In November 2014,
Colonel Abdullah al-Rifai of the 11th Special Forces Division of Sham Liberation Army was arrested by the
Lebanese Armed Forces near
Arsal. He was detained by the
General Directorate of General Security and released on 2 January 2015. On 14 August, he was
assassinated in Arsal. On 30 September 2015, Sham Liberation Army, along with 12 other FSA and
Islamist rebel factions, formed Saraya Ahl al-Sham in the western Qalamoun Mountains. The group maintained "good" relations with
al-Qaeda's
al-Nusra Front and other groups in the former
Army of Conquest's Qalamoun branch. In February 2017, negotiations between Saraya Ahl al-Sham and
Hezbollah began in order to install a
ceasefire and for residents to return to the contested towns and villages between Hezbollah and the rebels. On 27 July 2017, a ceasefire agreement was reached by Hezbollah with Tahrir al-Sham and Saraya Ahl al-Sham in the Lebanese portion of the Qalamoun Mountains. The agreement called for Tahrir al-Sham forces to withdraw from Lebanon to
Idlib, Saraya Ahl al-Sham forces to withdraw to the eastern Qalamoun Mountains, where opposition forces maintain a pocket of control, and exchanges of prisoners from both sides. On 14 August 2017, the last 400 fighters of Saraya Ahl al-Sham coalition and their families departed the
Lebanon–Syria border and headed to the eastern Qalamoun Mountains. ==Saraya Ahl Al-Sham Member groups==