The 5th Corps (Arabic: فيلق الخامس) was an alliance of five Syrian rebel groups that was formed during the Syrian Civil War in September 2014. All five units were affiliated with the Free Syrian Army and the Supreme Military Council, used the Syrian independence flag as their symbol, and received BGM-71 TOW anti-tank missiles from the US-backed Friends of Syria Group through the Military Operations Center in Reyhanlı, Turkey, near the Syrian border.[3]
| 5th Corps | |
|---|---|
| Arabic: فيلق الخامس | |
.svg) Logo of the 5th Corps | |
| Leaders |
|
| Dates of operation | 7 September 2014[2] – November 2014 (defunct) |
| Headquarters | Maarrat al-Nu'man and Kafr Nabl |
| Active regions | Northwestern Syria |
| Ideology | Syrian nationalism[3] |
| Size | Few thousand[3] |
| Part of |  Free Syrian Army Syrian Revolutionary Command Council |
| Allies | |
| Opponents | |
| Battles and wars | Syrian Civil War |
Composition and leadership
edit- 13th Division
- Knights of Justice Brigade
- Hawks of Mount Zawiya Brigade
- 101st Infantry Division
- 1st Infantry Brigade
The 5th Corps was headed by Lieutenant Colonel Fares Bayoush, who was also the leader of the Knights of Justice Brigade.[2]
Activities
editDespite being supported by the US, the 5th Corps condemned the American-led intervention in Syria against ISIL and the al-Nusra Front.[1]
The group held that the Syrian Interim Government was responsible for the accidental injection of atracurium besilate into 75 children during a measles vaccination campaign in the countryside of Maarat al-Nu'man on 16 September 2014, killing 15 of them, all between 6 and 18 months old.[4][5]
Aftermath
editOn 20 November 2014, the groups that constituted the 5th Corps, with the exception of the Mountain Hawks Brigade and the 101st Infantry Division, joined a new, more Islamist-oriented, rebel alliance called the "Gathering of Rebels in Southern Idlib" based in Maarat al-Nu'man, rendering the 5th Corps defunct.[6]
See also
editReferences
edit- ^ a b c Mohammad Nemr (30 September 2014). "FSA: No terror is comparable to Assad's terror". Al-Monitor.
- ^ a b "Merger of Five Rebel Factions into the Fifth Corps". National Coalition of Syrian and Revolutionary Forces. 8 September 2014. Retrieved 18 September 2014.
- ^ a b c d e "The Moderate Rebels: A Complete and Growing List of Vetted Groups". Hassan Mustafas. 22 November 2014. Archived from the original on 27 December 2014. Retrieved 6 January 2015.
- ^ Ibrahim al-Idlibi (17 September 2014). "Corrupt vaccines anger people in Idlib countryside". Al Jazeera. Archived from the original on 30 June 2017.
- ^ "Syrian children's deaths 'caused by vaccine mix-up'". BBC News. 18 September 2014.
- ^ "Announced the unification of the Free Army factions of the southern countryside of Idlib". AlSouria.net. 20 November 2014. Archived from the original on 11 October 2017. Retrieved 19 June 2017.
