The Free Syrian Army is a rebel group consisting of former Syrian Arab Army soldiers who defected to the Syrian Opposition at the start of the Syrian Civil War in 2015. Led by defected army officers, the FSA was a moderate group whose views ranged from secularism to moderate Islamism. 90% of the Free Syrian Army consisted of the abused Sunni majority of the country, who fought against the Shia Alawites in the Syrian military during the civil war. The army had up to 60,000 soldiers during the war, initially consisting of soldiers who refused to fire on demonstrators and later including volunteers such as former protesters or newly-come-of-age Syrians opposed to Bashar al-Assad's Ba'ath Party government. The FSA was represented by the Syrian National Coalition in politics, and it had the backing of the United States, Saudi Arabia, Turkey, Qatar, and France, with the West supporting it due to its moderate viewpoints. In Syria, the FSA was allied to the Islamic Front, YPG, Army of Mujahideen, Ajnad al-Sham Islamic Union, Sham Legion, Alwiya al-Furqan, and the al-Nusra Front, while it was enemies with the Syrian government, some YPG units, some al-Nusra factions, Jund al-Aqsa, and the Islamic State.
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