| Hazzm Movement | |
|---|---|
| حركة حزم Ḥarakat Ḥazzm | |
 Official logo of the Hazzm Movement  Hazzm Movement flag | |
| Leaders |
|
| Dates of operation | 25 January 2014 – 1 March 2015 |
| Headquarters | Atarib,Aleppo Governorate,Syria |
| Active regions | |
| Size | 5,000 (2015)[5][6](February 2015) |
| Part of | |
| Allies |  United States Qatar Syrian Revolutionaries Front Ahrar al-Sham[11] |
| Opponents |  Syria Al-Nusra Front[9] Jund al-Aqsa |
| Battles and wars | |
Succeeded by *  Army of Mujahideen (some members)
| |
TheHazzm Movement (Arabic:حركة حزم,Ḥarakat Ḥazzm, meaningMovement of Steadfastness[16]) was an alliance ofSyrian rebel groups affiliated with theFree Syrian Army in northwestern Syria that existed from 25 January 2014[17] until 1 March 2015, when many of them dissolved into theLevant Front. Some other members joined theArmy of Revolutionaries.
In late 2013 the formerSupreme Military Council chief of staffSalim Idris planned to form the Hazzm Movement in response him being sacked as the chief of staff.[2] The Hazzm Movement was established on 25 January 2014 when 12 small rebel factions merged. Several of the factions had been part of theFarouq Brigades.[18] The groups that became theArmy of Mujahedeen were originally going to join the Hazzm Movement.[19] The previous incarnation of the group, called Harakat Zaman Mohamed (The movement of the time ofMuhammad), was supported by theMuslim Brotherhood of Syria.[19]
The group was supplied withBGM-71 TOW anti-tank missiles[18] in a covertCIA program launched in 2014. Scores of the group's fighters also received U.S. military training inQatar under the same program.[20]
In October 2014, theal-Nusra Front began attacking positions of the Hazzm Movement in theIdlib Governorate, overrunning bases and seizing weapon stores, due to its perceived closeness to the United States.[20] 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 theAleppo branch continued.[21] In January 2015, al-Nusra attacked Hazzm Movement positions in theAleppo Governorate. The Hazzm Movement reacted by joining theLevant Front, a large alliance of prominent Aleppo-basedIslamist rebel groups; the alliance urged al Nusra to resolve its dispute with the Hazzm Movement by negotiating with the Levant Front.[22]
On 3 May 2015, some of the former members of the northern branches of the Hazzm Movement, including the Atarib Martyrs Brigade, and theSyrian Revolutionaries Front along withJabhat al-Akrad, theDawn of Freedom Brigades main component group theNorthern Sun Battalion (making theDawn of Freedom Brigades defunct in the process) and smaller FSA groups formed theArmy of Revolutionaries.[23][24] Many of the northern members of theSyrian Revolutionaries Front and Hazzm Movement also joined theLevant Front.
During theTurkish military intervention in Syria which started in late August 2016, some former members of the Syrian Revolutionaries Front and the Hazzm Movement in exile from Turkey crossed into Syria throughJarabulus.[25]
In late December 2016, the Hazzm Movement, the SRF, and the Ansar Brigades in exile reportedly declared their intentions to return to Syria.[26][27]
The Hazzm Movement had a northern division, led by Murshid al-Khalid (Abu Mutasim), and a southern division led by Mohammed al-Dahik (Abu Hatem). The Secretary-General was Bilal Atar (Abu Abd al-Sham).[18] Abdullah Awda (Abu Zeid) was in charge of military operations[16] and Hamza Shamali (Abu Hashem) in charge of political affairs.[18]
The 12 groups that merged on 25 January 2014 to form the Hazzm Movement were:
Several other groups joined the Hazzm Movement at a later date.
The 9th Special Forces Division of Aleppo was a Syrian rebel group formerly affiliated with theSyria Revolutionaries Front[19] and joined the Hazm Movement in January 2014.[28] It was headed by Murshid al-Khaled (nom de guerre: Abu Mutasim).[29]
Furthermore, the group was further composed of several additional subgroups before the merger:[28]
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
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