Farouq Brigades

Farouq Brigades
Farouq Brigades
كتائب الفاروق
	Logo of the Farouq Brigades
Leaders	Abdul Razzaq Tlass (October 2011 – 6 October 2012); Osama Juneidi (Abu Sayeh) Taleb al-Dayekh
Dates of operation	June 2011 – 2014 (central organization, remnants remained active until 2017)
Split from	Khalid ibn al-Walid Battalion
Ideology	Sunni Islamism
Size	14,000–20,000 (own claim) (May–June 2013)
Part of	Free Syrian Army; Syrian Islamic Liberation Front (2012–2013)
Allies	Suqour al-Sham; Liwa al-Islam; Liwa Thuwwar al-Raqqa; People's Protection Units
Opponents	Syria; Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant; Ahrar al-Sham (Aleppo Branch, 2013)
Battles and wars	Syrian Civil War 2012 Homs offensive; Battle of al-Qusayr (2012); Siege of Northern Homs; Battle of Aleppo; Al-Qusayr offensive Battle of al-Qusayr (2013); ; Battle of Ma'loula; Raqqa campaign (2012–13); Syrian Kurdish–Islamist conflict (2013-present);

The Farouq Brigades (Arabic: كتائب الفاروق; also spelt Farooq or Farook) was a Syrian Islamist rebel group formed by a number of Homs-based members of the Free Syrian Army in the early phases of the Syrian Civil War. The group rapidly expanded in size and prominence in 2012, before suffering internal splits and battlefield reversals in 2013 that greatly reduced its influence. By 2014, the group was largely defunct, with its member defecting to other rebel groups. The rebel group were named Farouq after Omar bin al-Khattab, a Sahaba (companion) of the Islamic Prophet Muhammad and the second Caliph.