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| ==Disbandement== | ==Disbandement== | ||
| On ], the newly-elected President of Lebanon ] began slowly to reorganize the battered ] (LAF) structure, which had split into four sectarian factions<ref> O'Ballance, ''Civil War in Lebanon'' (1998), p. 63.</ref>. The first fraction of the AFL to be re-integrated into the official battle order of the re-organized ] in ] was the Jounieh garrison, whose commander ] was promoted to ] and sent to the ] in ], where he deserted in 1978 to become the head of the ] (LF) official representation at the French Capital<ref>Micheletti and Debay, ''Les Forces Libanaises'', RAIDS magazine (1989), p. 34.</ref>. In ] at Beirut, Col. Barakat handed over the ] barracks back to the official authorities, thus effectively |
On ], the newly-elected President of Lebanon ] began slowly to reorganize the battered ] (LAF) structure, which had split into four sectarian factions<ref> O'Ballance, ''Civil War in Lebanon'' (1998), p. 63.</ref>. The first fraction of the AFL to be re-integrated into the official battle order of the re-organized ] in ] was the Jounieh garrison, whose commander ] was promoted to ] and sent to the ] in ], where he deserted in 1978 to become the head of the ] (LF) official representation at the French Capital<ref>Micheletti and Debay, ''Les Forces Libanaises'', RAIDS magazine (1989), p. 34.</ref>. In ] at Beirut, Col. Barakat handed over the ] barracks back to the official authorities, thus effectively signalling the disbandement of the AFL and the return of his troops to the LAF structure. | ||
| A different fate however, awaited the ex-AFL troops of the Marjayoun garrison in the south. By late 1976, pressure from PLO and LNM-LAA militias finally forced Major ] to evacuate the town and withdraw unopposed to the town of ], close to the border with ]. Here Major Haddad and his men placed themselves under the protection of the ] (IDF), eventually providing the cadre – after merging with local Christian, ] and ] militias – of the so-called ‘Free Lebanese Army’ (FLA), otherwise known as the ] (SLA). | A different fate however, awaited the ex-AFL troops of the Marjayoun garrison in the south. By late 1976, pressure from PLO and LNM-LAA militias finally forced Major ] to evacuate the town and withdraw unopposed to the town of ], close to the border with ]. Here Major Haddad and his men placed themselves under the protection of the ] (IDF), eventually providing the cadre – after merging with local Christian, ] and ] militias – of the so-called ‘Free Lebanese Army’ (FLA), otherwise known as the ] (SLA). | ||
Revision as of 23:34, 10 February 2011
| Army of Free Lebanon (AFL) | |
|---|---|
 | |
| Leaders | Antoine Barakat, Fouad Malek, Saad Haddad |
| Dates of operation | Until 1978 |
| Group(s) | Lebanese Front |
| Headquarters | Fayadieh (East Beirut) |
| Allies | Al-Tanzim, Marada Brigade, Tigers Militia, Guardians of the Cedars (GoC), Lebanese Forces |
| Opponents | Lebanese National Movement (LNM), Palestine Liberation Organization (PLO), Syrian Army |
| Battles and wars | Lebanese civil war (1975-1990) |
The Army of Free Lebanon – AFL (Arabic: Lubnan al-Jaiysh al-Horr) or ‘Colonel Barakat’s Army’, also designated Armée du Liban Libre (ALL) or ‘Armée du Colonel Barakat’ in French, was a predominantely Christian splinter faction of the Lebanese Army that came to play a major role in the 1975-77 phase of the Lebanese Civil War.
Emblem
Upon its formation, the AFL adoped as logo a rectangular (or square) red and blue ‘flash’ with a stylished white cedar tree in the middle, which was hastly painted on its armoured and transport vehicles. Sometimes the motto ‘Free Lebanon’ (Lubnan al-Horr) written in Arabic script was painted alongside the flash on the hull and turret of the tanks.
Origins
The AFL was created on January 23, 1976 at Beirut by Lebanese Colonel Antoine Barakat who declared loyalty to them President of Lebanon Suleiman Frangieh. A Maronite from Frangieh’s hometown Zgharta, Barakat rose with the troops of the Beirut Command in response for Lieutenant Ahmed al-Khatib’s rebellion two days earlier at the head of the breakway Lebanese Arab Army (LAA). Another officer, the head of Jounieh garrison Major Fouad Malek, supported the Barakat-led faction, as did Major Saad Haddad the commander of the Marjayoun garrison in the south.
Structure and organization
Headquartered at Fayadieh barracks, a major military facility situated in the vinicty of the Ministry of Defense complex at Yarze, the AFL numbered some 3,000 uniformed regulars, mostly Christian Maronites and Greek-Catholics. Out of this total, some 2,000 soldiers were allocated at Fayadieh under Col. Barakat’s direct orders whilst 500 were based at Jounieh barracks and the remainer 500 was kept at Marjayoun.
They were organized into conventional armour, infantry and artillery units provided with Panhard AML-90 and Staghound armoured cars, AMX-13 and M41 Walker Bulldog light tanks, M42 Duster SPAAGs, and tracked M113 or wheeled Panhard M3 VTT armoured personnel carriers, along with QF Mk III 25 Pounder field guns and French Mle 1950 BF-50 155mm howitzers (Obusier de 155 mm Modèle 50).
The AFL in the Lebanese civil war 1976-78
Closely allied with the Lebanese Front, the AFL fough alongside the Christian militias against the leftist Lebanese National Movement (LNM), the LAA, and the Palestine Liberation Organization (PLO) guerrilla factions.
In early March 1976, a number of Christian AFL soldiers from the Jounieh garrison even departed without permisson from their commanding Officer to their home town of Kobayat in the Akkar region of Northern Lebanon, which was being threatened by LAA attacks. That same month, Barakat’s troops helped the Republican Guard battalion and Marada Brigade militiamen loyal to President Frangieh in defending the Presidential Palace at Baabda from a two-pronged combined LNM-LAA assault, though prior to the attack the President had decamped to the safety of Jounieh. They also provided armour and artillery support to the Christian militias besieging the PLO-held Palestinian refugee camps of Jisr el-Basha and Tel al-Zaatar at East Beirut in June – August 1976.
During the “Hundred Days War” in early February 1978, the AFL was itself besiged and bombarded by the Syrian Army in their Fayadieh barracks, though they later helped the NLP Tigers and the newly-constitued Lebanese Forces’ Command in driving the Syrians out from East Beirut.
Disbandement
On March 1977, the newly-elected President of Lebanon Elias Sarkis began slowly to reorganize the battered Lebanese Armed Forces (LAF) structure, which had split into four sectarian factions. The first fraction of the AFL to be re-integrated into the official battle order of the re-organized Lebanese Army in June 1977 was the Jounieh garrison, whose commander Fouad Malek was promoted to Colonel and sent to the École de Guerre in Paris, where he deserted in 1978 to become the head of the Lebanese Forces (LF) official representation at the French Capital. In March 1978 at Beirut, Col. Barakat handed over the Fayadieh barracks back to the official authorities, thus effectively signalling the disbandement of the AFL and the return of his troops to the LAF structure.
A different fate however, awaited the ex-AFL troops of the Marjayoun garrison in the south. By late 1976, pressure from PLO and LNM-LAA militias finally forced Major Saad Haddad to evacuate the town and withdraw unopposed to the town of Qlayaa, close to the border with Israel. Here Major Haddad and his men placed themselves under the protection of the Israel Defense Forces (IDF), eventually providing the cadre – after merging with local Christian, Shia Muslim and Druze militias – of the so-called ‘Free Lebanese Army’ (FLA), otherwise known as the South Lebanon Army (SLA).
See also
- Lebanese Armed Forces
- Lebanese civil war
- Lebanese Front
- Lebanese Forces
- South Lebanon Army
- Tel al-Zaatar massacre
Notes
- http://scale35.blogspot.com/2009/05/amx-13-tell-el-zaatar.html – AMX-13 light tank of the Army of Free Lebanon at the siege of Tel al-Zaatar, East Beirut, July 1976.
- http://scale35.blogspot.com/2009/05/bulldog-in-aswek.html – M41 Walker Bulldog tank of the Army of Free Lebanon in the streets of the Aswek (the old city center of Beirut) c.1976.
- O'Ballance, Civil War in Lebanon (1998), p. 45.
- O'Ballance, Civil War in Lebanon (1998), pp. 46-47.
- O'Ballance, Civil War in Lebanon (1998), pp. 54 and 56-57.
- http://forum.tayyar.org/f8/facts-ag-tal-el-za3tar-28096/index2.html.
- O'Ballance, Civil War in Lebanon (1998), pp. 72-73.
- O'Ballance, Civil War in Lebanon (1998), p. 63.
- Micheletti and Debay, Les Forces Libanaises, RAIDS magazine (1989), p. 34.
References
- Edgar O'Ballance, Civil War in Lebanon, 1975–92, Palgrave Macmillan, 1998. ISBN 978-0333729757
- Éric Micheletti and Yves Debay, Liban – dix jours aux cœur des combats, RAIDS magazine n.º41, October 1989 issue. ISSN 0769-4814 (in French)
- Rex Brynen, Sanctuary and Survival: the PLO in Lebanon, Boulder: Westview Press, 1990.
Further reading
- Leila Haoui Zod, William Haoui, temoin et martyr, Mémoire DEA, Faculté d'Histoire, Université Saint Esprit, Kaslik, Liban 2004. (in French)