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Hamza Division (Aleppo)
The Hamza Division (Arabic: فرقة الحمزة) was a Syrian rebel group in northwestern Syria affiliated with the Syrian National Army, trained and equipped by the United States, the United Kingdom and Turkey as part of the Syrian Train and Equip Program. Formed in 2013, it cooperated with the Turkish Armed Forces in the Turkish occupation of northern Syria.
In 2018, Turkey "deployed 600 members of the Kurdish Falcon Brigade to join the Hamza Division" in "what may have been an.. [attempt] to counter accusations of anti-Kurdish discrimination". As of 2018, the Hamza Division is "made up of 200 Kurdish and 400 Arab fighters" trained and armed by Turkey. During the integration of Syrian rebel factions in 2025, the Hamza Division was reorganized into the 76th Division.
The Hamza Division was originally formed as the Hamza Brigade of the Free Syrian Army (FSA) in the southern countryside of the Hasakah Governorate in northeast Syria in 2013.
On 23 April 2016, five FSA groups based in the town of Mare' in the northern Aleppo Governorate countryside, the Hamza Brigade, the Dhi Qar Brigade, the Northern Thunder Brigade, the Mare Resistance Brigade, and the Special Operations Brigade merged into the Hamza Division, citing "interests of unity" and proclaiming its intention to fight the "crime and terror" of the Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant (ISIL) and the Syrian government. Under the command of Syrian Army defector Lt. Sayf Bulad ("Sayf Abu Bakr"), the factions receive military support from CJTF-OIR, the international coalition against ISIL.
In June 2016, the Northern Thunder Brigade received BGM-71 TOW missiles from CJTF-OIR. Also that month, a Syrian Turkmen group called the "Samarkand Brigade", named after the city in Uzbekistan, joined the Hamza Division.
During Operation Euphrates Shield in late August, the Hamza Division became one of the first FSA groups to enter Jarabulus from Karkamış. Sayf Bulad was among those who followed behind Turkish Land Forces tanks and troops and entered Jarabulus in the morning of the first day of the operation, reaching the city center by afternoon. He later gave a speech to residents in Jarabulus.
On 18 October 2016, the Northern Thunder Brigade, part of the Hamza Division, issued an ultimatum to the YPG and the Army of Revolutionaries, warning them to leave Tell Rifaat within 48 hours after which they would attack the town. The threat was not carried out.
On 24 September 2017, the Hamza Division announced the opening of a military academy in the city of al-Bab. According to Abdullah Halawa, the military commander of the group, 2,200 fighters were to undergo two months of training in the academy, with the goal of forming a "Syrian National Army" in northern Syria.
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Hamza Division (Aleppo)
The Hamza Division (Arabic: فرقة الحمزة) was a Syrian rebel group in northwestern Syria affiliated with the Syrian National Army, trained and equipped by the United States, the United Kingdom and Turkey as part of the Syrian Train and Equip Program. Formed in 2013, it cooperated with the Turkish Armed Forces in the Turkish occupation of northern Syria.
In 2018, Turkey "deployed 600 members of the Kurdish Falcon Brigade to join the Hamza Division" in "what may have been an.. [attempt] to counter accusations of anti-Kurdish discrimination". As of 2018, the Hamza Division is "made up of 200 Kurdish and 400 Arab fighters" trained and armed by Turkey. During the integration of Syrian rebel factions in 2025, the Hamza Division was reorganized into the 76th Division.
The Hamza Division was originally formed as the Hamza Brigade of the Free Syrian Army (FSA) in the southern countryside of the Hasakah Governorate in northeast Syria in 2013.
On 23 April 2016, five FSA groups based in the town of Mare' in the northern Aleppo Governorate countryside, the Hamza Brigade, the Dhi Qar Brigade, the Northern Thunder Brigade, the Mare Resistance Brigade, and the Special Operations Brigade merged into the Hamza Division, citing "interests of unity" and proclaiming its intention to fight the "crime and terror" of the Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant (ISIL) and the Syrian government. Under the command of Syrian Army defector Lt. Sayf Bulad ("Sayf Abu Bakr"), the factions receive military support from CJTF-OIR, the international coalition against ISIL.
In June 2016, the Northern Thunder Brigade received BGM-71 TOW missiles from CJTF-OIR. Also that month, a Syrian Turkmen group called the "Samarkand Brigade", named after the city in Uzbekistan, joined the Hamza Division.
During Operation Euphrates Shield in late August, the Hamza Division became one of the first FSA groups to enter Jarabulus from Karkamış. Sayf Bulad was among those who followed behind Turkish Land Forces tanks and troops and entered Jarabulus in the morning of the first day of the operation, reaching the city center by afternoon. He later gave a speech to residents in Jarabulus.
On 18 October 2016, the Northern Thunder Brigade, part of the Hamza Division, issued an ultimatum to the YPG and the Army of Revolutionaries, warning them to leave Tell Rifaat within 48 hours after which they would attack the town. The threat was not carried out.
On 24 September 2017, the Hamza Division announced the opening of a military academy in the city of al-Bab. According to Abdullah Halawa, the military commander of the group, 2,200 fighters were to undergo two months of training in the academy, with the goal of forming a "Syrian National Army" in northern Syria.
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