The Descendants of Saladin Brigade (; Liwa Ahfad Saladin) was a Free Syrian Army group active in the northern Aleppo Governorate. The group was supported by Turkey and was initially funded and armed by the United States, mainly fighting the Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant but also opposing the Syrian government and the Democratic Union Party's (PYD) affiliates such as the Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF). The brigade was largely disbanded by the Turkish Army in 2017, following disagreements over the participation in a planned Turkish-led offensive against Afrin Canton, although a small faction within the group (known simply as Saladin Brigade) remained active and participated in the offensive since January 2018.
Ideology
Named after the Kurdish founder of the Ayyubid dynasty, Saladin, the group is non-sectarian and officially advocates equal rights for all ethnicities in Syria, although it stated that it is not secular. According to the militia's former leader, Mahmoud Khallo, "Kurds, Arabs, Turkmen, Christians, Armenians and Alawites" are "all brothers under the roof of a single homeland". Though not categorically opposed to the federalization of Syria, the Descendants of Saladin Brigade believed that "federalism is not an effective system for Syria" due to most areas of the country being ethnically diverse. The Descendants of Saladin Brigade generally advocates civil democracy, though opposes the PYD on principle and rejected any talks with the party which it considers a proxy of the Syrian government.
In an interview in December 2016, Khallo stated that his group's goal was to achieve equal rights for Kurds in Syria and to make Kurdish an official language in Syria. He stated that the group had good relations with Turkey and the Kurdistan Democratic Party of Iraqi Kurdistan, and that their role model and leader was Massoud Barzani, head of the KDP and president of Iraqi Kurdistan at the time. Khallo opposed the American-led intervention in the Syrian Civil War due to the US-led Coalition's support for the SDF.
Despite its strong opposition to the PYD, however, the unit was opposed to attacking the PYD-controlled Afrin Canton. The group's leader, Mahmoud Khallo, claimed that other Turkish-backed rebel groups have "hatred towards the Kurds", and feared potential massacres of Kurds if they launched an offensive against Afrin. After the Descendants of Saladin Brigade was mostly disbanded due to this stance, the remnant group that remained active and allied to Turkey continued to state that the "FSA includes different ethnicities, and they all want a united and free Syria", though supported the invasion of Afrin on grounds that the PYD's People's Protection Units (YPG) are "terrorist" in nature, "killed Kurds and left them homeless", and "bred tyrannical regimes".
Organization and support
By 2016, the Descendants of Saladin Brigade claimed to have 600 members, primarily Kurdish, with one third of its fighters being Arabs and Syrian Turkmen, in addition to one Christian and one Alawite fighter. They along with the Dhi Qar Brigade were part of Division 99 in 2016. For most of its existence, the entire militia was led by Mahmoud Khallo (nom de guerre "Abu Hamza") who was one of its founders and a long-time opponent of the PYD. After his removal from command in 2017, leadership of the remaining Saladin Brigade passed to Mohammed Hawash, a member of a Kurdish tribe from the Idlib countryside. Masoud Ibo, former spokesman of the Descendants of Saladin Brigade, also joined Hawash's group. In November 2017, Ibo condemned Ibrahim Biro, head of the Kurdish National Council. Ibo stated in February 2018 that the group will try to avoid civilian casualties during the Turkish military operation in Afrin.
It is unknown how many fighters of the group have remained active following the disbandment of 2017. Hawash stated in early 2018 that his unit would try to recruit Kurds from the areas captured by pro-Turkish forces in the Afrin area.
Members of the Descendants of Saladin Brigade were described as "gangs" by the pro-SDF newspapers such as Hawar News Agency. ARA News reported in April 2017 that the group had "minimal support" among Kurds in Syria and only had a "small number of fighters".
History
The group's commander, Mahmoud Khallo, was previously a commander in the Yusuf al-'Azma Brigade, based around Qabasin and the countryside of al-Bab. At one time, Khallo was also imprisoned by the YPG for 19 months.