Ahmad al-Awda

Ahmad al-Awda (Arabic: أحمد العودة, romanized: Aḥmad al-ʿAwdā), also spelled as Ahmad al-Oda, is a Syrian military officer and former rebel leader who leads the Southern Operations Room. A leader of the rebel Youth of Sunna Forces between 2014 and 2018, al-Awda reconciled with the Assad regime following the 2018 Southern Syria offensive. With the backing of Russia, al-Awda was appointed the commander of the 8th Brigade of the Syrian Army's 5th Corps, a formation primarily consisting of reconciled rebels. He became an influential powerbroker in Daraa Governorate, taking orders from Russia rather than the authorities in Damascus, and became known as "Russia's man in Southern Syria". He re-affiliated with Syrian Military Intelligence in 2021.

As the Syrian Army took heavy losses amid the 2024 Syrian opposition offensives, al-Awda and his forces defected back to the Syrian opposition to form the Southern Operations Room, which spearheaded the Fall of Damascus and toppled the Assad regime.