[a] Founded in 2012 and led by Azad Shabo, the Azadî Battalion is opposed to the Democratic Union Party (PYD) and fights on the side of Turkey in the Syrian Civil War.

[7] In early 2012,[10] members of the Kurdish Freedom Party came together in the village of Tel Aren, Afrin District, where they announced the formation of the Azadî Battalion under the leadership of Azad Shabo.

[5] It subsequently joined the anti-PYD Free Syrian Army and the Aleppo Revolutionary Military Council, led by Abdul Jabbar al-Oqaidi;[12] the pro-PYD Hawar News Agency has accused the militia of directly working with the al-Nusra Front in Ras al-Ayn.

[7] Sporadic fighting between the two groups continued,[6] and Azadî Battalion fighters reportedly took part in attacks on the YPG-held Sheikh Maqsood neighborhood of Aleppo since September 2013.

[15] Nevertheless, the Kurdish Supreme Committee consequently started an investigation of the Azadî Battalion "for allegedly taking part in the attacks against West Kurdistan".

[17][18] Though the Azadî Battalion continued to fight against the YPG, its power reportedly dwindled over time, and pro-PYD media claimed that parts of the militia under Mahmut Hamo eventually split off and joined the Sultan Murad Division.

[21] In early 2018, the Azadî Battalion participated in Operation Olive Branch, causing the pro-PYD Hawar News Agency to claim that Azad Shabo's men acted as "mercenaries" for the Kurdish National Council and Turkey.

It regards the PYD and YPG/YPJ as Ba'athist, chauvinist and racist proxies of the Kurdistan Workers' Party who are thought by the Azadî Battalion to be controlled by Iran and closely allied with the Syrian government.