Leon Sedov Brigade

Leon Sedov Brigade
Participant in the Syrian Civil War
Active	June 2012-Present
Ideology	Trotskyism Permanent revolution Anti-imperialism
Leaders	Abu Muad Abu al-Baraa †
Size	200
Part of	Levant Front (May-June 2015)
Allies	Free Syrian Army Sham Legion Tahrir al-Sham Trotskyist Fraction – Fourth International[1]
Opponents	Syria  Iran  Russia Libya Hezbollah Syrian Democratic Forces People's Protection Units
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 is an active armed Trotskyist group founded in Libya in 2012 by 10-12 Argentine foreign fighters fighting against the government of Muammar Ghaddafi during the early stages of the Arab spring, after the fall of the Libyan government and beginning of the Syrian Civil War, the group's members entered Syria via Turkey and began taking part in multiple skirmishes alongside other Syrian Opposition groups. The group's founder and the others whom came with him began working in factories in Aleppo and construction sites to build local ties and raise funds as well as recruit local fighters from the jobs to build a worker's army, Abu Muad states he and his group refused to take part in criminal activities to finance their operations and would use their wages to buy weapons and ammunition, the group also received no foreign aid.

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 cause 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 disregarded the claims made by the brigade and asked that they release him and 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 also 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 posessions and offered him food for Ramadan.

The group allied itself with an assortment of other rebel groups including the Muslim Brotherhood linked Sham Legion and attempted to form a unified force against the Syrian government and joined the Levant Front in the summer of 2015 but left after a month. In spite of political differences between larger opposition groups such 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.^[2][3]

References