Tigers' militiamen were provided with a variety of small arms, including Mauser Karabiner 98k,[13] Lee–Enfield SMLE Mk III[13] and MAS-36 bolt-action rifles,[13] Carl Gustaf m/45, MAT-49 and PPSh-41[14] submachine guns, M2[15] and SIG SG 543 carbines, MAS-49,[13] M1 Garand (or its Italian-produced copy, the Beretta Model 1952), Vz.

On December 16, 1975 despite a ceasefire established the previous day, the NLP Tigers forcibly displaced all the 450 residents of Sebnay, a Muslim village southeast of Beirut, in the predominantly Maronite neighborhood of Hadath, Baabda District.

[49] In July–August 1976 the NLP Tigers participated in the Karantina, Al-Masklah and Tel al-Zaatar Massacres of Palestinian refugees in East Beirut[48] and Dbayeh,[50] allied with the Army of Free Lebanon, Al-Tanzim, Kataeb Regulatory Forces, Lebanese Youth Movement and the Guardians of the Cedars.

[51] Upon the outbreak of the civil war in April 1975, the NLP Tigers immediately engaged the leftist Lebanese National Movement (LNM) militias and their Palestinian PLO allies, being heavily committed in several battles in and outside the Beirut area.

[52][53][5] In January 1976 the collapse of the Lebanese Armed Forces (LAF) enabled the Tigers to take over Army barracks and depots located at Achrafieh, Ain El Remmaneh, Hadath, Baabda, and Hazmiyeh districts of East Beirut, seizing heavy weapons and enrolling defectors into their ranks.

The Tigers later joined in March that year the allied Christian Lebanese Front militias in the defense of the Mount Lebanon region and the Aley District against the combined LNM-PLO-Lebanese Arab Army (LAA) 'Spring Offensive'.

[57][58] The fall of this important stronghold was a severe blow to the NLP and the Tigers (coupled by the death in action of their commander Naim Berdkan), depriving them of their main recruiting area along with their local training infrastructure, chiefly the Es-Saadiyat camp, and the port towns of Damour and Jiyeh.

[60][61][62][63][64][65][48][66] While their leader Dany was rushed to exile,[67][48] first to Syria and then to Europe after handling over the command of the Tigers to his elder brother Dory Chamoun, the militia was officially disbanded on Camille's orders in late August.

[68][48] The Israeli invasion of Lebanon in June 1982, coupled by the death of the LF supremo Bachir Gemayel in September that year brought the resurgence of the National Liberals into the political scene, although the efforts by Camille Chamoun to revive the Tigers militia in 1983–84 proved less successful.

Defying the official orders to disband, about 200 Tigers' militiamen commanded by Elias El-Hannouche (nom de guerre 'Hannache') went underground to wage a guerrilla war against the LF, operating in the Hadath and Ain El Remmaneh districts of East Beirut from August to late October 1980.

The Free Tigers are believed to have been responsible for some bomb and guerrilla attacks in East Beirut, including an ambush with combined rocket- and small-arms' fire on the U.S. ambassador's motorcade in August that year (intended to discredit the LF), followed on 10 November by two car-bomb explosions on the Achrafieh quarter that left 10 dead and 62 wounded.

Since 2002, several former NLP Tigers' commanders known for their right-wing, nationalist leanings, rallied in support of General Michel Aoun and went on to occupy various key positions within the Aounist Free Patriotic Movement (FPM) hierarchy, ranging from political (Dr Naji Hayek and Georges Aaraj) to security (Jean Eid).