Jamil al-Saleh
Jamil al-Saleh | |
|---|---|
| Native name | جميل الصالح |
| Born | 1974 (age 50–51) Al-Lataminah, Hama, Syria |
| Allegiance |
|
| Rank |  Brigadier General |
| Commands |
|
| Battles / wars | |
Jamil Shahada al-Saleh (Arabic: جميل شحادة الصالح) is a Syrian military officer and former opposition leader, serving as the founding commander of Jaysh al-Izza until its dissolution following the fall of the Assad regime. On 19 February 2025, he was appointed commander of the 74th Division.
Early life and career
[edit]He was born in Al-Lataminah, Hama, in 1974.[1][2]
Prior to the Syrian revolution, Jamil served as a major in the 17th Reserve Division of the Syrian Arab Army (SAA) in the city of Raqqa.[2][1]
Role during the Syrian civil war
[edit]Upon the outbreak of the Syrian civil war in 2011, he defected from the SAA in February 2012 and joined the Free Syrian Army (FSA).[2] He planned to defect earlier, in August 2011, with his cousin and ally, Lieutenant Colonel Samer al-Saleh, but delayed it after Samer was arrested by the Air Force Intelligence Directorate on charges of participating in pro-opposition demonstrations.[1]
On 7 April 2012, Syrian government forces committed a massacre in his hometown of Al-Lataminah, in which 12 of his family members were killed.[2][3][4]
On 1 May 2012, he founded the Lataminah Martyrs Brigade, an FSA faction, in Jabal al-Zawiya, which later merged with other FSA factions to become the Gathering of Battalions and Priority of Glory on 1 January 2013.[2]
On 1 July 2015, he announced the establishment of Jaysh al-Izza, the largest opposition faction operating in northern rural Hama at the time, with him serving as its commander-in-chief.[2]
During the 2015 Northwestern Syria offensive, Jamil told Orient News that the opposition factions were "trying to reorganize the ranks of fighters on the various fronts and combat axes through which the regime is attempting to penetrate the region", adding that they were also "seeking to develop a new military plan through which we can inflict a second defeat on Assad's forces in the northern Hama countryside".[5]
Jamil commanded Jaysh al-Izza during the 2016 Hama offensive, stating in an interview with Shaam News Network that the reasons behind the offensive were to "liberate the areas occupied by Assad's gangs, Iranian and Shiite gangs, and the terrorist Hezbollah gangs", as well as to relieve the pressure on the rebels during the Battle of Aleppo by opening another front.[6][7]
He criticized the Astana peace negotiations, saying in an interview with Syria TV in 2019 that "since the first Astana conference, we knew that the Russians were planning this conference to circumvent the Syrian revolution", adding that, according to him, the Astana negotiation's goals were to "divide Syrian regions, isolate them from each other, and attack them one by one", and that the agreements "were all against the interests of the Syrian people and their revolution," describing them as "the greatest deception of the Syrian revolution".[8][9]
During the Dawn of Idlib offensive, Jamil said in a tweet that the reasons Assad regime forces were advancing was because of "the factions' trust in the conferences", "the surrender of the weak to the political position", "not dealing with the Russians as an occupier, and "the slowness in making decisions".[10][11] Jaysh al-Izza also was one of the factions to be part of the Military Operations Command, an opposition military operations room based in northwestern Syria, upon its establishment in June 2019, alongside Hay'at Tahrir al-Sham and the National Front for Liberation.[12]
In a press conference on 12 October 2023 held by leaders within the Military Operations Command, he said that "had it not been for achieving a balance of terror with the enemy through the bombing and precision strikes during the recent escalation, I would not have requested a ceasefire", adding that "the free Syrians deserve a free and dignified life away from the Assad gang and its criminal allies, and we pledge to our people to devote all our efforts and energies to achieving the goals of the Syrian revolution".[13]
His faction participated in Operation Deterrence of Aggression, an offensive spearheaded by Hay'at Tahrir al-Sham beginning on 27 November 2024, which led to the fall of the Assad regime on 8 December. During the offensive, Jaysh al-Izza fought on the frontlines of rural southern Idlib and northern Hama.[2]
Assassination attempts
[edit]On 12 March 2015, while Jamil was driving on the Khan Shaykhun-Kafrsajna road in Idlib, his car was shot at by unknown assailants, though he was not injured.[14]
On 26 October 2015, while he was travelling between Maarat al-Numan and Saraqib on the M5 highway, unknown assailants planted an explosive device on the right side of the road that his car was passing through, which damaged his car but didn't injure him.[15][16] A source close to him told Akhbar Al Aan that the Assad regime had offered financial rewards to anyone who could assassinate Jamil, along with other FSA leaders.[16]
On 24 February 2016, he survived an assassination attempt after Russian warplanes bombed his faction's headquarters in Al-Lataminah, suffering minor injuries while several other Jaysh al-Izza members present were wounded and one killed.[17]
On 11 March 2018, Jamil was ambushed by unknown assailants in northern rural Hama, who shot him while he was on an inspection visit to the southern Idlib frontlines, though he survived and his escorts clashed with the group which carried out the ambush.[18][19]
Post-Assad
[edit]On 29 December 2024, he was promoted to colonel by Syria's caretaker government alongside other opposition figures.[20] Two days later, he was promoted to brigadier general.[21]
Al-Saleh attended the Syrian Revolution Victory Conference on 29 January 2025, and his faction announced its dissolution and incorporation into the Ministry of Defense.[22][23]
On 19 February 2025, he was appointed commander of the 74th Division.[24]
References
[edit]- ^ a b c ""جيش العزة" من التأسيس إلى الازدهار ... حاضنة شعبية محبة وصمود أسطوري في وجه حملات النظام" ["Army of Glory" from its founding to its prosperity... a popular incubator of love and legendary steadfastness in the face of the regime's campaigns]. Shaam News Network (in Arabic). 17 July 2019. Archived from the original on 21 July 2019. Retrieved 26 June 2025.
- ^ a b c d e f g "جميل الصالح" [Jamil al-Saleh]. Syrian Memory (in Arabic). Archived from the original on 24 June 2025. Retrieved 26 June 2025.
- ^ "156قتيلا بسوريا و"مجزرة" بريف حماة" [156 killed in Syria and a "massacre" in the Hama countryside]. Al Jazeera Arabic (in Arabic). 7 April 2012. Archived from the original on 12 December 2024. Retrieved 1 July 2025.
- ^ "مجزرة اللطامنة: ربيع الدّم عام 2012" [Lataminah Massacre: Spring of Blood in 2012]. Pro Justice (in Arabic). 15 October 2018. Archived from the original on 7 April 2021. Retrieved 1 July 2025.
- ^ "قادة ثوار حماة لأورينت: المعركة باتت لصالحنا" [Hama rebel leaders to Orient: The battle is now in our favor]. Orient News. 7 October 2015. Retrieved 2 July 2025.
- ^ Al-Khalaf, Sohaib (3 September 2016). "هل يتأثر نظام الأسد بمعارك ريف حماة الشمالي؟" [Is the Assad regime affected by the battles in the northern Hama countryside?]. Al Jazeera Arabic (in Arabic). Archived from the original on 1 July 2025. Retrieved 1 July 2025.
- ^ ""حماه" ضمن الخطة و النية .. قائد جيش العزة لـ"شام" : المعركة قررها أبناء المنطقة و الثوار الذين يسعون لتحرير سوريا وإسقاط النظام" [Hama is part of the plan and intention.. The commander of the Army of Glory to “Sham”: The battle was decided by the people of the region and the revolutionaries who seek to liberate Syria and topple the regime]. Shaam News Network (in Arabic). 1 September 2016. Archived from the original on 3 July 2025. Retrieved 3 July 2025.
- ^ "الرائد جميل الصالح: روسيا رأس الأفعى وأستانا أكبر خديعة للثورة" [Major Jamil Al-Saleh: Russia is the head of the snake and Astana is the biggest deception of the revolution]. Syria TV (in Arabic). 5 July 2019. Archived from the original on 18 April 2021. Retrieved 1 July 2025.
- ^ ""جيش العزة" يدعو مقاتلي الفصائل للانشقاق عنها حال تنفيذها أوامر خارجية" ["Jaysh al-Izza" calls on faction fighters to defect if they carry out external orders]. Madar Al-Youm (in Arabic). 5 January 2018. Archived from the original on 2 March 2019. Retrieved 26 June 2025.
- ^ "قائد "جيش العزة" يوضح ما يحصل في ريف حماة" [The commander of the "Army of Glory" explains what is happening in the Hama countryside]. Enab Baladi (in Arabic). 9 May 2019. Archived from the original on 15 May 2024. Retrieved 2 July 2025.
- ^ "مصدر مقرب منه: الرائد جميل الصالح في ساحة المعركة مع مقاتليه والأنباء عن اعتقاله مصدرها نظام الأسد" [A source close to him: Major Jamil al-Saleh is on the battlefield with his fighters, and the news of his arrest comes from the Assad regime]. Jesr Press (in Arabic). 8 August 2019. Archived from the original on 2 July 2025. Retrieved 2 July 2025.
- ^ "فصائل "الفتح المبين" تبدأ مرحلة جديدة مِن معارك حماة" [Al-Fath al-Mubin factions begin a new phase of the Hama battles]. Syria TV (in Arabic). 18 June 2019. Archived from the original on 22 April 2021. Retrieved 3 July 2025.
- ^ Kerkes, Mohamed (13 October 2023). "فصائل "الفتح المبين" تُرتب بناءً جديداً للقوة العسكرية في منطقة إدلب" [Al-Fath al-Mubin factions are arranging a new military force buildup in the Idlib region]. Al-Araby Al-Jadeed (in Arabic). Archived from the original on 11 August 2024. Retrieved 3 July 2025.
- ^ "ريف إدلب.. نجاة قيادي في الجيش الحر من محاولة اغتيال" [Idlib countryside: Free Syrian Army commander survives assassination attempt]. Enab Baladi (in Arabic). 13 March 2015. Archived from the original on 8 May 2024. Retrieved 2 July 2025.
- ^ "الرائد جميل الصالح ينجو من محاولة اغتيال" [Major Jamil al-Saleh survives assassination attempt]. Enab Baladi (in Arabic). 26 October 2015. Archived from the original on 22 February 2025. Retrieved 26 June 2025.
- ^ a b Mohammed, Saif (26 October 2015). "محاولة اغتيال فاشلة لقائد تجمع العزة "جميل صالح" في ريف إدلب" [A failed assassination attempt targeted the leader of the Al-Izza Gathering, Jamil al-Saleh, in the Idlib countryside]. Akhbar Al Aan (in Arabic). Archived from the original on 20 June 2019. Retrieved 26 June 2025.
- ^ "قائد "جيش العزة" ينجو من محاولة اغتيال روسية" [The commander of the "Army of Glory" survives a Russian assassination attempt]. Orient News (in Arabic). 24 February 2016. Retrieved 1 July 2025.
- ^ "نجاة قائد "جيش العزة" من محاولة اغتيال شمالي حماة" [The commander of the "Army of Glory" survived an assassination attempt north of Hama]. Horrya Press (in Arabic). 11 March 2018. Archived from the original on 12 February 2025. Retrieved 30 June 2025.
- ^ Jalal, Bakour (12 March 2018). "36 قتيلاً وجريحاً بقصف روسي بإدلب... ونجاة جميل الصالح من محاولة اغتيال" [36 killed and wounded in Russian bombing in Idlib... and Jamil al-Saleh survives an assassination attempt]. Al-Araby Al-Jadeed (in Arabic). Archived from the original on 1 July 2025. Retrieved 1 July 2025.
- ^ "بينهم وزير الدفاع.. القيادة العامة تعلن عن ترقيات جديدة في الجيش السوري" [Including the Minister of Defense.. the general leadership announces new promotions in the Syrian army]. Shaam News Network. 29 December 2024. Archived from the original on 1 January 2025. Retrieved 29 June 2025.
- ^ "بينهم قادة فصائل.. ترقية 6 ضباط سوريين إلى رتبة عميد" [Six Syrian officers, including faction leaders, promoted to the rank of brigadier general.]. Syria TV (in Arabic). 31 December 2024. Archived from the original on 2 January 2025. Retrieved 26 June 2025.
- ^ Sharawi, Ahmad (30 January 2025). "Ahmad al Sharaa's Victory Conference: Syria's new era and an exclusive translation of Sharaa's speech". FDD's Long War Journal. Archived from the original on 31 January 2025. Retrieved 28 June 2025.
- ^ Alabi, Rizik (30 January 2025). "Sources to The Media Line: Hay'at Tahrir al-Sham Disbanded, Ahmed al-Sharaa Appointed as Syria's President". The Media Line (in Arabic). Archived from the original on 30 January 2025. Retrieved 29 June 2025.
- ^ Roj, Kardo (19 February 2025). "Syria Appoints Former Opposition Commander to Lead Newly Restructured Military Division". North Press Agency. Archived from the original on 19 February 2025. Retrieved 26 June 2025.