| Syrian Resistance المقاومة السورية | |
|---|---|
 Flag of the Syrian Resistance | |
| Leaders |
|
| Dates of operation | 2011[2] – present[3] |
| Groups | Falcons of the Jazira and Euphrates[4] |
| Headquarters | Latakia (until 2024) |
| Active regions | Syria |
| Ideology | |
| Political position | Far-left |
| Size | 2,000 (2015)[7] |
| Part of | Military Intelligence Directorate (until 2024) |
| Allies |  Syrian Arab Armed Forces (until 2024) National Defence Force (until 2024) DHKP-C |
| Opponents |  Free Syrian Army Jaysh al-Islam Ahrar al-Sham Hay'at Tahrir al-Sham Turkey Al-Nusra Front (until 2017) Islamic State |
| Wars | Syrian Civil War |
| Insignia (SSI) |  |
TheSyrian Resistance (Arabic:المقاومة السورية,romanized: al-Muqāwamat al-Sūriyah), formerly known as thePopular Front for the Liberation of theSanjak of Iskandarun (Arabic:الجبهة الشعبية لتحرير لواء اسكندرون), is aMarxist-Leninist pro-Assadmilitia that operated in northwestSyria in support of theBa'athist regime during thecivil war.
The movement is led byMihrac Ural, aTurkish Alawite who has Syrian citizenship[9] and is also known as "Ali Kayyali" (علي كيالي).[6][10] According toToday's Zaman, Ural was the leader of a clandestine insurgent cell inHatay Province called thePeople's Liberation Party-Front of Turkey orAcilciler (The Urgentists).Zaman further alleged that Ural's group has sought to agitate Hatay's sizable Alawite population into confrontation with the Turkish authorities and has also recruited local Alawites to fight in Syria on behalf of the Syrian government.[11] The group claims to also have supporters among Syria'sSunni Muslims and Christians.[6]
Though the group openly espouses a broadly-inclusive platform ofSyrian nationalism in addition to secular leftism, it has been claimed that its primary focus is the defence of theAlawite andTwelver Shi’a religious minorities of Syria.[6] The Syrian Resistance has been accused by theSyrian opposition of being asectarian Alawitemilitia, and of having carried out bombings and attacks inTurkey and on villages in Syria. However, Sheikh Muwaffaq al-Ghazal, a member of the Islamic Alawi Council, claims it has an inclusive national line regarding religion, race and gender.[12]
Founded before theSyrian Civil War's outbreak under the name "Popular Front for the Liberation of the Sanjak of Iskandarun", the militia has been most active inLatakia Governorate,[6] where its members reportedlycommitted a massacre in the town ofBaniyas in 2013. The Turkish government has also suspected the Syrian Resistance of carrying out theReyhanlı bombings.[13]
On 29 March 2016, it was falsely reported[13] that Mihraç Ural had been killed byAhrar al-Sham.[14][15]
In late July 2016, the Syrian Resistance sent reinforcement contingents fromHama to Aleppo in order to support the pro-government forces during the2016 Aleppo campaign. In course of the campaign, they were deployed both in the northern city at the Castello road front, as well as in the south where rebel forces launched acounter-offensive.[8]
At some point, the "Falcons of the Jazira and Euphrates", a militia ofDeir ez-Zor Governorate natives, officially joined the Syrian Resistance, though it remained operationally fully autonomous. Under the Syrian Resistance's flag, this unit took part in thecentral Syria campaign of mid-2017.[4] This militia was closely affiliated to major generalMohammad Khaddour.
Jamal Trabelsi, director of the Syrian Resistance's information office, was targeted by animprovised explosive device (IED) inAleppo in July 2017, though he survived. The group accused "Turkey-backed & hired gangs" of being behind the attack.[1] A few days later, a female media officer of the Syrian Resistance, Duaa Hayel Sulaiman, was assassinated inDamascus.[16]
When the Syrian opposition startedlarge-scale offensives in late 2024, the Syrian Resistance took part in pro-government defensive efforts. Under Ural, the militia was one of the groups whichunsuccessfully attempted to hold Hama.[3] After thefall of the Assad regime, the Syrian Resistance's headquarters and weapons depots in Latakia were occupied by the forces of theSyrian caretaker government.[17] Ural managed to evade capture; he gave an interview in March 2025, accusing Russia of having engineered the collapse of the Assad regime. He called on Alawites and Kurds to fight theSyrian transitional government and expressed support for thefederalization of Syria.[3][18]
