Elite Army (Syrian rebel group)

Elite Army
جيش النخبة‎ Jaysh al-Nukhba Participant in the Syrian Civil War
Former logo of Jaysh al-Tahrir
Active	24 February 2016 – present
Groups	Levant Front (Hama) 46th Division 312th Division 9th Brigade Companies of Righteousness
Leaders	Mohammed al-Ghabi (DOW) Alaa Abdel Hay al-Ahmad Raed al-Elewi Mohammed Ahmed al-Sayed (artillery regiment and overall commander since January 2017) Zakaria al-Ahmad (media office director)
Headquarters	Kafr Nabl, Idlib Governorate, Syria
Area of operations	Aleppo Governorate Idlib Governorate Hama Governorate Latakia Governorate
Strength	3,000 (self-claim, 2017)
Part of	Free Syrian Army Hawar Kilis Operations Room Fatah Halab
Originated as	Liberation Army (Jaysh al-Tahrir)
Allies	Ahrar al-Sham
Opponents	Syrian Armed Forces National Defence Forces Syrian Democratic Forces  Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant
Battles and wars	Syrian Civil War 2015 Hama offensive Battle of Aleppo Aleppo bombings (April–May 2016) 2016 Hama offensive Russian military intervention in the Syrian Civil War Turkish military intervention in Syria 2017 Hama offensive

Syrian Civil War

The Elite Army (Arabic: جيش النخبة‎‎‎: Jaysh al-Nukhba), formerly called the Liberation Army (Arabic: جيش التحرير‎‎‎: Jaysh al-Tahrir), is a Free Syrian Army group operating in the Hama and Aleppo Governorates. The group composed of 5 units, some of which have received BGM-71 TOW missiles from the United States.

In July 2016 the al-Nusra Front raided Jaysh al-Tahrir's headquarters in Kafr Nabl and captured 40 fighters, including the group's commander, Mohammed al-Ghabi. They also seized a number of weapons.

The group participated in the Turkish military intervention in Syria which began with the capture of Jarabulus. Jaysh al-Tahrir fighters captured the village of Amarnah from the Syrian Democratic Forces and took more than 8 SDF fighters captive. Since October 2016, Jaysh al-Tahrir operates a prisoner-of-war camp in the northern Aleppo Governorate, which holds around 300 prisoners of war from the Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant, implementing Sharia and capital punishment. On 15 October, Mohammed al-Ghabi was severely injured by an ISIL car bombs and died 20 days later. A new commander was named on 10 November.