title: Church Fathers

text: The Apostolic Fathers were Christian theologians who lived in the 1st and 2nd centuries AD, who are believed to have personally known some of the Twelve Apostles, or to have been significantly influenced by them. Their writings, though popular in Early Christianity, were ultimately not included in the canon of the New Testament once it reached its final form. Many of the writings derive from the same time period and geographical location as other works of early Christian literature that did come to be part of the New Testament, and some of the writings found among the Apostolic Fathers' seem to have been just as highly regarded as some of the writings that became the New Testament. The first three, Clement, Ignatius, and Polycarp, are considered the chief ones.


title: Church Fathers

text: The First Epistle of Clement (), is the earliest extant epistle from a Church Father. In the epistle, Clement calls on the Christians of Corinth to maintain harmony and order.


title: Church Fathers

text: Copied and widely read in the Early Church, First Clement had been considered by some as part of the New Testament canon, e.g., listed as canonical in Canon 85 of the Canons of the Apostles, among other early canons of the New Testament, showing that it had canonical rank in at least some regions of early Christendom. As late as the 14th century Ibn Khaldun mentions it as part of the New Testament.


title: Church Fathers

text: Ignatius of Antioch (also known as Theophorus) ( – ) was the third bishop of Antioch and a student of the Apostle John. En route to his martyrdom in Rome, Ignatius wrote a series of letters which have been preserved. Important topics addressed in these letters include ecclesiology, the sacraments, the role of bishops, and the Incarnation of Christ. Specifically, concerning ecclesiology, his letter to the Romans is often cited as a testament to the universal bounds of the Roman church. He is the second after Clement to mention Paul's epistles.


title: Church Fathers

text: Polycarp of Smyrna ( – ) was a Christian bishop of Smyrna (now İzmir in Turkey). It is recorded that he had been a disciple of "John". The options/possibilities for this John are John, the son of Zebedee, traditionally viewed as the author of the Gospel of John, or John the Presbyter. Traditional advocates follow Eusebius of Caesarea in insisting that the apostolic connection of Polycarp was with John the Evangelist and that he was the author of the Gospel of John, and thus the Apostle John.


title: Church Fathers

text: Polycarp tried and failed to persuade Pope Anicetus to have the West celebrate Passover on the 14th of Nisan, as in the Eastern calendar. Around A.D. 155, the Smyrnans of his town demanded Polycarp's execution as a Christian, and he died a martyr. The story of his martyrdom describes how the fire built around him would not burn him, and that when he was stabbed to death, so much blood issued from his body that it quenched the flames around him. Polycarp is recognized as a saint in both the Roman Catholic and Eastern Orthodox churches.


title: Church Fathers

text: Very little is known of Papias apart from what can be inferred from his own writings. He is described as "an ancient man who was a hearer of John and a companion of Polycarp" by Polycarp's disciple Irenaeus (). Eusebius adds that Papias was Bishop of Hierapolis around the time of Ignatius of Antioch. In this office, Papias was presumably succeeded by Abercius of Hierapolis. The name Papias was very common in the region, suggesting that he was probably a native of the area. The work of Papias is dated by most modern scholars to about A.D. 95–120.


title: Church Fathers

text: Despite indications that the work of Papias was still extant in the Late Middle Ages, the full text is now lost; however, extracts appear in a number of other writings, some of which cite a book number.


title: Church Fathers

text: Those who wrote in Greek are called the Greek (Church) Fathers. In addition to the Apostolic Fathers, famous Greek Fathers include: Justin Martyr, Irenaeus of Lyons, Clement of Alexandria, Athanasius of Alexandria, John Chrysostom, Cyril of Alexandria, the Cappadocian Fathers (Basil of Caesarea, Gregory Nazianzus, Gregory of Nyssa), Peter of Sebaste, Maximus the Confessor, and John of Damascus.


title: Church Fathers

text: Justin Martyr was an early Christian apologist, and is regarded as the foremost interpreter of the theory of the Logos in the 2nd century. He was martyred, alongside some of his students, and is considered a saint by the Roman Catholic Church, the Anglican Church, the Eastern Orthodox Church, and the Oriental Orthodox Churches.


title: Church Fathers

text: Irenaeus was bishop of Lugdunum in Gaul, which is now Lyon(s), France. His writings were formative in the early development of Christian theology, and he is recognized as a saint by both the Eastern Orthodox Church and the Roman Catholic Church. He was a notable early Christian apologist. He was also a disciple of Polycarp.


title: Church Fathers

text: In his best-known book, "Against Heresies" (c.180) he enumerated heresies and attacked them. Irenaeus wrote that the only way for Christians to retain unity was to humbly accept one doctrinal authority—episcopal councils. Irenaeus proposed that the Gospels of Matthew, Mark, Luke and John all be accepted as canonical.


title: Church Fathers

text: Clement of Alexandria (c. 150–215) was the first member of the church of Alexandria whose writings have survived, and was one of its most distinguished teachers. He saw wisdom in Greek philosophy and sought to harmonize it with Christian doctrine. Clement opposed Gnosticism, and yet used some of its terminology; for instance, he valued "gnosis" that with communion for all people could be held by common Christians. He developed a Christian Platonism and has been described by scholars as "the founder of what was to become the great tradition of Christian philosophical theology." Due to his teaching on salvation and divine judgement in passages such as "Paedagogus" 1.8 and "Stromata" 7.2, Clement is often regarded as one of the first Christian universalists. Like Origen, he arose from the Catechetical School of Alexandria and was well-versed in pagan and biblical literature.


title: Church Fathers

text: Origen, or Origen Adamantius ( – ) was a scholar and theologian. According to tradition, he was an Egyptian who taught in Alexandria, reviving the Catechetical School where Clement had taught. The patriarch of Alexandria at first supported Origen but later expelled him for being ordained without the patriarch's permission. He relocated to Caesarea Maritima and died there after being tortured during a persecution. He later became a controversial figure and some of his writings were condemned as heretical.


title: Church Fathers

text: Using his knowledge of Hebrew, he produced a corrected Septuagint. He wrote commentaries on all the books of the Bible. In "Peri Archon" ("First Principles"), he articulated a systematic philosophical exposition of Christian doctrine. He at times employed an allegorical hermeneutic in his interpretation of the Old Testament, and was partly influenced by Stoic, Neo-Pythagorean, and Platonist thought. Like Plotinus, he has been thought to believe that the soul passes through successive stages before incarnation as a human and after death, eventually reaching God. However, more recent scholarship has concluded that Origen actually denied the preexistence of disembodied souls, and simply taught the preexistence of individuals' "logoi" in the mind of God. Yet Origen did suggest, based on 1 Corinthians 15:22-28, that all creatures, possibly including even the fallen angels, will eventually be restored and reunited to God when evil is finally eradicated. For Origen, God was the First Principle, and Christ, the Logos through whom salvation is accomplished. Origen's various writings were interpreted by some to imply a hierarchical structure in the Trinity, the temporality of matter, "the fabulous preexistence of souls", and "the monstrous restoration which follows from it." These alleged "Origenist errors" were declared anathema by a council in 553, three centuries after Origen had died in the peace of the church.


title: Church Fathers

text: Athanasius of Alexandria ( – 373) was a theologian, Pope of Alexandria, and a noted Egyptian leader of the 4th century. He is remembered for his role in the conflict with Arianism and for his affirmation of the Trinity. At the First Council of Nicaea (325), Athanasius argued against the Arian doctrine that Christ is of a distinct substance from the Father.


title: Church Fathers

text: The Cappadocian Fathers are Basil the Great (330–379), who was bishop of Caesarea; Basil's younger brother Gregory of Nyssa ( – 395), who was bishop of Nyssa; and a close friend, Gregory of Nazianzus (329–389), who became Patriarch of Constantinople. The Cappadocians promoted early Christian theology and are highly respected in both Western and Eastern churches as saints. They were a 4th-century monastic family, led by Macrina the Younger (324–379) to provide a central place for her brothers to study and meditate, and also to provide a peaceful shelter for their mother. Abbess Macrina fostered the education and development of her three brothers Basil the Great, Gregory of Nyssa and Peter of Sebaste ( – 391) who became bishop of Sebaste.


title: Church Fathers

text: These scholars set out to demonstrate that Christians could hold their own in conversations with learned Greek-speaking intellectuals. They argued that Christian faith, while it was against many of the ideas of Plato and Aristotle (and other Greek philosophers), was an almost scientific and distinctive movement with the healing of the soul of man and his union with God at its center. They made major contributions to the definition of the Trinity finalized at the First Council of Constantinople in 381 and the final version of the Nicene Creed.


title: Church Fathers

text: Subsequent to the First Council of Nicea, Arianism did not simply disappear. The semi-Arians taught that the Son is of like substance with the Father (homoiousios), as against the outright Arians who taught that the Son was unlike the Father (heterousian). So the Son was held to be "like" the Father but not of the same essence as the Father.


title: Church Fathers

text: The Cappadocians worked to bring these semi-Arians back to the Orthodox cause. In their writings they made extensive use of the formula "three substances (hypostases) in one essence (homoousia)", and thus explicitly acknowledged a distinction between the Father and the Son (a distinction that Nicea had been accused of blurring) but at the same time insisting on their essential unity.


title: Church Fathers

text: John Chrysostom ( – ), archbishop of Constantinople, is known for his eloquence in preaching and public speaking; his denunciation of abuse of authority by both ecclesiastical and political leaders, recorded sermons and writings making him the most prolific of the eastern fathers, and his ascetic sensibilities. After his death (or according to some sources, during his life) he was given the Greek epithet "chrysostomos", meaning "golden mouthed", rendered in English as Chrysostom.


title: Church Fathers

text: Chrysostom is known within Christianity chiefly as a preacher and theologian, particularly in the Eastern Orthodox Church; he is the patron saint of orators in the Roman Catholic Church. Chrysostom is also noted for eight of his sermons that played a considerable part in the history of Christian antisemitism, diatribes against Judaizers composed while a presbyter in Antioch, which were extensively exploited and misused by the Nazis in their ideological campaign against the Jews. Patristic scholars such as Robert L Wilken point out that applying modern understandings of antisemitism back to Chrysostom is anachronistic due to his use of the Psogos. The Psogos, along with the encomium, were both rhetorical techniques used in the ancient world in a polemical context. With the encomium "one passes over a man's faults in order to praise him, and in a psogos, one passed over his virtues to defame him. Such principles are explicit in the handbooks of the rhetors, but an interesting passage from the church historian Socrates, writing in the mid-fifth century, shows that the rules for invective were simply taken for granted by men and women of the late Roman world"


title: Church Fathers

text: Chrysostom's sermons along with Basil the Great's have greatly influenced the Christian Church's understanding of economic and distributive justice for the poor, being cited extensively by the Catechism of the Catholic Church as well as Pope Francis in his own sermons critiquing modern-day forms of capitalism


title: Church Fathers

text: Cyril of Alexandria ( – 444) was the Bishop of Alexandria when the city was at its height of influence and power within the Roman Empire. Cyril wrote extensively and was a leading protagonist in the Christological controversies of the late 4th and early 5th centuries. He was a central figure in the First Council of Ephesus in 431, which led to the deposition of Nestorius as Archbishop of Constantinople. Cyril's reputation within the Christian world has resulted in his titles "Pillar of Faith" and "Seal of all the Fathers".


title: Church Fathers

text: Maximus the Confessor (also known as Maximus the Theologian and Maximus of Constantinople) ( – 662) was a Christian monk, theologian, and scholar. In his early life, he was a civil servant and an aide to the Byzantine Emperor Heraclius; however, he gave up this life in the political sphere to enter into the monastic life.


title: Church Fathers

text: After moving to Carthage, Maximus studied several Neo-Platonist writers and became a prominent author. When one of his friends began espousing the Christological position known as Monothelitism, Maximus was drawn into the controversy, in which he supported the Chalcedonian position that Jesus had both a human and a divine will. Maximus is venerated in both Eastern Christianity and Western Christianity. His Christological positions eventually resulted in his torture and exile, soon after which he died; however, his theology was vindicated by the Third Council of Constantinople, and he was venerated as a saint soon after his death. His feast day is celebrated twice during the year: on 21 January and on 13 August. His title of Confessor means that he suffered for the faith, but not to the point of death, and thus is distinguished from a martyr. His "Life of the Virgin" is thought to be the earliest complete biography of Mary, the mother of Jesus.


title: Church Fathers

text: John of Damascus ( – 749) was a Syrian Christian monk, priest, hymnographer and apologist. Born and raised in Damascus, he died at his monastery, Mar Saba, near Jerusalem.


title: Church Fathers

text: A polymath whose fields of interest and contribution included law, theology, philosophy, and music, he was given the by-name of Chrysorrhoas (Χρυσορρόας, literally "streaming with gold", i.e. "the golden speaker"). He wrote numerous works expounding the Christian faith, and composed hymns which are still used both liturgically in Eastern Christian practice throughout the world as well as in western Lutheranism at Easter. He was particularly known for his defense of icons.


title: Church Fathers

text: The Catholic Church regards him as a Doctor of the Church, often referred to as the Doctor of the Assumption because of his writings on the Assumption of Mary.


title: Church Fathers

text: Quintus Septimius Florens Tertullianus ( – ), who was converted to Christianity before 197, was a prolific writer of apologetic, theological, controversial and ascetic works. He was born in Carthage, the son of a Roman centurion.


title: Church Fathers

text: Tertullian denounced Christian doctrines he considered heretical, such as allowing widows to remarry and permitting Christians to flee from persecution, but later in life adopted Montanism, regarded as heretical by the mainstream Church, which prevented his canonization. He wrote three books in Greek and was the first great writer of Latin Christianity, thus sometimes known as the "Father of the Latin Church". He was evidently a lawyer in Rome. He is said to have introduced the Latin term "trinitas" with regard to the Divine (Trinity) to the Christian vocabulary (but Theophilus of Antioch already wrote of "the Trinity, of God, and His Word, and His wisdom", which is similar but not identical to the Trinitarian wording), and also probably the formula "three Persons, one Substance" as the Latin ""tres Personae, una Substantia"" (itself from the Koine Greek "τρεῖς ὑποστάσεις, ὁμοούσιος; "treis Hypostases, Homoousios""), and also the terms "vetus testamentum" (Old Testament) and "novum testamentum" (New Testament).


title: Church Fathers

text: In his "Apologeticus", he was the first Latin author who qualified Christianity as the "vera religio", and systematically relegated the classical Roman imperial religion and other accepted cults to the position of mere "superstitions".


title: Church Fathers

text: He used the early church's symbol for fish—the Greek word for "fish" being ΙΧΘΥΣ which is an acronym for Ἰησοῦς Χριστός, Θεοῦ Υἱός, Σωτήρ (Jesus Christ, God's Son, Saviour)—to explain the meaning of baptism since fish are born in water. He wrote that human beings are like little fish.


title: Church Fathers

text: Cyprian ( – 258) was bishop of Carthage and an important early Christian writer. He was born in North Africa, probably at the beginning of the 3rd century, perhaps at Carthage, where he received an excellent classical (pagan) education. After converting to Christianity, he became a bishop and eventually died a martyr at Carthage. He emphasized the necessity of the unity of Christians with their bishops, and also the authority of the Roman See, which he claimed was the source of "priestly unity"'.


title: Church Fathers

text: Hilary of Poitiers ( – ) was Bishop of Poitiers and is a Doctor of the Church. He was sometimes referred to as the "Hammer of the Arians" () and the "Athanasius of the West"/ His name comes from the Graeco-Latin word for happy or cheerful. His optional memorial in the Roman Catholic calendar of saints is 13 January. In the past, when this date was occupied by the Octave Day of the Epiphany, his feast day was moved to 14 January.


title: Church Fathers

text: Ambrose was an archbishop of Milan who became one of the most influential ecclesiastical figures of the 4th century. He was a governor before becoming bishop. He is counted as one of the four original doctors of the Church. He offered a new perspective on the theory of atonement.


title: Church Fathers

text: Pope Damasus I (305–384) was active in defending the Catholic Church against the threat of schisms. In two Roman synods (368 and 369) he condemned the heresies of Apollinarianism and Macedonianism, and sent legates (papal representatives) to the First Council of Constantinople that was convoked in 381 to address these heresies. He also wrote in defense of the Roman See's authority, and inaugurated use of Latin in the Mass, instead of the Koine Greek that was still being used throughout the Church in the west in the liturgy.


title: Church Fathers

text: Jerome ( – 420) is best known as the translator of the Bible from Greek and Hebrew into Latin. He also was a Christian apologist. Jerome's edition of the Bible, the "Vulgate", is still an important text of Catholicism. He is recognised by the Roman Catholic Church as a Doctor of the Church.


title: Church Fathers

text: Augustine (354–430), Bishop of Hippo, was a philosopher and theologian. Augustine, a Latin Father and Doctor of the Church, is one of the most important figures in the development of Western Christianity. In his early life, Augustine read widely in Greco-Roman rhetoric and philosophy, including the works of Platonists such as Plotinus. He framed the concepts of original sin and just war as they are understood in the West. When Rome fell and the faith of many Christians was shaken, Augustine wrote "The City of God", in which he defended Christianity from pagan critics and developed the concept of the Church as a spiritual City of God, distinct from the material City of Man. Augustine's work defined the start of the medieval worldview, an outlook that would later be firmly established by Pope Gregory the Great.


title: Church Fathers

text: Augustine was born in present-day Algeria to a Christian mother, Monica of Hippo. He was educated in North Africa and resisted his mother's pleas to become Christian. He took a concubine and became a Manichean. He later converted to Christianity, became a bishop, and opposed heresies, such as Pelagianism. His many works—including "The Confessions", which is often called the first Western autobiography—have been read continuously since his lifetime. The Roman Catholic religious order, the Order of Saint Augustine, adopted his name and way of life. Augustine is also the patron saint of many institutions and a number have been named after him.


title: Church Fathers

text: He is also known as Gregorius Dialogus ("Gregory the Dialogist") in Eastern Orthodoxy because of the "Dialogues" he wrote. He was the first of the popes from a monastic background. Gregory is a Doctor of the Church and one of the four great Latin Fathers of the Church (the others being Ambrose, Augustine, and Jerome). Of all popes, Gregory I had the most influence on the early medieval church.


title: Church Fathers

text: Isidore of Seville ( – 636) was Archbishop of Seville for more than three decades and is considered, as the historian Montalembert put it in an oft-quoted phrase, "le dernier savant du monde ancien" ("the last scholar of the ancient world"). Indeed, all the later medieval history-writing of Hispania (the Iberian Peninsula, comprising modern Spain and Portugal) was based on his histories.


title: Church Fathers

text: At a time of disintegration of classical culture and aristocratic violence and illiteracy, he was involved in the conversion of the royal Visigothic Arians to Catholicism, both assisting his brother Leander of Seville and continuing after his brother's death. He was influential in the inner circle of Sisebut, Visigothic king of Hispania. Like Leander, he played a prominent role in the Councils of Toledo and Seville. The Visigothic legislation which resulted from these councils is regarded by modern historians as exercising an important influence on the beginnings of representative government.


title: Church Fathers

text: A few Church Fathers wrote in Syriac; many of their works were also widely translated into Latin and Greek.


title: Church Fathers

text: Aphrahat (c. 270–c. 345) was a Syriac-Christian author of the 3rd century from the Adiabene region of Northern Mesopotamia, which was within the Persian Empire, who composed a series of twenty-three expositions or homilies on points of Christian doctrine and practice. He was born in Persia around 270, but all his known works, the "Demonstrations", come from later on in his life. He was an ascetic and celibate, and was almost definitely a son of the covenant (an early Syriac form of communal monasticism). He may have been a bishop, and later Syriac tradition places him at the head of Mar Matti monastery near Mosul, in what is now northern Iraq. He was a near contemporary to the slightly younger Ephrem the Syrian, but the latter lived within the sphere of the Roman Empire. Called the "Persian Sage" (, ḥakkîmâ p̄ārsāyā), Aphrahat witnesses to the concerns of the early church beyond the eastern boundaries of the Roman Empire.


title: Church Fathers

text: Ephrem the Syrian (ca. 306 – 373) was a Syriac deacon and a prolific Syriac-language hymnographer and theologian of the 4th century from the region of Syria. His works are hailed by Christians throughout the world, and many denominations venerate him as a saint. He has been declared a Doctor of the Church in the Catholic Church. He is especially beloved in the Syriac Orthodox Church and in the Church of the East.


title: Church Fathers

text: Ephrem wrote a wide variety of hymns, poems, and sermons in verse, as well as prose biblical exegesis. These were works of practical theology for the edification of the church in troubled times. So popular were his works, that, for centuries after his death, Christian authors wrote hundreds of pseudepigraphal works in his name. He has been called the most significant of all of the fathers of the Syriac-speaking church tradition.


title: Church Fathers

text: Isaac of Antioch (451–452), one of the stars of Syriac literature, is the reputed author of a large number of metrical homilies (The fullest list, by Gustav Bickell, contains 191 which are extant in MSS), many of which are distinguished by an originality and acumen rare among Syriac writers.


title: Church Fathers

text: Isaac of Nineveh was a 7th-century Syriac bishop and theologian best remembered for his written work. He is also regarded as a saint in the Church of the East, the Catholic Church, the Eastern Orthodox Church and among the Oriental Orthodox Churches, making him the last saint chronologically to be recognised by every apostolic Church. His feast day falls on January 28 and in the Syriac Orthodox calendar on March 14. Isaac is remembered for his spiritual homilies on the inner life, which have a human breadth and theological depth that transcends the Nestorian Christianity of the Church to which he belonged. They survive in Syriac manuscripts and in Greek and Arabic translations.


title: Church Fathers

text: The Desert Fathers were early monastics living in the Egyptian desert. Although they did not write as much as other Church Fathers, their influence was also great, and they are credited with beginning the practice of monasticism, and codifying many of its features. Among them are Paul of Thebes, Anthony the Great and Pachomius. Many of their, usually short, sayings are collected in the "Apophthegmata Patrum" ("Sayings of the Desert Fathers").


title: Church Fathers

text: In the Catholic Church, the patristic era is believed to have passed, and Bernard of Clairvaux is considered to be the last of the Fathers; however, the Church does grant the similar title of Doctor of the Church to notable post-patristic saints who made significant contributions to Catholic theology or doctrine.


title: Church Fathers

text: The Eastern Orthodox Church does not consider the age of Church Fathers to be over and includes later influential writers up to the present day. The Orthodox view is that men do not have to agree on every detail, much less be infallible, to be considered Church Fathers. Rather, Orthodox doctrine is determined by the consensus of the Holy Fathers—those points on which they do agree. This consensus guides the church in questions of dogma, the correct interpretation of scripture, and to distinguish the authentic sacred tradition of the Church from false teachings.


title: Church Fathers

text: The original Lutheran "Augsburg Confession" of 1530, for example, and the later "Formula of Concord" of 1576–1584, each begin with the mention of the doctrine professed by the Fathers of the First Council of Nicaea.


title: Church Fathers

text: Though much Protestant religious thought is based on "sola scriptura" (the principle that the Bible itself is the ultimate authority in doctrinal matters), the first Protestant reformers, like the Catholic and Orthodox churches, used the theological interpretations of scripture set forth by the early Church Fathers. John Calvin's "French Confession of Faith" of 1559 states, "And we confess that which has been established by the ancient councils, and we detest all sects and heresies which were rejected by the holy doctors, such as St. Hilary, St. Athanasius, St. Ambrose and St. Cyril." The "Scots Confession" of 1560 deals with general councils in its 20th chapter. The Thirty-nine Articles of the Church of England, both the original of 1562-1571 and the American version of 1801, explicitly accept the Nicene Creed in Article VII. Even when a particular Protestant confessional formula does not mention the Nicene Council or its creed, its doctrine is nonetheless always asserted, as, for example, in the Presbyterian "Westminster Confession" of 1647. Many Protestant seminaries provide courses on patristics as part of their curriculum, and many historic Protestant churches emphasize the importance of tradition and of the fathers in scriptural interpretation. Such an emphasis is even more pronounced in certain streams of Protestant thought, such as Paleo-Orthodoxy.


title: Church Fathers

text: Works of fathers in early Christianity, prior to Nicene Christianity, were translated into English in a 19th-century collection "Ante-Nicene Fathers". Those of the First Council of Nicaea and continuing through the Second Council of Nicea (787) are collected in "Nicene and Post-Nicene Fathers."


title: Chicago Med (season 7)

text: The seventh season of "Chicago Med", an American medical drama television series with executive producer Dick Wolf, and producers Michael Brandt, Derek Haas, Peter Jankowski, Andrew Schneider and Diane Frolov, was ordered on February 27, 2020. The season premiered on September 22, 2021.


title: Chicago Med (season 7)

text: On May 12, 2021, Yaya DaCosta and Torrey Devitto announced their departure from the series. On July 21, 2021, it was announced that Steven Weber would be promoted to a series regular after recurring in the sixth season, and Guy Lockard and Kristen Hager would join the main cast. On March 16, 2022, it was announced that Jessy Schram, who previously recurred as Dr. Hannah Asher had been promoted to series regular as of episode 16 of the seventh season. On April 4, 2022, it was announced that Kristen Hager exited the series.


title: V (1983 miniseries)

text: V (or V: The Original Miniseries) is a two-part American science-fiction television miniseries, written and directed by Kenneth Johnson. First shown in 1983, it initiated the science-fiction franchise concerning aliens known as the "Visitors" trying to gain control of Earth, and of the ways the populace reacts.


title: V (1983 miniseries)

text: A race of aliens arrives on Earth in a fleet of 50 huge, saucer-shaped motherships, which hover over major cities across the world. They reveal themselves on the roof of the United Nations building in New York City, appearing human, but requiring special glasses to protect their eyes and having a distinctive resonance to their voices. Referred to as the Visitors, they reach out in friendship, ostensibly seeking the help of humans to obtain chemicals and minerals needed to aid their ailing world, which is revealed to be a planet orbiting the star Sirius. In return, the Visitors promise to share their advanced technology with humanity. The governments of Earth accept the arrangement, and the Visitors, commanded by their leader John and his deputy Diana, begin to gain considerable influence with human authorities.


title: V (1983 miniseries)

text: Strange events begin to occur. Scientists in particular become the objects of increasing media and public hostility. They experience government restrictions on their activities and movements. Others, particularly those keen on examining the Visitors more closely, begin to disappear or are discredited. Noted scientists confess to subversive activities; some of them exhibit other unusual behaviors, such as suddenly demonstrating hand preference opposite to the one they were known to have.


title: V (1983 miniseries)

text: Television journalist cameraman Michael Donovan covertly boards one of the Visitors' motherships. Donovan discovers that beneath their human-like façade—a thin, synthetic skin and human-eye contact lenses—the aliens are carnivorous reptilian humanoids with horned foreheads and green, scaly skin. He also witnesses them eating whole live animals such as rodents and birds. Donovan, who first took footage of one of the alien ships flying overhead while on duty in El Salvador, records some of his findings on videotape and escapes from the mothership with the evidence. However, just as the exposé is about to air on television, the broadcast is interrupted by the Visitors, who have taken control of the media. Their announcement makes Donovan and his close friend and assistant Tony fugitives pursued by both the police and the Visitors.


title: V (1983 miniseries)

text: Scientists around the world continue to be persecuted, both to discredit them (as the part of the human population most likely to discover the Visitors' secrets) and to distract the rest of the population with a scapegoat to whom they can attribute their fears. Key human individuals are subjected to Diana's special mind-control process called "conversion", which turns them into the Visitors' pawns, leaving only subtle behavioral clues to this manipulation. Others become subjects of Diana's horrifying biological experiments.


title: V (1983 miniseries)

text: Some humans (including Mike Donovan's mother, Eleanor Dupres) willingly collaborate with the Visitors, seduced by their power. Daniel Bernstein, a grandson of a Jewish Holocaust survivor, joins the Visitor Youth and reveals the location of a scientist family, his neighbors the Maxwells, to the alien cause. One teenager, Robin Maxwell, the daughter of a well-known scientist who went into hiding, has a sexual relationship with a male Visitor named Brian, who impregnates her as one of Diana's "medical experiments".


title: V (1983 miniseries)

text: A resistance movement is formed, determined to expose and oppose the Visitors. The Los Angeles cell leader is Julie Parrish, a biologist. Donovan later joins the group, and again sneaking aboard a mothership in search of Tony, who was captured, he learns from a Visitor named Martin that the story about the Visitors needing waste chemicals is a cover for a darker mission. The true purpose of the Visitors' arrival on Earth was to conquer and subdue the planet, steal all of the Earth's water, and harvest the human race as food, leaving only a few as slaves and cannon fodder for the Visitors' wars with other alien races. Martin is one of many dissidents among the Visitors (later known as the Fifth Column) who oppose their leader's plans and would rather co-exist peacefully with the humans. Martin then reveals to Donovan that Tony is dead, a victim of Diana's monstrous experiments. Afterwards, he befriends Donovan and promises to aid the Resistance. He gives Donovan access to one of their sky-fighter ships, which he quickly learns how to pilot. He escapes from the mothership along with Robin and another prisoner named Sancho, who had aided Robin's family in their flight out of occupied Los Angeles.


title: V (1983 miniseries)

text: The Resistance strikes its first blows against the Visitors, procuring laboratory equipment and modern military weapons from National Guard armories to carry on the fight. The symbol of the resistance is a blood-red letter V (for victory), spray-painted over posters promoting Visitor friendship among humans. The symbol was inspired by Daniel Bernstein's grandfather Abraham, a Holocaust survivor.


title: V (1983 miniseries)

text: The miniseries ends with the Visitors now virtually controlling the Earth, and Julie and Elias sending a transmission into space to ask other alien races for help in defeating the occupiers.


title: V (1983 miniseries)

text: Inspired by Sinclair Lewis' antifascist novel "It Can't Happen Here" (1935), director–producer Kenneth Johnson wrote an adaptation titled "Storm Warnings" in 1982. The script was presented to NBC for production as a television miniseries, but the NBC executives rejected the initial version, claiming it was too "cerebral" for the average American viewer. To make the script more marketable, the American fascists were recast as man-eating extraterrestrials in order to capitalize on the popularity of franchises such as "Star Wars". "V", which cost $13 million ($ today) to make, premiered on May 1, 1983.


title: V (1983 miniseries)

text: With the Visitors' swastika-like emblem, their SS-like uniforms, and their German Luger-like laser weapons, the miniseries became an allegory of Nazism. A youth auxiliary movement called the "Friends of the Visitors" has similarities to the Hitler Youth, while the Visitors' attempts to co-opt television news reporters suggests the Nazi-era propagandization of news through the film industry. The miniseries' portrayal of human interaction with the Visitors bears resemblance to Occupied Europe during World War II, with some citizens choosing collaboration, while others join underground resistance movements. Where the Nazis persecuted primarily Jews, the Visitors were depicted persecuting scientists, their families, and anyone associating with them. As the Visitors start eliminating scientists who could reveal their true nature a Jewish family is shown hesitating on whether to help their scientist neighbor and his family, until their grandfather suggests that to do otherwise would mean they had not learned anything from the past.


title: V (1983 miniseries)

text: The two-part miniseries ran for 200 minutes; the first part was the second-most popular program of the week, with 40% of the viewing television audience at that time watching it. Its success spawned a sequel, "V: The Final Battle", which was meant to conclude the story. In spite of the apparent conclusion, this was then followed by a weekly television series, "V: The Series", from 1984 to 1985 that continued the story a year after "The Final Battle". Johnson left "V" during production of "The Final Battle" due to disagreements with NBC over how the story should progress.


title: V (1983 miniseries)

text: In November 2005, "Entertainment Weekly" named "V" one of the 10 best miniseries on DVD. The article noted, "As a parable about it-can-happen-here fascism, "V" was far from subtle, but it carved a place for lavish and intelligent sci-fi on TV. Its impact can still be felt in projects like "Taken" and "The 4400"." ("The 4400"s executive producer Scott Peters later helmed ABC's 2009 reboot.) In December 2008, "Entertainment Weekly" put "V" on its list "The Sci-Fi 25: The Genre's Best Since 1982", and called Visitor leader Diana's devouring a guinea pig "one of the best TV reveals ever."


title: V (1983 miniseries)

text: For many years, Johnson has campaigned to revive "V", and even wrote a sequel novel, "V: The Second Generation", which picked up the story 20 years after the original miniseries (but omitted the events of "The Final Battle" and "V: The Series"). Warner Bros. Television (which owns the television rights to the "V" franchise) declined to make a continuation as Johnson had planned, and opted for a remake instead. A reimagining of "V" premiered on ABC on November 3, 2009, and ran for two seasons. Though Johnson was not involved in the remake, which featured all new characters, executive producer Scott Peters said that it would nod to the most iconic moments from the original franchise and may potentially include actors from the original in new roles. Both Jane Badler and Marc Singer appeared in the second season. As of 2009, Johnson has also said he is still moving ahead with his plans for a big-screen remake of his original "V" miniseries though no progress has been made.


title: V (1983 miniseries)

text: On February 6, 2018, Desilu Studios announced that it would be producing a feature film of "V". The film was to be written and directed by Kenneth Johnson, and produced by John Hermansen, Barry Opper, and Johnson. Johnson added, "We are delighted to team up with Desilu to bring the timeless — and timely — story of resistance against tyranny into the 21st century ... V will be the first of a cinematic trilogy, which will tell the full epic tale in the manner I always envisioned." However, in late 2018, CBS (owners of the Desilu name) reportedly had initiated legal action against Charles Hensley, a convicted marketer, whom they claim used the Desilu Studio name to influence investment into a shell company.


title: V (1983 miniseries)

text: Production was halted for two weeks when Dominique Dunne, the 22-year-old actress originally cast to play the part of Robin Maxwell, was murdered outside her apartment by her ex-boyfriend while rehearsing with actor David Packer. Some scenes with her are still in the original series, but only of the back of her head. Blair Tefkin was hired on to play Robin after her death.


title: V (1983 miniseries)

text: Posters appeared in train stations of a smiling man behind wraparound sunglasses, others grinning along with him, with only a motto "The Visitors are our friends" to explain it. Days later, those posters had a red "V" (for "victory") spray-painted on them. Nothing suggested this was an advertisement for a television show, which made the marketing even more intriguing.


title: V (1983 miniseries)

text: The miniseries was first released as "V: The Original Miniseries" on VHS during the mid-1990s, and later on DVD in 2001. The VHS release was in 4:3 fullscreen format as originally broadcast, while the DVD release is in a matted 16:9 widescreen format. The miniseries was originally filmed in open matte format, with director Kenneth Johnson stating he had also composed the picture to be more or less "widescreen-safe" in the event that it got an overseas theatrical release, which it did not. It was released on Blu-ray on August 27, 2019.


title: V (1983 miniseries)

text: A. C. Crispin wrote a 402-page "V" novelization in 1984 for Pinnacle Books that combined both the original miniseries and "The Final Battle". Following the release of "V: The Second Generation" in 2008, Tor Books re-released the original miniseries' section of Crispin's book, with a new epilogue by Johnson that tied the events of the first miniseries with "Second Generation".


title: Free Syrian Army

text: The Free Syrian Army (FSA) () is a loose faction in the Syrian Civil War founded on 29 July 2011 by officers of the Syrian Armed Forces with the goal of bringing down the government of Bashar al-Assad. Initially a formal organization at its founding, its structure gradually dissipated by late 2012, and the FSA identity has since been used by various opposition groups.


title: Free Syrian Army

text: In late 2011, the FSA was considered the main Syrian military defectors group. It had success against far better equipped government forces. From July 2012 onward, the group was weakened by decreasing discipline, growing infighting, and a lack of funding, while Islamist groups became dominant within the armed opposition.


title: Free Syrian Army

text: The Free Syrian Army aims to be "the military wing of the Syrian people's opposition to the regime", with the goal of defeating the Syrian government through armed operations and the encouragement of army defections. As the Syrian Army is highly organized and well-armed, the Free Syrian Army adopted a military strategy of guerrilla tactics in the countryside and cities, with a tactical focus on armed action in the capital of Damascus. The campaign was not meant to hold territory, but rather, to spread government forces and their logistical chains thin in battles for urban centers, cause attrition in the security forces, degrade morale and destabilize the government.


title: Free Syrian Army

text: After the Turkish military intervention in Syria in 2016, and as other countries began to scale back their involvement, the FSA became more dependent on Turkey, which became a sanctuary and source of supplies. From late August 2016, the Turkish government assembled a new coalition of Syrian rebel groups, including many that were in the FSA; the core of this new coalition was the Hawar Kilis Operations Room. Often referred to as the Turkish-backed Free Syrian Army (TFSA), this force would adopt the name Syrian National Army in 2017.


title: Free Syrian Army

text: The first defections from the Syrian Army during the Syrian uprising may have occurred at the end of April 2011 when the army was sent into Daraa to quell ongoing protests. There were reports that some units refused to fire on protesters and had split from the army.


title: Free Syrian Army

text: Defections, according to unverified reports, continued throughout the spring as the government used lethal force to clamp down on protesters and lay siege to protesting cities across the country, such as Baniyas, Hama, Talkalakh, and Deir ez-Zor, and there were reports of soldiers who refused to fire on civilians being summarily executed by the army.


title: Free Syrian Army

text: At the end of July 2011, with the Syrian uprising (or civil war) running since March 2011, a group of defected Syrian Army officers established the 'Free Syrian Army' to bring down the Assad government. On 29 July 2011, Colonel Riad al-Asaad and a group of uniformed officers announced the formation of the Free Syrian Army or 'Syrian Free Army', with the goals of protecting unarmed protesters and helping to "bring down this regime", in a video on the Internet where Riad al-Asaad spoke alongside several other defectors.


title: Free Syrian Army

text: Al-Asaad said that the Free Army's formation resulted from the defecting soldiers' sense of nationalistic duty, loyalty to the people, the need for decisive action to stop government killings, and the army's responsibility to protect unarmed people. He announced the formation of the Free Syrian Army, and its intention to work hand in hand with the people and with demonstrators to achieve freedom and dignity, bring the government ("the regime"/"the system") down, protect the revolution and the country's resources, and stand in the face of the irresponsible military machine that protects the "system".


title: Free Syrian Army

text: He called on the officers and men of the Syrian army to "defect from the army, stop pointing their rifles at their people's chests, join the free army, and form a national army that can protect the revolution and all sections of the Syrian people with all their sects." He said that the Syrian army "[represents] gangs that protect the regime", and declared that "as of now, the security forces that kill civilians and besiege cities will be treated as legitimate targets. We will target them in all parts of the Syrian territories without exception";


title: Free Syrian Army

text: "you will find us everywhere at all times, and you will see that which you do not expect, until we re-establish the rights and freedom of our people."


title: Free Syrian Army

text: Desertion of soldiers to the Free Syrian Army was documented in videos. On 23 September 2011, the Free Syrian Army merged with the Free Officers Movement (, ""); "The Wall Street Journal" considered the FSA since then the main military defectors group.


title: Free Syrian Army

text: From 27 September to 1 October, Syrian government forces, backed by tanks and helicopters, led a major offensive on the city of Rastan in Homs province, which had been under opposition control for a couple weeks. There were reports of large numbers of defections in the city, and the Free Syrian Army reported it had destroyed 17 armoured vehicles during clashes in Rastan, using RPGs and booby traps. A defected officer in the Syrian opposition claimed that over a hundred officers had defected as well as thousands of conscripts, although many had gone into hiding or home to their families, rather than fighting the loyalist forces. The Battle of Rastan between the government forces and the Free Syrian Army was the longest and most intense action up until that time. After a week of fighting, the FSA was forced to retreat from Rastan. To avoid government forces, the leader of the FSA, Col. Riad Asaad, retreated to the Turkish side of Syrian-Turkish border.


title: Free Syrian Army

text: By October 2011, the leadership of the FSA consisting of 60–70 people including commander Riad al-Assad was harbored in an 'officers' camp' in Turkey guarded by the Turkish military.


title: Free Syrian Army

text: In early November 2011, two FSA units in the Damascus area confronted regime forces. In mid-November, in an effort to weaken the pro-Assad forces, the FSA released a statement which announced that a temporary military council had been formed.


title: Free Syrian Army

text: In October 2011, an American official said the Syrian military might have lost perhaps 10,000 to defections. By October, the FSA would start to receive military support from Turkey, who allowed the rebel army to operate its command and headquarters from the country's southern Hatay province close to the Syrian border, and its field command from inside Syria. The FSA would often launch attacks into Syria's northern towns and cities, while using the Turkish side of the border as a safe zone and supply route.


title: Free Syrian Army

text: By the beginning of October, clashes between loyalist and defected army units were being reported fairly regularly. During the first week of the month, sustained clashes were reported in Jabal al-Zawiya in the mountainous regions of Idlib province. On 13 October, clashes were reported in the town of Haara in Daraa province in the south of Syria that resulted in the death of two rebel and six loyalist soldiers, according to the London-based Syrian Observatory for Human Rights. Clashes were also reported in the city of Binnish in Idlib province with a total of 14 fatalities for both affected towns, including rebels, loyalists and civilians. A few days later on 17 October, five government troops were killed in the town of Qusayr in the central province of Homs, near the border with Lebanon, and 17 people were reported wounded in skirmishes with defectors in the town of Hass in Idlib province near the mountain range of Jabal al-Zawiya, although it was unclear if the wounded included civilians. According to the London-based organization, an estimated 11 government soldiers were killed that day, four of which were killed in a bombing. It was not clear if the defectors linked to these incidents were connected to the Free Syrian Army.


title: Free Syrian Army

text: On 20 October, the opposition reported that clashes occurred between loyalists and defectors in Burhaniya, near the town of Qusayr in the central province of Homs, leading to the death of several soldiers and the destruction of two military vehicles. A week later on 25 October, clashes occurred in the northwestern town of Maarat al-Numaan in Idlib province between loyalists and defected soldiers at a roadblock on the edge of the town. The defectors launched an assault on the government held roadblock in retaliation for a raid on their positions the previous night. The next day on 26 October, the opposition reported that nine soldiers were killed by a rocket-propelled grenade when it hit their bus in the village of Hamrat, near the city of Hama. The gunmen who attacked the bus were believed to be defected soldiers.


title: Free Syrian Army

text: On 29 October, the opposition reported that 17 pro-Assad soldiers were killed in the city of Homs during fighting with suspected army deserters, including a defected senior official who was aiding the rebel soldiers. Two armoured personnel carriers were disabled in the fighting. Later the number of casualties was revised to 20 killed and 53 wounded soldiers in clashes with presumed army deserters, according to Agence France Presse. In a separate incident, 10 security agents and a deserter were killed in a bus ambush near the Turkish border, opposition activists reported. The Syrian Observatory of Human Rights reported that the bus was transporting security agents between the villages of Al-Habit and Kafrnabuda in Idlib province when it was ambushed "by armed men, probably deserters".


title: Free Syrian Army

text: In November 2011, the FSA operated throughout Syria, both in urban areas and countryside, in the northwest of Syria (Idlib and Aleppo Governorates), the central region (Homs and Hama Governorates, Al-Rastan District), the coast around Latakia, the south (Daraa Governorate and the Houran plateau), the east (Deir ez-Zor Governorate, Abu Kamal District), and the Damascus Governorate. FSA was then armed with rifles, light and heavy machine guns, rocket-propelled grenades and explosive devices. Their largest concentrations were in Homs, Hama and surrounding areas.


title: Free Syrian Army

text: The FSA, after consultation with the Syrian National Council (SNC) in November 2011, agreed to not attack Syrian army units that are staying in their barracks, and concentrate on protecting and defending civilians.


title: Free Syrian Army

text: In November 2011, "The Free Syrian Army boasts it has as many 25,000 fighters in its ranks, a number challenged by its critics who say the true figure is closer to 1,000". early December, the US "International Business Times" stated that the FSA counted 15,000 ex-Syrian soldiers.


title: Free Syrian Army

text: On 5 November, at least nine people died in clashes between soldiers, protesters and defectors, and four Shabeeha were killed in Idlib reportedly by army deserters. On the same day, the state-news agency SANA reported the deaths of 13 soldiers and policemen as a result of clashes with armed groups. According to SANA, four policemen were also wounded in clashes with an armed group in Kanakir in the Damascus countryside while one of the armed individuals died, additionally that day, two explosive devices were dismantled.


title: Free Syrian Army

text: More army defections were reported in Damascus on 10 November, three out of at least nine defectors were shot dead by loyalist gunmen after abandoning their posts. The same day, clashes reportedly resulted in the death of a fifteen-year-old boy in Khan Sheikhoun, when he was caught in crossfire between Assad loyalists and the free army. Also on 10 November "at least four soldiers in the regular army were killed at dawn in an attack, headed by armed men – probably deserters – on a military checkpoint in Has region, near Maaret al-Numan town" according to the Syrian Observatory For Human Rights. However, the number has also been put at five soldiers. A checkpoint in Maarat al-Numaan three kilometers south of Homs also came under attack by defectors, resulting in an increase in tank deployment by Syrian security forces in the city.


title: Free Syrian Army

text: In November, there were conflicting reports of the number of Syrian soldiers injured and killed. On 11 November, Reuters reported that 26 soldiers were killed, while Syrian state media reported the lower figure of 20 soldiers killed at this time. For the month up until 13 November, the Local Coordination Committees reported the death of about 20 soldiers, the Syrian Observatory of Human Rights reported the death of more than 100 soldiers, and the Syrian state media SANA reported the death of 71 soldiers. Increased Clashes in Daraa province began on 14 November when 34 soldiers and 12 defectors were killed in an ambush by the free army. The death toll as a result of the fighting also included 23 civilians. One day later on 15 November, eight soldiers and security forces troops were killed by an assault on a checkpoint in Hama province, according to activists.


title: Free Syrian Army

text: On 16 November, in a coordinated attack, an air force intelligence complex in the Damascus suburb of Harasta was attacked. According to the Free Syrian Army, they did so with machine guns and rocket-propelled grenades, leading to the death of at least six soldiers with twenty others wounded. A western diplomat said the assault was "hugely symbolic and tactically new". The attack on the air force intelligence complex was a continuation of clashes in Damascus. The next day, the Free Syrian Army launched an assault against the Baath party youth headquarters in Idlib province with RPGs and small arms. The state news agency SANA reported the deaths of three Syrian troops as a result of a bomb blast, with an officer also critically wounded and two law-enforcement agents injured. Three members of the security forces were reportedly killed on between 18 and 19 November by the Free Syrian Army. Multiple attacks on 19 December by armed groups were also reported by the state news agency SANA. State news also reported that ten wanted armed individuals were captured in Maarat al-Numan. On 23 November, five defected soldiers were killed; four in a farm near Daraa where they were hiding and one near the Lebanese border, according to Reuters.


title: Free Syrian Army

text: According to Reuters, two rocket propelled grenades hit a Baath party building in Damascus on 20 December, which if confirmed would indicate the FSA had a greater reach than previously believed. However, an AFP reporter went to the area and saw no signs of the claimed attack while residents said that there had been no explosions.


title: Free Syrian Army

text: According to the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights, on 24 November soldiers and Shabiha with armoured vehicles started operations in farmland west of Rastan in Homs province to track down defectors. 24 people died as a result (if they were soldiers, defectors or civilians was not stated). At least fifty tanks and other armoured vehicle opened fire with 50 cal. machine guns and anti-aircraft weapons on positions held by the Free Syrian Army on Rastan's outskirts. Deaths were also reported in Daraa and Homs On 24 November 11 defectors were killed and four wounded during clashes on the western outskirts of Homs.


title: Free Syrian Army

text: In an attack on an airbase in Homs province on 25 November, six elite pilots, one technical officer and three other personnel were killed. The Syrian government vowed to "cut every evil hand" of the attackers as a result. On that same day, at least 10 troops and security service agents were killed in clashes with mutinous soldiers in the east of Syria. The Syrian Observatory for Human Rights said the deaths occurred in Deir Ezzor, while early the next day a civilian was also killed in the eastern city. Several defectors were also killed or wounded.


title: Free Syrian Army

text: Sustained clashes in Idlib province began on 26 November between loyalist and opposition fighters. At least 8 soldiers were killed and 40 more wounded that day when the free army attacked them in Idlib, the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights reported. "A group of deserters attacked a squad of soldiers and security agents in a convoy of seven vehicles, including three all-terrain vehicles, on the road from Ghadka to Maarat al-Numaan", the Britain-based watchdog said. "Eight were killed and at least 40 more were wounded. The deserters were able to withdraw without suffering any casualties," it added. The FSA claimed to be behind the attack.


title: Free Syrian Army

text: Syrian human rights activists claimed that the Free Syrian Army had killed three loyalist soldiers and captured two others on 29 November, although they did not specify where.


title: Free Syrian Army

text: According to the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights, seven soldiers were killed on 30 November in fighting in the town of Deal in Daraa province after security forces moved on the town in force. The fighting went on from the early morning to the late afternoon. "Two security force vehicles were blown up. Seven (troops) were killed," said Rami Abdel Rahman, head of the observatory. An activist from the town, in the province of Daraa, said some 30 busloads of security men stormed Deal and two of the buses were blown up in fighting "between security forces and defectors," the Observatory reported. One of the destroyed buses was allegedly empty.


title: Free Syrian Army

text: On 1 December, FSA troops launched a raid on an intelligence building in Idlib, leading to a three-hour firefight in which eight loyalists were killed. This came the same day the United Nations announced it considered Syria to be in a state of civil war. On 3 December, clashes in the city of Idlib in the north of Syria the next day resulted in the death of seven Assad loyalist soldiers, five defectors and three civilians. On 4 December, heavy fighting raged in Homs during which at least five FSA insurgents were killed and one wounded. Defected soldiers killed four members of the security forces, including an officer, at the southern city of Deal in Daraa province on 5 December. On 7 December, there were clashes between the Syrian regular army and groups of army defectors near the radio broadcasting centre in the town of Saraqeb, in Idib district. An armoured personnel carrier (APC) of the regular army was destroyed during the clashes. Meanwhile, joint security and military forces raided the houses at the edges of Saraqeb and arrested three activists at dawn, according to the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights. Between 1 and 7 December, the Syrian state news agency SANA reported the deaths of 48 members of the state security forces.


title: Free Syrian Army

text: A military tank was destroyed in Homs on 9 December. Four defected soldiers also apparently died in fighting on 9 December. On 10 December, activists say clashes between Syrian troops and army defectors killed at least two people. The British-based Syrian Observatory for Human Rights says two army armoured carriers were burned in the pre-dawn clash in the northwestern town of Kfar Takharim. On 11 December, it was reported that a battle was fought between defectors and the Syrian army in Busra al-Harir and Lujah. Troops, mainly from the 12th Armoured Brigade, based in Isra, 40 km from the border with Jordan, stormed the nearby town of Busra al-Harir, the Reuters news agency reported. It was apparently the largest battle to take place in the conflict so far. At least five soldiers, including a military officer, are reported to have been killed the same day in an unspecified location. In one of Sunday's clashes, which took place before dawn in the northwestern town of Kfar Takharim, two of the military's armored vehicles were set ablaze, said the British-based Syrian Observatory for Human Rights. Three other vehicles were burned in another clash near the southern village of Busra al-Harir, the group said. Similar battles took place in several other parts of the south, said the Observatory and another activist group called the Local Coordination Committees.


title: Free Syrian Army

text: Syrian army defectors, who operate under the banner of the Free Syrian Army, say that a senior army officer was killed on 11 December after refusing to fire on civilians in Homs. Maher al-Nueimi, a spokesman for the FSA, said that Brigadier-General Salman al-Awaja was given instructions to fire on residents of al-Quseir in Homs. When he refused, Nueimi said, he was killed. The FSA says that a large number of defections took place after the killing, as clashes broke out between al-Awaja's supporters in the army and the other soldiers who killed him. The Observatory said two people were killed in the clash with defectors in Kfar Takharim and two armoured vehicles were destroyed. On 12 December, three civilians and two defectors were killed during clashes in Idlib province. Fighting in Ebita, in the northwestern province of Idlib, continued throughout the night and into the early hours on 12 December. At least one fighter was killed and another injured in the assault. The FSA killed ten troops in an ambush on a convoy in Idlib, according to the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights. This attack was allegedly done to avenge the deaths of 11 civilians previously killed. A Syrian officer was also killed in a revenge attack. Loyalist soldiers reportedly fired upon a civilian car near Homs on 14 December, killing five people, in response, the Free Syrian Army staged an ambush against a loyalist convoy consisting of four jeeps, killing eight soldiers. The same day, three anti-government military defectors were wounded in clashes with Syrian security forces in the village of Hirak in Daraa province. The FSA engaged loyalist army units and security service agents south of Damascus on 15 December, leading to 27 loyalist deaths and an unknown number of FSA casualties. The clashes broke out at three separate checkpoints in Daraa province around dawn Between 8 and 15 December, the Syrian state news agency SANA reported the deaths of 68 members of the state security forces. A lieutenant colonel of the FSA was killed by the Syrian army on 17 December according to Local Committee, and opposition source.


title: Free Syrian Army

text: On 19 December, the FSA suffered its largest loss of life when new defectors tried to abandon their positions and bases between the villages of Kensafra and Kefer Quaid in Idlib province. Activist groups, specifically the Syrian Observatory for Human rights, reported that 72 defectors were killed as they were gunned down during their attempted escape. The Syrian Army lost three soldiers during the clashes. The next day, S.O.H.R. stated that in all 100 defectors were killed or wounded. The clashes continued into the next day, and another report, by Lebanese human rights activist Wissam Tarif, put the death toll even higher with 163 defectors, 97 government troops and nine civilians killed on the second day alone as the military tracked down the soldiers and civilian that managed to initially escape. On 21 December, it was reported that the FSA had taken control over large swathes of Idlib province including some towns and villages. It was also reported on 24 December that the FSA stronghold in the Bab Amr neighbourhood of Homs was under attack by security forces, with two FSA soldiers killed. A week later, a minute long fire fight erupted between FSA forces and government security forces, on a road near the village of Dael in Daraa province. Four government soldiers were killed in the ambush. The FSA grew in size, to about 20,000 by December 2011.


title: Free Syrian Army

text: In the early days of their existence, 90% of the FSA consisted of Sunni Muslims and a small minority were (Shia) Alawites, Druze, Christians, Kurds and Palestinians.


title: Free Syrian Army

text: Western sources in December 2011 again gave estimates of 10,000 Syrian deserters, indicated that half the Syrian army conscripts had not reported to army duty in the last three call-ups, and that lower-level officers were deserting in large numbers; in some cases, whole units had deserted "en masse". An anonymously speaking U.S. official however estimated in December 2011 1,000 to 3,500 defectors in total.


title: Free Syrian Army

text: In 2011, The Turkish government provided free passage to defecting Syrian Army fighters and allowed the FSA to operate from a special refugee camp in Southern Turkey near the Syrian border. Turkey would allow the FSA to begin operating in nearby towns and encouraged foreign intervention in the Syrian Civil War.


title: Free Syrian Army

text: In August 2012, the National Unity Brigades was formed. Known for its non-sectarianism. The group included rebels from minority groups such as Christians, Druze, Ismailis, and Alawites.


title: Free Syrian Army

text: On 6 January 2012, General Mustafa al-Sheikh of the Syrian Army defected from the government forces to join the FSA. General Mustafa al-Sheikh told Reuters that up to 20,000 soldiers in total had deserted the army since the beginning of the conflict, and that the FSA had taken control of large swathes of land. He said in an interview on 12 January 2012: "If we get 25,000 to 30,000 deserters mounting guerrilla warfare in small groups of six or seven it is enough to exhaust the army in a year to a year-and-a-half, even if they are armed only with rocket-propelled grenades and light weapons".


title: Free Syrian Army

text: On 7 January 2012, Colonel Afeef Mahmoud Suleima of the Syrian Air Force logistics division defected from Bashar Al Assad's regime along with at least fifty of his men. He announced his group's defection on live television and ordered his men to protect protesters in the city of Hama. Colonel Suleiman declared: "We are from the army and we have defected because the government is killing civilian protesters. The Syrian army attacked Hama with heavy weapons, air raids and heavy fire from tanks. … We ask the Arab League observers to come visit areas affected by air raids and attacks so you can see the damage with your own eyes, and we ask you to send someone to uncover the three cemeteries in Hama filled with more than 460 corpses."


title: Free Syrian Army

text: Syrian forces clashed with army deserters in an area near the capital Damascus, opposition activists said. The town of Reef Damascus saw fighting on 1 January as the government forces were hunting for suspected defectors, according to the activists. There were no immediate reports of casualties. According to the London-based Syrian Observatory for Human rights, despite a self-declared ceasefire, Free Syrian Army soldiers in Idlib, on 2 January, overran two checkpoints belonging to security forces and captured dozens of loyalist troops, and launched an attack on a third checkpoint killing and wounding several loyalists. More than a dozen people, including 11 soldiers, were killed in clashes between defectors and loyalists in Basr al-Harir, a town in southern Daraa Governorate, according to the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights. Shelling and gunfire were also reported in Deir ez-Zor by the LCC. On 14 January, the Syrian Observatory For Human Rights said there was fighting between deserters and loyalist troops in Hula, Homs province, after the defectors destroyed a barricade and a number of security forces were killed or wounded.


title: Free Syrian Army

text: In mid-January, the FSA managed to take control over the border town of Zabadani, just 14 miles away from the capital, Damascus. Regular army forces tried to assault the town several times but as of 16 January all attacks were repelled.


title: Free Syrian Army

text: On 16 January General Mouaffac Hamzeh in the city of Qusayr in Homs province was announced to have defected to the opposition.


title: Free Syrian Army

text: By 26 January, the Damascus suburb of Douma had fallen under control of the Free Syrian Army, with occasional raids by security forces failing to dislodge the rebels, mainly made of armed civilians, and some army defectors, mostly armed with assault rifles and hand grenades. Because of the growing number of defectors, some defectors managed to take their tanks with them. A spokesman for the Free Syrian Army said that more than 100 soldiers defected on 28 January 2012, bringing three tanks along with them. By the end of January and the beginning of February, videos surfaced showing BMP-2 armoured personnel carriers in Homs carrying the Syrian independence flag firing at government forces, supported by FSA soldiers.


title: Free Syrian Army

text: On 29 January, there were reports of a new round of high-ranking defections after the Syrian Army was deployed to fight in the Damascus suburbs, some of them joining FSA. At least two generals and hundreds of soldiers with their weapons defected at this time.


title: Free Syrian Army

text: Between 29 and 30 January, government forces massed over 2,000 troops and at least 50 tanks and launched a major offensive to reclaim the northern suburbs – held by the FSA – and drive them from the city. By the end of 30 January, it appeared that the operation had been mostly successful, and the FSA had made a tactical withdrawal. 10 FSA fighters and eight government soldiers were killed during the day in the whole country. Two of the defectors died in the Damascus suburb of Rankus, which had been retaken by the military. Another report put the day's death toll in the suburbs at 19 civilians and 6 FSA fighters, while the overall number of those killed in the previous three days, since the fighting in the area started, was 100. The same day, it was reported by opposition activists that one of the original founders of the FSA, Colonel Hussein Harmush, who was captured in late August by Syrian special forces, was executed several weeks earlier.


title: Free Syrian Army

text: On 31 January, the Syrian army continued to advance to remove the last FSA pockets. The army fired into the air, as they advanced with tanks even beyond the positions from where the FSA withdrew. Activists told that the suburbs were on unannounced curfew while others were allowed to flee. The army was conducting arrests on suspected people in the district of Arbin. In some instances, curfews were defied by some citizens, who put up a large opposition flag in the centre of Damascus.


title: Free Syrian Army

text: On 1 February, the Syrian army extended their operations around Damascus, with more troops moving into the mountainous area of Qaramoun, north of Damascus. Further north, the troops which took the control of Rankous, started to extend their control into farmland surrounding the city. In the eastern suburbs of Mesraba, activist reported that army snipers were positioned and that tanks were in the streets. Initially, 12 people, including six FSA rebels, were killed in fighting in Wadi Barada, located north-west of Damascus in the Rif Damashk governorate, according to the Local Committee of Coordination. Later, the death toll of FSA fighters in the area was raised to 14. The town of Deir Kanoun and Ein al Fija were also under army assaults according to the London-based SOHR. At the same time, SANA reported that, further south in the suburbs Daraa, security forces killed 11 armed fighters and wounded two when they attacked a military bus killing one army sergeant and wounding two others. Also, the Al-Watan newspaper reported that 37 rebel fighters were killed in fighting in Homs and 15 in Rastan, while four soldiers died in Bab Dreib and two in Rastan.


title: Free Syrian Army

text: According to the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights, troops and army defectors clashed in the northwestern province of Idlib and the southern province of Daraa on 5 February. They report two civilians and nine soldiers killed in Idlib. Five government troops were shot in clashes with rebel fighters in Qalaat al-Madyaq town in restive Hama area, on 14 February.


title: Free Syrian Army

text: On the night of 3 February and in the early hours of 4 February, government forces launched a major offensive against Homs, leading to over 200 deaths and 800 injuries. FSA forces engaged loyalist forces and threatened reprisals particularly in Damascus. On 10 February, Sky News reported that the FSA had taken full control of the northern city of Idlib. However, Syrian tanks were surrounding Idlib, and citizens and defected soldiers feared a new offensive. Renewed fighting in the Idlib province was reported on 11 February.


title: Free Syrian Army

text: On 6 February 2012, Riad al-Asaad voiced his concern about the SNC's lack of political and material support for the FSA, and stated that if differences could not be resolved the FSA would break off its relations with the SNC.


title: Free Syrian Army

text: Heavy fighting had taken place in the town of Al-Qusayr in Homs since 13 February, when the FSA captured the headquarters of the secret service in Homs, killing five agents in the process. Remaining government troops retreated to the town hall and hospital in the city. Four tanks came to reinforce them. However, 1 of the 4 tanks as well as 30 soldiers defected to the opposition, where the tank, aided by tractors and trucks, took out remaining government positions and the other 3 tanks. During the Battle of Al-Qusayr, FSA fighters were able to establish full control of the city. They said 20 government soldiers had been killed and 80 had fled. FSA fighters said 1 of their men had been killed and another 6 wounded during the battle.


title: Free Syrian Army

text: Around 18 February 2012, General Fayez Amro of the Syrian Air Force, who was from the Bab Amr district in Homs and of Turkmen origin, defected to Turkey.


title: Free Syrian Army

text: Another intelligence general from the Syrian army also defected at this time to Turkey. His name was not disclosed due to security reasons, opposition forces said.


title: Free Syrian Army

text: 22 February, a brigadier general defected in Idlib with 200 of his soldiers. In March, General Adnan Farzat from the city of Rastan and two other generals defected. Turkish government sources reported that same month a surge in desertions with 20,000 desertions in the past month alone bringing the total number of deserters from the Syrian army to over 60,000 soldiers.


title: Free Syrian Army

text: In February 2012, Fahad Al Masri was one of the founders of the first joint command of the Free Syrian Army Interior, along with Colonel Qassem Saad Eddin and other officers, and helped strengthen the formation of military councils, at the governorate level, and the establishment of press offices. Al Masri was accredited as the movement's spokesman.


title: Free Syrian Army

text: In late February 2012, the Syrian National Council established a military bureau to oversee military operations. This initiative was met with criticism by Free Syrian Army leaders who said that they had not been informed. Defected General Mustafa al-Sheikh created a similar discord in the army when he established a rival group called the Higher Military Revolutionary Council which was rejected by the FSA leadership and field units.


title: Free Syrian Army

text: Earlier the Muslim Brotherhood had also tried to coopt the FSA but the leadership rejected their attempt. Colonel Al Kurdi, the deputy leader of the FSA, dismissed the internal disputes and said that despite disagreements, the opposition remained united against the government and in their call for arms.


title: Free Syrian Army

text: Later in January 2012, the Free Syrian Army succeeded in taking control of the town of Zabadani in Damascus province, following intense clashes with the regular troops.


title: Free Syrian Army

text: The Free Syrian Army also for three months controlled around two-thirds of Homs, Syria's third largest city, according to Syrian military officers inside the city.


title: Free Syrian Army

text: In January, some Damascus suburbs fell under partial opposition control. For example, the town of Saqba, an eastern suburb of Damascus fell under opposition control for a week until the FSA was forced to tactically retreat into the local population after sustaining heavy bombardment by the Syrian Army. In late February, the city of Idlib was under opposition control, with opposition flags flying in the city centre.


title: Free Syrian Army

text: As deserted government soldiers had no armored vehicles and only light weaponry and munitions, FSA in August–October 2011 mostly ambushed security forces and the state's Shabiha (ghost) militia, and attacked trucks and buses bringing in security reinforcements by planting bombs or with hit-and-run attacks, but seldom confronted other regular army soldiers.


title: Free Syrian Army

text: The FSA uses guerrilla warfare tactics when it fights and does not aim to occupy terrain once a fight is over, however, by late 2011 large swathes of area in Syria had fallen under partial control of the Free Syrian Army.


title: Free Syrian Army

text: The Free Syrian Army's armed actions focus on the government's combat advantages, which include the ability to mount coordinated operations on a large scale, the ability to move its forces at will, and the ability to employ heavy firepower. To counter these advantages, the FSA has mounted attacks on the government's command and control and logistical infrastructure. A sabotage campaign has begun in Syria, with reports of attacks on different government assets. The FSA has mounted attacks on security service command centers, and posts information on Syrian social media sites about blocking roads, attacking logistics vehicles, cutting coaxial communications cables servicing airfields, destroying telecommunications towers, sabotaging government vehicles by sugaring fuel tanks, and attacking railways and pipelines.


title: Free Syrian Army

text: The Free Syrian Army on the local level engages and ambushes the state's shabiha militia and confronts the army during which it encourages defections. Some members of the Free Syrian Army have stated that the organization does not have the resources to occupy and take control of territories, and instead relies primarily on hit and run attacks to prompt the Syrian army into withdrawing. The FSA also uses improvised explosive devices to attack military convoys of buses, trucks and tanks that are transporting supplies and security reinforcements and engages in attack and retreat operations on government checkpoints. In neighborhoods opposed to the government, the FSA has acted as a defense force, guarding streets while protests take place and attacking the militias, known as shabiha, which are an integral part of the government's efforts to suppress dissent. In Deir ez-Zor, Al-Rastan, Abu Kamal and other cities the Free Syrian Army, however, engaged in street battles that raged for days with no particular side gaining the advantage. The FSA has also sought international help in bringing down the Assad government. It has asked the international community for arms and the implementation of a no fly zone and naval blockade of Syria


title: Free Syrian Army

text: Communication inside the battalion unit is carried out by walkie talkie. The FSA battalion units work closely with the local population and defectors typically join units from the region or town that they come. The FSA is closely interlinked with ad hoc activist networks and it works closely with the civilian formed local councils. Around key population centers, such as Damascus, Aleppo, Daraa and Hama, the FSA operates military councils that coordinate operations in the area.


title: Free Syrian Army

text: The army's command and control is exercised through a variety of means, including mobile phones, voice over IP, email, couriers and social media. In November 2011, the army spent $2 million to improve communication links between opposition fighters in Syria. The Bashar al-Assad government captured a number of sophisticated communications devices from opposition fighters, including Thuraya mobile satellite phones, very high and ultra-high frequency (VHF/UHF) devices, and Inmarsat mobile communication satellite systems. In February 2012, Qatar had supplied the army with 3,000 satellite phones. The United States has also provided communication equipment to help create a more structured army.


title: Free Syrian Army

text: At the outset, the Free Syrian Army was mainly armed with AK-47s, DShKs and RPG-7s. As defecting soldiers lack air cover, deserting soldiers have to abandon their armoured vehicles. Soldiers defected carrying only their army issued light arms and hide in cities, suburbs or the cover of the countryside. Besides AK-47s, some FSA soldiers also have M16s, Steyr AUGs, FN FALs, SVDs and shotguns, G3 Battle Rifles, and PK machine guns.


title: Free Syrian Army

text: The FSA had a few heavy weapons captured from the Syrian government. In February 2012, video footage was posted online showing a captured government tank, being used in Homs by FSA forces. The tank carried Syrian opposition flags and was seen firing with armed men in civilian clothes taking cover behind it. An FSA spokesman has said that the organization received three tanks from a group of 100 deserters from the Syrian army. The FSA has also reportedly acquired a number of anti-aircraft missiles.


title: Free Syrian Army

text: The Free Syrian Army later began manufacturing its own mortars and rockets. Raids on government checkpoints and arms depots are carried out to supply the FSA with much of its ammunition and new arms. The FSA also purchases weapons on the Syrian black market which is supplied by arms smugglers from neighboring countries and corrupt loyalist forces selling government arms.


title: Free Syrian Army

text: There have been reports that whole arms depots have been offered for sale, although these offers were refused because of fears of a potential trap. FSA fighters are also sometimes able to purchase weapons directly from army supply bases, provided that they have enough money to satisfy the government troops guarding them. It is also reported that the FSA purchases much of its heavy weaponry from Iraqi arms smugglers.


title: Free Syrian Army

text: Col. Riad Asaad has asked the international community to supply the FSA with arms to alleviate the organization's supply issues.


title: Free Syrian Army

text: In March 2012, two reporters of "The New York Times" witnessed an FSA attack with a roadside bomb and AK-47 rifles on a column of armored Syrian tanks in Saraqib in Idlib Governorate, and learned that FSA had a stock of able, trained soldiers and ex-officers, organized to some extent, but were without the weapons to put up a realistic fight.


title: Free Syrian Army

text: Baba Amr district in Homs fell to government forces on the morning of 1 March, as the Free Syrian Army claimed they had made a "tactical retreat" from the area, after running low on weapons and ammunition. They made the decision to withdraw from Baba Amr and into other parts of Homs because "worsening humanitarian conditions, lack of food and medicine and water, electricity and communication cuts as well as shortages in weapons."


title: Free Syrian Army

text: Shortly after their retreat from Baba Amr in Homs, the FSA suffered another setback on 3 March, when a defection of 50 soldiers from the Abu Athuhoor Military Airport in Idlib province was foiled after their plans were discovered. 47 of the soldiers were executed and only three managed to escape. Their bodies were reportedly dumped in a lake.


title: Free Syrian Army

text: A raid was conducted in the Mezze area of Damascus, involving machine-gun fire and rocket propelled grenades. A defecting general was escorted from the area. A military helicopter flew over the area leading to the detection and deaths of 7 FSA fighters. Also, 80 elements of the security forces including pro-government militia were reportedly killed and 200 wounded during the clashes. The deputy commander of the Free Syrian Army also said that two military tanks were destroyed during the operation. However, neither the opposition-affiliated SOHR activist group or any independent media confirmed the high number of government casualties in the clashes.


title: Free Syrian Army

text: FSA fighters claimed to control the back roads in the countryside, but also admitted that no one knew for certain where the Syrian Army would be at a given time. On 24 March 2012, the Free Syrian Army united with the Higher Military Council. The groups agreed to put their differences behind them, and in a statement said: "First, we decided to unite all the military councils and battalions and all the armed battalions inside the country under one unified leadership of the Free Syrian Army and to follow the orders of the commander of the FSA, Col. Riad al-Asaad."


title: Free Syrian Army

text: By late April 2012, despite a cease-fire being declared in the whole country, heavy fighting continued in Al-Qusayr, where rebel forces controlled the northern part of the city, while the military held the southern part. FSA forces were holding onto Al-Qusayr, due to it being the last major transit point toward the Lebanese border. A rebel commander from the Farouq Brigades in the town reported that 2,000 Farouq fighters had been killed in Homs province since August 2011. At this point, there were talks among the rebels in Al-Qusayr, where many of the retreating rebels from Homs city's Baba Amr district had gone, of Homs being abandoned completely.


title: Free Syrian Army

text: Despite the UN ceasefire, fighting between the Free Syrian Army and Syrian government forces continued throughout May. The FSA had used much of early May to regroup and gradually launched more and more attacks on government forces as the month progressed (despite often being poorly armed) and it became clear that the ceasefire had failed. Kofi Annan himself expressed exasperation at the ongoing violence.


title: Free Syrian Army

text: In May, United Nations monitors confirmed media reports that large areas of Syria's countryside and provincial cities were under the de facto control of the FSA. The Free Syrian Army has stated that it only has partial control over its held areas, and that in a head-to-head battle with the Syrian army was unable in most cases to hold the territory. The FSA's goal as of winter was to loosen government control over areas, rather than to impose firm control of its own.


title: Free Syrian Army

text: By June 2012, CNN estimated opposition forces to have grown to 40,000 men. The Free Syrian Army announced on 4 June it was abandoning its ceasefire agreement. Spokesman Sami al-Kurdi told Reuters that the FSA had begun attacking soldiers to "defend our people". At least 80 government soldiers were killed in escalating violence over that weekend. By mid-June, the FSA controlled large swathes of land in Idlib governorate and Northern Hama governorate. In these areas, the FSA and local individuals administered justice and the distribution of supplies to residents.


title: Free Syrian Army

text: It was reported on 28 June that the opposition almost entirely controlled the city of Deir ez-Zor, while the government army had shelled it, trying to take it back. Human rights groups said that this assault with tanks and artillery had killed over 100 residents. The government also reportedly told doctors not to treat people at local hospitals and targeted hospitals that refused with mortar rounds. Humanitarian aid workers from the Syrian Arab Red Crescent were targeted by the army, one worker was killed. In Homs, the FSA held out against government forces bombarding large parts of the city, including the opposition bastion of Khaldiyah. Also, renewed fighting between rebels and loyalists was reported in the Baba Amr neighbourhood of Homs.


title: Free Syrian Army

text: By July 2012, there were over 100,000 defectors from the armed forces reported. In July, it was reported that the Free Syrian Army had taken control of a number of suburbs north of the capital Damascus, including Zamalka and Irbeen. FSA fighters openly patrolled the streets of the suburbs, and clashes occurred less than 10 kilometers from the center of Damascus city itself.


title: Free Syrian Army

text: It was reported that the Free Syrian Army also took control of a commercial crossing in Bab al-Hawa in Syria's northern frontier. FSA fighters had fought government forces there for ten days until they won. FSA fighters were seen in video footage, destroying portraits of Assad and celebrating their victory.


title: Free Syrian Army

text: On August 21, 2012, Fahad Al Masri was the first to meet the international envoy to Syria, Lakhdar Brahimi, after his meeting with French President Francois Hollande as part of his mission in the Syrian file in France.


title: Free Syrian Army

text: Prior to September 2012, the Free Syrian Army operated its command and headquarters from Turkey's southern Hatay province close to the Syrian border with field commanders operating inside Syria. In September 2012, the FSA announced that it had moved its headquarters to rebel-controlled territory of Idlib Governorate in northern Syria, which was later overrun by the Islamic Front in December 2013.


title: Free Syrian Army

text: In October 2012, Fahad Al Masri, spokesman for the Free Syrian Army, went to Turkey to participate in meetings with several officers who had defected in areas near the Syrian-Turkish border, as well as with the French ambassador in charge of the Syrian file with several military.


title: Free Syrian Army

text: According to a France 24 report in October 2012, "rich businessmen from Damascus and Aleppo support the FSA as well as political organisations like the Muslim Brotherhood." The ideology of various FSA groups depended on their sponsors and funders. "If a militia receives money from the Muslim Brotherhood, then it obviously going to be an Islamist militia", an observer stated.


title: Free Syrian Army

text: The Syrian National Coalition, formed in November 2012 and by September 2013 based in Istanbul, dubbed the 'main opposition alliance', was recognized by the FSA by September 2013.


title: Free Syrian Army

text: On 18 November, rebels took control of one of the Syrian Army's largest military bases in northern Syria, Base 46 in the Aleppo Governorate after weeks of intense fighting with government forces. Defected General Mohammed Ahmed al-Faj, who commanded the assault, hailed the capture of Base 46 as "one of our biggest victories since the start of the revolution" against Bashar al-Assad, claiming nearly 300 Syrian troops had been killed and 60 had been captured with rebels seizing large amounts of heavy weapons and tanks.


title: Free Syrian Army

text: On 22 November, rebels captured the Mayadin military base in the country's eastern Deir ez Zor province. Activists said this gave the rebels control of a large amount of territory east of the base, to the Iraqi border.


title: Free Syrian Army

text: On 7 December 2012, about 260 to 550 commanders and representatives of the Syrian armed opposition met in Antalya and elected a new 30-person military council for the FSA, called Supreme Military Council.


title: Free Syrian Army

text: Colonel Riad al-Asaad, who was not present at the meeting, retained his formal role as Commander-in-Chief but lost effective power to Brigadier General Salim Idris, who was elected as the new Chief of Staff of the FSA and effective leader.


title: Free Syrian Army

text: Security officials from the United States, United Kingdom, France, the Gulf Cooperation Council and Jordan were present at the meeting,


title: Free Syrian Army

text: days before a meeting of the Friends of Syria Group that had pledged non-military aid to militant rebels.


title: Free Syrian Army

text: Al-Nusra Front and Ahrar ash-Sham were not invited to the meeting. Thomson Reuters stated that the new Chief of Staff Gen. Salim Idris "is not ideological", while two of his new deputy commanders, Abdelbasset Tawil from Idlib Governorate and Abdelqader Saleh from Aleppo Governorate are Islamist. FSA commanders "[appeared] to want to sideline extremist groups that have been playing a bigger role in recent months" and that there would be a total of five deputy commanders associated with five different regions of Syria.


title: Free Syrian Army

text: In December 2012, more than 260 Free Syrian Army rebel commanders from all over Syria agreed to a unified command structure of the Free Syrian Army. The participants elected a 30-member Supreme Military Council, which then selected General Salim Idris as chief of staff. Idris was later replaced by Abdul-Ilah al-Bashir.


title: Free Syrian Army

text: The FSA's formal leader is its Commander-in-Chief Colonel Riad al-Asaad; however, the army's effective military leader is its Supreme Military Councils Chief of Staff, Brigadier General Abdul-Ilah al-Bashir. Beneath General al-Bashir there are five deputy chief of staffs who are in charge of five different regions of Syria. Two of these deputy chiefs of staff are Abdelbasset Tawil from Idlib Governorate and Abdelqader Saleh from Aleppo Governorate.


title: Free Syrian Army

text: The Free Syrian Army has field units located across the country. The field units are under the direct command of nine regional commanders which are based in the provinces of Homs, Hama, Idlib, Deir al-Zor, Damascus, Aleppo and Latakia. The regional commanders include Colonel Qasim Saad al-Din who directs military operations in Homs province and Colonel Khaled al-Haboush who directs military operations in the capital. The regional commanders are under the direct operational command of Colonel Riad Asaad and hold conference calls almost daily. For internal communication and operations, the FSA appears to have an extensive internet based communication network that state security has tried to penetrate.


title: Free Syrian Army

text: The Free Syrian Army has adopted the configuration and tactics of a guerrilla force. A typical field unit such as the Tel Kalakh Martyrs' Brigade numbers between 300 and 400 fighters split into combat units of six to 10 men. Each man in the unit is armed with a light weapon, such as an AK-47, and the combat unit as a whole is equipped with an RPG launcher and a light machine gun.


title: Free Syrian Army

text: Free Syrian Army units specialize in different tasks. Units close to the borders are involved with logistics and the transport of injured soldiers out of the country and also with the transport medical equipment, material supplies and weapons into the country. Other units such as the Farouq Brigades which are based in the city of Homs are involved in protecting civilians and fending off the Syrian army. The Farouq Brigade is one of the more active FSA battalion units. It is led by Lieutenant Abdul-Razzaq Tlass, the nephew of former Defense Minister Mustafa Tlass. Lieutenant Tlass was one of the first defectors and is one of the key figures in the Syrian uprising. His unit of 500–2,000 soldiers has engaged the Syrian army in Homs and raided Syrian checkpoints and command centers. , the army had around 37 named battalion units, 17–23 of which appeared to be engaged in combat. In October 2012 the Time magazine reported that the FSA was "never more than an umbrella term that provided political cover for the loose franchise of defectors and armed civilians fighting Assad's regime" and some units were merely made up of a few dozen fighters.


title: Free Syrian Army

text: In April 2013, the US announced it would transfer $123 million in nonlethal aid to Syrian rebels through the Supreme Military Council led by defected general Salim Idris, the then Chief of Staff of FSA.


title: Free Syrian Army

text: In April–May 2013, FSA was losing fighters to Salafist jihadist organisation Al-Nusra Front which was emerging as the best-equipped, financed and motivated anti-Assad force, concluded "The Guardian" after interviewing FSA commanders across Syria. FSA commander Basha said that in the last few months 3,000 FSA fighters had gone over to al-Nusra, mainly because FSA lacks weapons and ammunition. Another FSA commander said that also the Islamic doctrine of al-Nusra attracts FSA fighters. A Western diplomat played down suggestions that Nusra would be cleaner, better and stronger: "fighters are moving from one group to another", but you can't say that Nusra has in general more momentum than others, he maintained.