Zgharta Liberation Army

Marada Brigade/Zgharta Liberation Army
جيش تحرير زغرتا
LeadersTony Frangieh, Robert Frangieh, Suleiman Frangieh Jr.
Dates of operation1967 – 1991
HeadquartersZgharta, Ehden
Active regionsNorthern Lebanon, Tripoli, Mount Lebanon, El-Koura, East Beirut
IdeologyLebanese nationalism
Christian nationalism
Christian right
Anti-Zionism
Size2,400–3,500 fighters
Part ofLebanese Front
Lebanese National Salvation Front (LNSF)
AlliesLebanon Lebanese Army
Amal Movement
Syrian Army
State of Palestine Palestinian National Salvation Front)
Syrian Social Nationalist Party (SSNP)
Hezbollah
Toilers League
OpponentsLebanon Lebanese National Movement (LNM)
Lebanon Lebanese Arab Army (LAA)
Tyous Team of Commandos (TTC)
Lebanese Forces
Israel Israel Defense Forces (IDF)
Lebanon Lebanese Army
Kataeb Regulatory Forces (KRF)
Al-Tanzim
Tigers Militia
Guardians of the Cedars (GoC)
Battles and warsLebanese Civil War
Preceded by
700–800 men

The Zgharta Liberation Army – ZLA (Arabic: جيش تحرير زغرتا, romanizedJayish Tahrir Zaghrita), also known as Zghartawi Liberation Army, was the paramilitary branch of the Lebanese Marada Movement during the Lebanese Civil War. The militia was formed in 1967 by the future President of Lebanon and za'im Suleiman Frangieh as the Marada Brigade (also translated as Mardaite Brigade[clarification needed]) seven years before the war began. The force was initially commanded by Suleiman Franjieh's son, Tony Frangieh until his killing in the 1978 Ehden massacre. It operated mainly out of Tripoli and Zgharta, but it also fought in Beirut. The ZLA fought against various Palestinian and Lebanese Muslim militias as well as the Lebanese Forces in Bsharri and Ehden.[1]

  1. ^ Katz, Russel, and Volstad, Armies in Lebanon 1982–84 (1985), p. 8.