Active 2013 – Present | ||
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Leaders Col. Talal Ali SuloHani al-Mullah † Area of operations Aleppo GovernorateRaqqa GovernorateHasakah Governorate Part of Free Syrian Army Syrian Turkmen Brigades (2013—2015) Army of Revolutionaries (2015—present) Syrian Democratic Forces (2015—present)Al-Bab Military CouncilManbij Military Council Opponents Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant Turkey Hawar Kilis Operations Room Syrian Armed Forces (until 2015) | ||
The Seljuk Brigade (Turkish: Selçuklular Tugayı, Arabic: لواء السلاجقة), is a Syrian Turkmen rebel group participating in the Syrian Civil War, named after the Seljuk Turks.
History
The Seljuk Brigade was founded in early 2013 in the northern Aleppo Governorate by Colonel Talal Ali Silo and was temporary a part of the Suleyman Shah Brigade.
It was initially based in the mainly-Turkmen village of al-Rai, before its capture by the Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant (ISIL) in January 2014. As with the other Syrian Turkmen Brigades, the group was supplied and armed by Turkey, although tensions occurred between them after the capture of al-Rai due to Turkey favouring the Fatih Sultan Mehmed Brigade in Jarabulus, sending only a limited amount of arms to the Seljuk Brigade.
It then joined the Army of Revolutionaries in August 2015, which became part of the Syrian Democratic Forces in October 2015. The group's commander, Talal Silo, was present at the SDF formation announcement; furthermore, he announced the SDF's 2015 Al-Hawl offensive.
Unlike other Turkmen rebel groups, they are allied with the Kurdish People's Protection Units. The Seljuk Brigade in Manbij condemned the Turkish military intervention in Syria in late August 2016.
On 10 September 2016 one of the brigade's commanders, Hani al-Mullah, died of a gunshot to the head in the town of Tell Abyad. Raqqa Is Being Slaughtered Silently claimed that his death was the result of suicide, although other sources dispute this and allege that the killing is an assassination, either by the Turkish National Intelligence Organization or by ISIL militants. As a result, a curfew was imposed in Tell Abyad.