[1] Unlike the other major rebel group that operates out of Jabal Zawiya, Suqour al-Sham, the Martyrs of Mount Zawiya Battalion has been tied closely to the Idlib Military Council, a provincial-level military structure that integrates different rebel groups.

The Syrian Martyrs' Brigades has traditionally relied on its support from local communities,[3] and much of their weapons has been captured from government forces or purchased from corrupt army units,[9] but it has been reported that the group also receives funds and weaponry from Saudi Arabia.

In December 2013 Maarouf and his group became the leading figures in a new rebel alliance called the Syrian Revolutionaries Front.

[9] In January 2014, the Syrian Martyrs' Brigades killed Haji Bakr, a senior military commander in the Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant group.

[12] Unlike the Islamist Suqour al-Sham, the Martyrs of Mount Zawiya Battalion had been described as not motivated by any particular ideology, although the leadership came from a background of Sunni Muslim observance and traditional rural values.