Hawar Kilis Operations Room

Hawar Kilis Operations Room
غرفة عمليات حوار كلس
LeadersMohamed Dheere[1]
Dates of operationApril 2016—present[2]
HeadquartersHawar Kilis
Active regionsAleppo Governorate
Size10,000–12,000 fighters[3][4][5][6][7]
Allies See Hawar Kilis Operations Room allies
Opponents
Battles and wars
Websitehttps://twitter.com/houar_m_o

The Hawar Kilis Operations Room (Arabic: غرفة عمليات حوار كلس, Turkish: Havar Kilis Operasyon Odası)[10] is a Syrian Rebel Coalition formed in the village of Hawar Kilis Kilis in April 2016 in the northern Aleppo Governorate on the Syria–Turkey border.

As part of the Syrian Train and Equip Program, many groups in the coalition were supplied with Thuraya satellite phones by the United States.[11]

Most factions within the operations room form a large component of the Syrian National Army, which was, with Turkish backing, formed around the Operations Room.

Member groups

Structure

The Hawar Kilis Operations Room consists of three military "blocs": the Victory Bloc, the Sultan Murad Bloc, and the Levant Bloc.[30] At the end of October 2016, a security committee was formed to man checkpoints in the villages and towns it controls. A judicial committee to supervise courts was also established.[39]

History

See also: Syrian National Army § Operational history

The coalition took part in the northern Aleppo offensive, beginning with April 2016, and captured several villages in northern Aleppo overlooking al-Rai from ISIL, before entering al-Rai itself.[40] However, ISIL soon launched a large-scale counteroffensive and recaptured most of the villages, including al-Rai.[41]

In early October 2016 the group formed the Akhtarin Military Council which captured several villages and the town of Akhtarin from ISIL as part of the 2016 Dabiq offensive, ending with the capture of Dabiq and several more other villages, linking Mare' with al-Rai.[42]

On 28 October the group formed the "Victory Bloc" operations room during the western al-Bab offensive.[43]

On 28 January 2017, after the formation of Tahrir al-Sham which the Nour al-Din al-Zenki Movement's main branch became part of, the Zenki Movement's northern Aleppo branch working with Hawar Kilis Operations Room defected to the Sham Legion and formed the Revolutionary Knights Brigade.[44]

On 7 June 2017, a unit in the Hawar Kilis Operations Room defected to the Syrian Democratic Forces.[45]

In July 2017, the commander of Liwa Ahfad Saladin, Mahmoud Khallo, declared that the group would not participate in a planned Turkish-led offensive against the SDF in the Afrin Canton and the Shahba region.[46] Following the announcement, the group was arrested and disarmed by the Levant Front and the Turkish Army. After being released soon after, Khallo protested against his unit's treatment and criticized that Turkey was apparently only interested in using the Syrian militias to further its own strategic goals. He also said that Liwa Ahfad Saladin, now without weapons, would set up a political party.[36]

On 26 August 2017, the Hawar Kilis Operations Room condemned Riad al-Asaad and accused him of conspiring with al-Qaeda after he attended a conference held by Tahrir al-Sham in Idlib.[47]

References

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  4. ^ "AS IT HAPPENED: Turkish military, coalition forces launch 'Euphrates Shield' operation in Jarablus". Hurriyet Daily News. 24 August 2016.
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  6. ^ "Mehmetçiğin Silah Arkadaşları! - TÜRKMEN AJANS". Archived from the original on 2017-02-18. Retrieved 2017-03-26.
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  8. ^ "The Turkish forces, the Gray Wolves and the factions advance in the west of Afrin and seek to wrap around a new village to expand their scope of control backed by intensive aerial and ground shelling". Syrian Observatory for Human Rights (SOHR). 30 January 2018.
  9. ^ [1] U.S. halts military support for Turkey’s fight in key Islamic State town
  10. ^ [2] Archived 2018-01-26 at the Wayback Machine Kilit Kapı: El-Rai (Çobanbey)
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  25. ^ Barić, Joško (20 June 2017). "Katibat Maghawir al-Shamal (Northern Commando Battalion) joined Liwa al-Shamal in northern Aleppo.pic.twitter.com/wO9bdEIRdT".
  26. ^ Barić, Joško (28 June 2017). "Katibat Shuhada Jarabulus (Jarabulus Martyrs Brigade) joined Liwa al-Shamal in northern Aleppo.pic.twitter.com/aAx2DfnCD4".
  27. ^ Barić, Joško (14 July 2017). "Katibat al-Shahid Alaa Barir (Martyr Alaa Barir Battalion) joined Liwa al-Shamal in northern Aleppo.pic.twitter.com/h4kuMb7ZDc".
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  31. ^ سوري, TahrirSy تحرير (2 April 2017). "#Syria #TahrirSouri the 151 Company in Mohamad al-Fatih Brigade became independent under the name "First Brigade Commandos"pic.twitter.com/A9yonD1HUB".
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  44. ^ "Hassan Ridha on Twitter".
  45. ^ @houar_m_o (7 June 2017). ""Group of thieves flee to YPG areas"" (Tweet) – via Twitter.
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