Syrian Armed Forces

The Syrian Armed Forces are Syria’s military institutions, comprising the army, navy, and air force. Their organization and role have changed substantially across periods of conflict and political transition.

Syrian Army: The land-warfare branch of Syria’s armed forces. It has been the armed forces’ largest branch and principal ground combat institution.
French Mandate for Syria and the Lebanon: The League of Nations mandate under which France governed Syria and Lebanon from 1923 to 1946. Military units formed under French rule provided institutional precedents for the later Syrian army.
Six-Day War: The 1967 war between Israel and a coalition of Arab states, including Syria. The Syrian military’s defeat and loss of the Golan Heights shaped later defense priorities.
Free Syrian Army: A loose coalition of armed opposition groups formed from defectors and other fighters during the Syrian civil war. It emerged in opposition to the government forces and drew some personnel from their ranks.
2011 Syrian uprising: A mass protest movement in Syria that began in March 2011 and developed into a civil war. Military repression of protests helped turn a political uprising into armed conflict.
Syrian Arab Air Force: The air force branch of Syria’s armed forces. Its aircraft and air bases made it a major instrument of state military power.
Syrian independence: The end of French rule and establishment of Syria as an independent state in 1946. Independence transferred military institutions into the new Syrian state.
Yom Kippur War: The 1973 war in which Egypt and Syria launched attacks against Israel. Syrian forces fought to regain territory lost in 1967.
Syrian Democratic Forces: A multi-ethnic military coalition formed in 2015 and led by Kurdish forces in northeastern Syria. It operated independently of the Syrian government’s military chain of command.
Syrian refugee crisis: The mass displacement of Syrians caused by conflict, persecution, and insecurity since 2011. Military operations and violence contributed to displacement on a vast scale.

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