page_title: Lions of the East Army
section_title: History
hierarchical_section_title: Lions of the East Army / History
caption_attribution_description: English: Rocket artillery of the Lions of the East Army, a Free Syrian Army unit in southern Syria.
context_page_description: The Lions of the East Army is a Syrian rebel group formerly affiliated with the Free Syrian Army's Southern Front that was formed in August 2014 and is based in southeastern Syria. Many of the group's fighters are al-Shaitat tribesmen from the Deir ez-Zor Governorate. The group was also active in Damascus city between January and July 2015, when its unit in Damascus merged into Jaysh al-Islam's 8th Brigade. It mainly focused on defeating the Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant in the eastern Syrian Desert, where it gained control over large areas since 2016.
context_section_description: The origins of the Lions of the East Army trace back to the rebellion in Deir ez-Zor Governorate in 2011-14, when several rebel groups emerged to fight against Bashar al-Assad's government. Among these was "Liwa Bashair al-Nasr" (translated: "Victory of Good News Brigade"), founded by Tlass al-Salama in 2012. Salama eventually became one of the most prominent anti-ISIL rebel leaders in the governorate, while his group became known for helping government officers and soldiers in Deir ez-Zor to defect by smuggling them to their home areas. Other notable rebel groups that later joined the Lions of the East Army were Liwa al-Qadisiyah and Liwa Omar al-Mukhtar from Abu Kamal, and Bayariq al-Shaitat, a militia formed from al-Shaitat tribal members. These groups unsuccessfully tried to resist a large-scale offensive by ISIL in mid-2014 that drove them from Deir ez-Zor Governorate. Many rebel groups, among them Salama's men, then moved into the eastern Qalamoun Mountains. There, Liwa Bashair al-Nasr merged with eleven other ex-Deir ez-Zor factions, forming the "Lions of the East Army" under Salama's leadership. The new group's name was chosen in order to retain the members' link with their eastern home areas. The army was originally a member of the Authenticity and Development Front. For a few months in 2015, the Lions had also had a presence in Eastern Ghouta in the Damascus suburbs, where Liwa Usud al-’Asima joined them and aided other local rebels in fighting the Eastern Ghouta ISIL branch. Eventually, Liwa Usud al-’Asima left the Lions of the East Army and merged with Jaysh al-Islam's 8th Brigade.
  Since its formation, the Lions of the East Army has fought alongside other rebel groups against ISIL in the southern Syrian Desert and the Qalamoun Mountains, and despite reversals has managed to capture much territory. To expand its strength, Salama's group has recruited both young men from areas they have taken from ISIL, as well as former ISIL fighters who have surrendered. According to Salama, many ISIL fighters are "simple people and many had no choice" but to cooperate with the Islamist organization. The Lions of the East Army tries to "rehabilitate" ISIL members, with the group's cleric for example explaining to locals and prisoners why ISIL is not "Islamic". In late November 2015, however, many rebels from the Lions of the East Army joined the New Syrian Army. A month later the Lions left the Authenticity and Development Front, though continued to maintain a cordial relationship with it.
  In June 2016, the Lions joined an ultimately unsuccessful offensive to capture Abu Kamal from ISIL. One month later, the army's positions near the Hadalat border crossing with Jordan were hit by airstrikes from the Russian Air Force. Later that year it helped countering ISIL offensive in Eastern Qalamoun, and in early 2017 was part of a large-scale rebel campaign during which they captured much territory from ISIL. As the Lions of the East Army focus its strength mostly on fighting ISIL, the group has avoided fighting the Syrian government since 2016, though it remains hostile to Assad.
  In April 2018, along with other rebel groups in the eastern Qalamoun, fighters of the Lions of the East Army were evacuated to Turkish-occupied areas in the northern Aleppo Governorate, thus leaving the Southern Front coalition.
caption: A BM-21 Grad rocket artillery truck of the group during the 2017 southern Syrian Desert campaign.
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