Comprising various rebel factions that emerged at the start of the war in July 2011, it was officially established in 2017 under the auspices of Turkey, who provides funding, training, and military support.

[36] Initially the principal opponent of the Syrian government,[37] the FSA was gradually weakened by infighting, lack of funding, and rival Islamist groups.

[39] The official aims of the SNA were to create a "safe zone" in northern Syria, consolidate with other rebel factions, and combat both Syrian government forces and Islamists.

[40][41] Its presence expanded to the neighboring Idlib Governorate during the Syrian government's 2019 northwestern offensive,[28][29] after which it incorporated the National Front for Liberation on 4 October 2019.

The SNA captured both regime and SDF controlled areas in Aleppo countryside, including the cities of Manbij, Tel Rifaat and the Shahba region, and supported HTS during the offensives.

[53][54] At the Syrian Revolution Victory Conference, which was held on 29 January 2025, most factions of the armed opposition, including the SNA, announced their dissolution and were incorporated into the newly formed Ministry of Defense.

In addition, Liberation and Construction Movement commander Raed al Arab was made the head of the newly formed 118th Armored Division.

In January 2018, senior SNA commander Azad Shabo said that there were "dozens" among the FSA units[57] such as the Azadî Battalion,[58] while Almodon Online reported about 500 Kurdish fighters overall, including in non-FSA formations such as Ahrar al-Sham, the Levant Front and the Army of Grandchildren.

[62] Both NFL and SNA fighters were uninformed of the merger, which took place in a press conference in Urfa, southern Turkey, amid Turkish plans to launch an offensive against the Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF).

They successfully pushed the SDF out of the Jarablus area and captured all its settlements; the Euphrates river was used as a demarcation line, with forces on the opposing sides.

[134][135] As of February 2017, 470 fighters of the Turkish-backed Free Syrian Army died in Operation Euphrates Shield, while the Turkish armed forces lost 68.

This occurred when the SDF's Manbij Military Council handed over some territory bordering the Turkish positions to the SAA, creating a buffer zone.

[136] As a result, the TFSA failed to achieve other stated goals, including capturing the SDF-held city of Manbij and participating in the Coalition offensive on Raqqa.

According to Abdullah Halawa, military commander of the group, 2,200 fighters will undergo two months of training in the academy, with the goal of forming a "Syrian National Army" in northern Syria.

[141][better source needed] On 1 February, the SNA captured the strategic town of Bulbul after a fierce battle with the Kurdish-led People's Protection Units (YPG).

[142][better source needed] In early March, the second phase of Operation Olive Branch was launched after successfully clearing the entire Afrin-Turkey border.

[150] By 16 August, the SNA sent considerable reinforcements to the frontlines of Hama and Idlib, where the Syrian Arab Army was launching an offensive against HTS and various rebel groups.

[158] In January 2024, the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights reported that Turkey had deployed SNA fighters to participate in the anti-ISIS campaign in Niger.

[160][161][162] In July 2024, the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights reported that Turkey had deployed SNA fighters to participate in the Turkish-PKK conflict in Northern Iraq.

[163] On 26 March 2016, Ahrar ash-Sham ordered the anti-YPG Kurdish FSA group Liwa Ahfad Saladin to remove the flag of Kurdistan from their posts and threatened military action if they did not.

[169] On 13 April 2017, clashes broke out between the Levant Front and the Sultan Suleyman Shah Brigade 100 kilometers north of Aleppo after both groups said the other was committing corruption.

The FSA factions said the Revolutionary Knights Brigade was affiliated to the Nour al-Din al-Zenki Movement and Tahrir al-Sham and partaking in smuggling, looting, extortion, and abuses of civilians.

[173] Between 4 and 15 June, heavy fighting broke out between TFSA factions led by the Sultan Murad Division and Ahrar al-Sham and its allies in and near al-Bab.

[174] On 3 July 2017, Mahmoud Khallo, commander of the Descendants of Saladin Brigade, declared that his unit would not participate in a planned Turkish-led offensive against the YPG and SDF in the Afrin District and the Shahba region.

[177] On 18 November 2018, at least 25 militants were killed and dozens wounded in heavy clashes between Turkish-backed insurgent factions in the northwestern Syrian city of Afrin.

[178] In September 2016, after their capture of Jarabulus from ISIL, Sultan Murad Division fighters published pictures of themselves torturing four YPG prisoners of war.

[183] On 3 October 2018, the Glory Corps attempted to seize 4 houses inhabited by displaced families from Arbin in Afrin city to use as headquarters, but were stopped by the Sultan Murad Division and the rebel military police.