Establishment and early activities

The Saladin Ayubi Battalion was formed in May 2012^[17] by a group of armed Kurdish rebels, among them university students, in a village near Afrin.^[4] On 12 May, Captain Bewar Mustafa, a military engineer in the Syrian Army,^[18] defected to join the Free Syrian Army in the city of al-Rastan. Mustafa was among the FSA officers who met with members of the United Nations Supervision Mission in Syria in Rastan.^[1]

Later in mid-2012, Mustafa contacted members of the Saladin Ayubi Battalion and arrived in Afrin to join the group as its commander. After more fighters joined the group, it was renamed as the Saladin Ayubi Brigade. It participated in clashes against government forces around Aleppo, before entering the city itself and taking part in the Battle of Aleppo.^[14] Under the command of Capt. Mustafa, the group fought in the Karm al-Jabal, Ashrafiya, Khalidiya, and Bani Zaid neighbourhoods of Aleppo city. It also took part in the Siege of Menagh Air Base, the Siege of Nubl and Al-Zahraa,^[12] and cooperated with the Azadî Battalion along the frontline south of Aleppo International Airport.^[4]

On 26 October 2012, clashes erupted between the YPG and other rebel groups, including the Saladin Ayubi Brigade, in the Ashrafiya neighbourhood of Aleppo. During the clashes on 1 November, the Saladin Ayubi Brigade captured Nujin Derik, a female YPG commander.^[19] The group, however, denied involvement in the clashes, and stated that it did not want to fight the YPG in Kurdish areas. On 5 November, a ceasefire agreement was signed between the YPG and PYD and FSA groups in Aleppo, promising the release of prisoners and closer cooperation in the fight against the Assad government.^[6] Derik was released 5 days later.^[20]

Later activities and dissolution

On 15 April 2013, 8 defected Kurdish military officers from Syria, including Lt. Col. Shawqi Othman of the Saladin Ayubi Brigade, were kidnapped at the Iraq–Syria border by unknown parties. The officers were heading to Iraqi Kurdistan to join the Peshmerga. One of the officers' relatives accused the PYD of involvement in their abductions.^[2][3]

In September 2013, clashes renewed between the YPG and its ally, the Kurdish Front, and other rebel groups in Aleppo, including the Saladin Ayubi Brigade, part of the Syrian Kurdish Revolutionary Council (Komala).^[22] On 19 September, the 16th Division was formed, with the Saladin Ayubi Brigade as a member group.^[8]

The pro-PYD Firat News Agency considered fighters of the group to be "mercenaries",^[23] and the 16th Division itself was considered "criminal gangs" by some residents in Aleppo, resulting in the group being attacked by Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant since October 2013.^[24] As part of the 16th Division, the Saladin Ayubi Brigade fought ISIL in Aleppo at the end of 2013.^[4]

On 4 April 2014, the Syrian Kurdish Revolutionary Council (Komala), having left the 16th Division, joined the Syrian Revolutionaries Front. In its accession statement, Capt. Bewar Mustafa called the PYD "tools of repression and intimidation by the Assad regime".^[9] Despite this, Mustafa and the Komala announced solidarity with Kobanî when ISIL attacked the city in September 2014, and demanded the SRF to provide military assistance to the YPG-led forces fighting against the ISIL offensive. Komala withdrew from the SRF on 6 October when it failed to respond.^[10]

In 2015, Captain Bewar Mustafa laid down his arms,^[21] and the Saladin Ayubi Brigade last appeared in July 2015.^[4] During the Operation Olive Branch in early 2018, Mustafa called FSA fighters participating in the offensive "mercenaries" and "a tool in the hands of their masters, even against their own kinsmen". He also claimed that "both sides are going to lose".^[21]