Syrian opposition force Maghawir al-Thawra to create a national army in the southern side of Hasakah city.

The US-led international coalition removed and replaced Brigadier General Muhannad al-Talaa, the commander of the Maghawir al-Thawra faction, in late September 2022, in a move surrounded by internal disagreements, allegations of corruption and questions about the future of Rukban camp. The United States-led international coalition appointed Captain Muhammad Farid al-Qassem as the new commander. Syrian sources Syria Direct spoke to attributed al-Talaa’s dismissal to his mismanagement of a number of issues, alongside allegations of corruption and drug trafficking.

A statement issued 03 October 2022 by the "Revolutionary Commando Army", allied with the international coalition to fight ISIS inside the Al-Tanf base (the most prominent American base in Syria), revealed disagreements between the Syrian and American sides after the latter appointed a new leadership for the faction. "The Commando Army" said - via its Twitter account on Sunday evening - "We were and still are committed to the declared goals of the international coalition to fight terrorism, but we also announce that we categorically and definitively reject interference by any party, no matter who it is, in determining and appointing our revolutionary leaders."

He added, "Therefore, we reject the attempt to impose Captain Farid Al-Qassem as the commander of the army for many reasons; the simplest of which is that he is not one of our officers or members, and we call on the general command of the coalition to intervene directly to avoid the serious repercussions that could arise as a result of this irresponsible decision," according to his expression.

Hours after the tweet was published, it was deleted from the army’s unverified account, which has been publishing statements and photos of the military faction’s activities, training, and leadership from inside the American military base for years, without issuing an explanation for the reasons. In conjunction with the statement, the so-called Military Council of the Revolutionary Commando Army published a video statement, in which the spokesman confirmed that the council "irrevocably" rejects the imposition of the appointment of the new commander of the faction, Farid al-Qassem.

The statement of the Commando Army is the final episode after a series of disagreements, the last of which was the dismissal by the leadership of the international coalition of Brigadier General Muhannad al-Talaa, the commander of the faction operating in the so-called 55th area that protects the al-Tanf base and the surrounding area, and his replacement by Farid al-Qasim, who is close to the coalition leadership.

The dismissal of the faction commander came after his disagreements with the coalition regarding Muhannad al-Tala’a’s rejection of a plan to follow the “Commandos Army” led by the Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF), and the other matter is the coalition’s laxity in protecting the faction’s sites spread in the 55th area after they were subjected to several bombings by regime forces, Russia, and factions loyal to Iran.

Sources from inside the Rukban camp, which is close to the Tanf base and is under its protection and includes thousands of displaced Syrians, including families of the Maghawir faction members, pointed out that there is a state of paralysis in the commercial movement inside the camp market due to the delay in the monthly salaries of the members of the Maghawir al-Thawra Army as a result of the recent crisis with the Americans regarding the refusal of a number of them to appoint a new commander.

The local council in the Rukban camp , within the 55 km area controlled by the international coalition and the Revolutionary Commandos, issued a statement rejecting the coalition’s decision, calling for a sit-in inside the camp until the coalition rescinds the decision, indicating in a visual statement that there are tribal differences due to the involvement of the new leader “Farid Al-Qassem” and his faction in killing one of their sons under torture at an earlier time.

The officers eventually acquiesced after a meeting with British and American officers inside the Tanf base, during which they were told categorically that the decision was final, and they would not back down from it even if they had to forcefully remove them and all the commando elements from the area.

The "Revolutionary Commando Army" faction, stationed at the "Tanf" military base alongside the international coalition forces, decided 25 October 2022 to change its name to the "Syrian Free Army", after the US Central Command dismissed Brigadier General Muhannad al-Talaa from the leadership of the faction, and appointed Muhammad Farid al-Qasim as his successor. The faction officially announced that it had changed the name of the opposition faction supported by the coalition from “Jaysh Maghawir al-Thawra” to “Jaysh al-Syrian Free Army,” after a meeting between al-Qassem and the commander of the Combined Joint Task Force in “Operation Inherent Resolve,” US General Matthew McFarlane, inside the al-Tanf base.

Al-Qassem, who succeeded the former dismissed commander, Brigadier General Muhannad Al-Tala’a, began the first steps aimed at changing the structure of the opposition faction by merging the “Martyrs of Al-Qaryatayn Brigade,” which was previously supported by the coalition and which Al-Qassem led before his appointment to the Revolutionary Commandos, after obtaining American approval for that.

The elements of the Martyrs of Al-Qaryatayn Brigade, which also includes the "Army of Tribes" faction, began receiving military training from the coalition forces in Al-Tanf in preparation for their official inclusion in the Revolutionary Commandos, stressing that the coalition seeks to increase the number of elements and their training, and gave approval and instructions to Al-Qassem to do so, in order to provide greater protection for the region after the recent Iranian attacks on the base.

What represented the beginning of the coup against the Revolutionary Commando Corps that Al-Qassem was seeking was his attempt to introduce new officers into the military council that led the faction and was formed of officers who defected from the regime, and to work to replace the officers who stood as a stumbling block in the way of his appointment by the coalition at the expense of Al-Talaa, with new officers loyal to him and present in the Rukban camp.

Since the beginning of 2024, the Russian Ministry of Defense has announced that it has targeted, by air, the sites of “militants and extremists” in the Al-Tanf area, east of Homs Governorate, where the forces of the international coalition led by the United States of America are stationed in an area known as the “55-kilometer area” or the “Al-Tanf” base. Moscow indicated in its announcements that its raids targeted “armed” or “extremist” groups, or both, after they left the “Tanf” base where American forces are stationed.

The 55-kilometer area includes local factions from the remnants of the Free Syrian Army formations, supported by Washington, the most prominent of which is what was known as the “Revolutionary Commando Army” (today the Syrian Free Army), and alongside it in the same area are the remnants of two local factions that had previously collapsed, namely the “Martyr Ahmed al-Abdo Forces” and the “Lions of the East”, and the mission of these factions is focused on fighting the “Islamic State” organization in the region.

The director of the Russian Foreign Intelligence Service, Sergei Naryshkin, accused US forces of training “terrorists” at the “Tanf” military base east of Homs Governorate in Syria. Although the forces referred to in the Russian allegations are groups of remnants of the Syrian Free Army formations, which carry out missions to pursue and confront ISIS cells in the Syrian desert, Naryshkin said at a meeting of the Council of Heads of Security Services and Special Services of the Commonwealth of Independent States countries on 07 October 2024, that the American “Al-Tanf” base in Syria has long been transformed into a “terrorist training center.”

He added, according to the Russian news agency RIA Novosti, that the US forces trained 500 members of the Islamic State organization and “other jihadists” at the “Tanf” base, with priority given to immigrants from the Caucasus and Central Asian republics, and forming mobile groups of them to carry out “terrorist” acts against Russian forces in Syria.

The Syrian Free Army played a minor role during the rebel assault of 2024, primarily in the province of Homs, where they succeeded in pushing back Syrian government forces.

The DoD mission in Syria remains the enduring defeat of the ISIS. Coalition and partner force operations against ISIS in Syria have significantly degraded the terrorist organization’s leadership and networks. Still, the group continues to conduct small-scale attacks against Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF) and civilians, particularly in the area surrounding the al-Hol displaced persons camp and in pockets of Syria where security force presence is thin or inconsistent. The Coalition continues to pursue the D-ISIS mission by, with, and through Vetted Syrian Groups and Individuals (VSGI), including the SDF and its affiliated groups in northeast Syria, as well as the Syrian Free Army (SFA) in southeast Syria. These groups remain committed partners eligible for assistance through CTEF.

The SFA remains a crucial partner for coalition forces operating near At Tanf Garrison (ATG) in southeast Syria. Coalition forces work by, with, and through the SFA to maintain pressure on ISIS. In FY 2025, the SFA will require additional equipment and security capabilities to mitigate the increased security threat and losses due to natural attrition throughout FY 2023 and FY 2024. The SFA is the only significant force conducting counter-ISIS patrolling and direct-action operations in Southeast Syria and provides force protection for coalition forces at ATG.