Zgharta Liberation Army
| Marada Brigade/Zgharta Liberation Army جيش التحرير الزغرتاوي/لواء المردة | |
|---|---|
| Leaders | Tony Frangieh, Robert Frangieh, Suleiman Frangieh Jr. |
| Dates of operation | 1967 – 1991 |
| Headquarters | Zgharta, Ehden |
| Active regions | Northern Lebanon, Tripoli, Mount Lebanon, El-Koura, East Beirut |
| Ideology | Lebanese nationalism Christian democracy pro-Assad |
| Political position | Right-wing |
| Size | 2,400–3,500 fighters |
| Part of | Marada Movement Lebanese Front Lebanese National Salvation Front (LNSF) |
| Allies | Lebanese Armed Forces Amal Movement Syrian Arab Armed Forces Palestinian National Salvation Front (PNSF) Syrian Social Nationalist Party (SSNP)/Eagles of the Whirlwind Hezbollah Toilers League |
| Opponents | Lebanese National Movement (LNM) Lebanese Arab Army (LAA) Tyous Team of Commandos (TTC) Lebanese Forces Israel Defense Forces (IDF) Lebanese Army Zahliote Group Kataeb Regulatory Forces (KRF) Al-Tanzim Tigers Militia Guardians of the Cedars (GoC) |
| Battles and wars | Lebanese Civil War |
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The Zgharta Liberation Army – ZLA (Arabic: جيش تحرير زغرتا, romanized: Jayish 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 the late 1960s by the future President of Lebanon and za'im Suleiman Frangieh as the Marada Brigade (also translated as Mardaite Brigade (Arabic: Liwa' al-Marada) and was initially led by Suleiman Franjieh's son, Tony Frangieh, who held the command until his death in the June 1978 Ehden massacre. The ZLA operated mainly out of Tripoli and Zgharta, but it also fought in Beirut, Bsharri and Ehden, where they clashed with various Palestine Liberation Organization (PLO) guerrilla factions and their allied leftist Muslim militias of the Lebanese National Movement (LNM), as well as the rival Christian Kataeb Regulatory Forces (KRF) militia and its successor, the Lebanese Forces (LF).