[8] The Fastaqim Union takes its name from a Quranic verse, and was founded as an "Islamist umbrella movement" of pro-Free Syrian Army factions in December 2012.

[9] Its first overall commander was Sheikh Tawfiq Shahabuddin who headed the Nour al-Din al-Zenki Movement which was one of the Fastaqim Union's member groups at the time.

[9] Analyst Nicholas A. Heras described Berro as moderate Islamist who regarded his uprising as being motivated by "secular idealism" yet also as part of a "jihad against the al-Assad government".

[17] 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.

[19] 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.

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.

Lord Fourati, the former office director of the Fastaqim Union, called his group pledging allegiance to Ahrar al-Sham "shameful and illogical".

[20] Despite this, a Fastaqim Union remnant group under the command of Abu Abdo al-Zir was still active in the northern Aleppo countryside by November 2017,[6] and under Hisham Eskif, it took part in the Turkish military operation in Afrin in early 2018.