Active January 2015 – present | ||
Leaders Talas Salama
Abdul Bari Area of operations Rif Dimashq Governorate
Damascus Governorate
Homs Governorate Part of Authenticity and Development Front(former)
Southern Front Allies Forces of Martyr Ahmad al-Abdo
Revolutionary Commando Army
Army of Free Tribes
Jaysh al-Islam Opponents Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant
Syrian Armed Forces | ||
The Lions of the East Army (Arabic: جيش أسود الشرقية; Jaysh Usud al-Sharqiya) is a Syrian rebel group formed in January 2015 and is based in southeastern Syria. The group is also active in Damascus since 28 January 2015. It mainly focused on defeating the Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant in the eastern Syrian Desert, where it gained control over large areas in March 2015.
History
The group captured US-made BGM-71 TOW missiles from ISIL in the eastern Qalamoun Mountains in January 2015.
In late November 2015, many rebels from the Lions of the East Army dissolved into their ally the New Syrian Army.
A month later they left Authenticity and Development Front.
In July 2016, the group's positions near the Hadalat border crossing with Jordan was hit by airstrikes from the Russian Air Force.