Fastaqim Union

The Fastaqim Kama Umirt Union was a rebel group active during the Syrian Civil War.

History
On 26 April 2015, along with other major Aleppo based groups, they established the Fatah Halab joint operations room.

On 2 November 2016, during the Aleppo offensive, Fastaqim Union fighters captured a military commander of the Nour al-Din al-Zenki Movement. In response, al-Zenki fighters attacked the Fastaqim Union's headquarters in the Salaheddine District and al-Ansari district of Aleppo. At least one rebel were killed and more than 25 wounded on both sides in the raid. The next day, the Levant Front and the Abu Amara Brigades began to patrol the streets to arrest any rebels taking part in the clashes. At least 18 rebels were killed in the infighting.

The group was mostly dissolved when the Nour al-Din al-Zenki Movement and the Abu Amara Brigades eventually captured all positions of the Fastaqim Union in eastern Aleppo in November 2016. Dozens of rebels from the latter group surrendered and were either captured, joined Abu Amara Brigades's parent group Ahrar al-Sham, or deserted. Some remnants of the Union remained active, but they were considered very weak. As the rebel-held parts of Allepo were finally conquered by the Syrian Army in December 2016, the loyalist remnants of the Fastaqim Union were among the rebels that were evacuated from Aleppo to Idlib Governorate.

On 25 January 2017, the remaining members of the union's Aleppo branch joined Ahrar al-Sham. Former Fastaqim Union spokesman Ammar Sakkar explained that this move had become "a necessity", as the rebel factions had to unite in face of recent government gains, most notably the fall of rebel-held Aleppo. According to him "division has become illogical and would neither build a state nor establish a system of governance, which is an objective of the Syrian revolution".

Despite the January 2017 merger of the remaining members of Fastaqim Union with Ahrar al-Sham, some members of the group remained independent. Lord Fourati, the former office director of the Fastaqim Union, called his group pledging allegiance to Ahrar al-Sham "shameful and illogical". On 11 May 2017, a former military commander of Fastaqim Union, Abu Hasanayn, was requested to a meeting in Idlib after coming from al-Bab. Once in Idlib, he was arrested by Ahrar al-Sham. The latter then demanded the remaining holdouts of the Fastaqim Union to surrender their weapons, leading to a clash. Less than an hour later, the Fastaqim headquarter was captured by Ahrar al-Sham. The incident was described as the "final nail in the coffin" for the group. Ammar Sakkar, the group's former spokesperson, was also arrested by Ahrar al-Sham.