Leon Sedov Brigade

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Leon Sedov Brigade
لواء ليون سيدوف
Leaders	Abu Muad Abu al-Baraa †
Dates of operation	June 2012 (2012-06) – present
Ideology	Trotskyism Permanent revolution Revolutionary socialism
Size	200
Part of	Levant Front (May – June 2015)
Allies	International Trotskyist Leninist Faction[1] Tahrir al-Sham Sham Legion Ahrar al-Sham
Opponents	Syria  Iran  Russia AANES Hezbollah YPG PFLP Syrian Resistance Syrian Democratic Forces International Freedom Battalion
Battles and wars	Libyan Civil War Syrian Civil War Battle of Aleppo (2012–2016) 2016 Southern Aleppo campaign 2016 Aleppo summer campaign Idlib Governorate clashes (June 2012–April 2013) Inter-rebel conflict during the Syrian Civil War

The Leon Sedov Brigade (Arabic: لواء ليون سيدوف) is a Trotskyist militant group participating in the Syrian civil war. Its founders were Argentinian, but it was based primarily in Aleppo where it recruited local fighters. It is named for Leon Sedov, the first son of Leon Trotsky.

History[]

The Leon Sedov Brigade was founded in Libya in 2012 by a group of ten to twelve Argentinians fighting against the government of Muammar Ghaddafi. After the fall of the Libyan government and beginning of the Syrian civil war in 2011, the group's members entered Syria via Turkey and began fighting the Syrian government alongside armed Syrian opposition groups. Members of the Leon Sedov Brigade worked in factories and on construction sites in Aleppo to build local ties and raise funds, as well as to recruit local fighters to build a "workers' army".

In 2013, the Leon Sedov Brigade came into conflict with the Nour al-Din al-Zenki Movement. The Leon Sedov Brigade's leader claimed the Nour al-Din al-Zenki Movement was sheltering a local Shabiha commander who was stealing property from the locals. The Leon Sedov Brigade proceeded to arrest the Shabiha commander when he was unprotected. The arrest prompted groups linked to the Nour al-Din al-Zenki Movement to arrive at the Leon Sedov Brigade's headquarters and demand the release of the Shabiha commander. The Leon Sedov Brigade refused, resulting in a minor clash. The Nour al-Din al-Zenki Movement later requested mediation from Jabhat al-Nusra. Al-Nusra reportedly asked the Leon Sedov Brigade to release the Shabiha commander. The Leon Sedov Brigade again refused; al-Nusra responded by sending a group of Central Asian fighters to attack the Leon Sedov Brigade, and the Shabiha commander was released soon after.

, the leader of the Leon Sedov Brigade, was captured by the Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant (ISIL) in 2013 and held for several days inside 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 claims that after escaping from ISIL's custody they apologized for detaining him, returned his possessions, and offered him food for Ramadan.

The Leon Sedov Brigade fought alongside an assortment of other rebel groups, including the Muslim Brotherhood-linked Sham Legion, and attempted to form a united front against the Syrian government.

It opposes the U.S. intervention in Syria against ISIL which began in 2014.^[2] In a statement from Aleppo in 2015, it condemned Kurdish leaders for collaborating with the Syrian government.^[3]

The Leon Sedov Brigade joined the Levant Front in May 2015 but left after a month. In spite of the political differences between the Leon Sedov Brigade and 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.^{[citation needed]}

In a 2018 interview, Abu Muad, when asked about his stance on the newly formed coalition of Hayat Tahrir al-Sham, expressed his support for the coalition so long as they continued to fight the Syrian government.^[4][5]

References[]

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