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Leon Sedov Brigade Brigada León Sedov لواء ليون سيدوف | |
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| Founded | 2012 |
| Membership | ~200 |
| Political orientation | Trotskyism |
The Leon Sedov Brigade is an active armed Trotskyist group involved in the Syrian civil war. It was founded in Libya in 2012 by a group of ten to twelve Argentines
fighting against the government of Muammar Ghaddafi. After the fall of the Libyan government and beginning of the Syrian Civil War, the group's members entered Syria via Turkey and began fighting the Syrian government alongside armed Syrian opposition groups. The group's members worked in factories and on construction sites in Aleppo to build local ties and raise funds, as well as recruit local fighters to build a worker's army.
History[edit | edit source]
In 2013, the group came into conflict with the Nour al-Din al-Zenki Movement after the group's leader claimed the Zenki movement was sheltering a Shabiha commander in rebel-held areas and that he was stealing property from the locals. The group proceeded to arrest the commander when he was unprotected. The arrest caused brigades linked to the Zenki movement to arrive and demand he be released. The Sedov brigade refused to release him resulting in a minor clash. The Zenki movement later requested support from Jabhat al-Nusra to mediate between the Sedov Brigade and Zenki Movement. Al-Nusra reportedly asked the brigade to release him. The brigade again refused, causing al-Nusra to respond by sending a group of Central Asian fighters to attack the group, soon after the Sedov Brigade released him.
The group's leader Abu Muad was captured by ISIL in 2013 and was held for several days in a school. He claims ISIL attempted to blackmail him and took his possessions. Protestors later demanded that ISIL release him and a local helped him escape. He says after escaping from ISIL's custody they apologized for holding him, returned his possessions and offered him food for Ramadan.
The group fought alongside an assortment of other rebel groups, including the Muslim Brotherhood-linked Sham Legion and attempted to form a unified force against the Syrian government. It joined the Levant Front in the summer of 2015, but left after a month. In spite of political differences between larger opposition groups such as Ahrar al-Sham, the brigade continued to work with them on the ground in Aleppo and surrounding areas against the Syrian Government and YPG.
In an interview the group's leader and founder Abu Muad when asked about his stance on the newly formed coalition of Hayat Tahrir al-Sham, he claimed he supports it as long as they continue to fight the Syrian government.