Army of Revolutionaries. Soon after its accession into the SDF and the Army of Revolutionaries, the al-Nusra Front and Ahrar al-Sham accused the al-Qa'qa' Brigade of apostasy and launched an attack on the SDF in northern Aleppo. Nevertheless, the unit managed to send some of its forces to the Kobanî and Jazira Cantons to fight against Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant (ISIL), for example taking part in the offensive to capture al-Hawl. By January 2016, one of the al-Qa'qa' Brigade's leaders, Abu Omar al-Idlibi, was appointed the military commander of the Army of Revolutionaries. Nevertheless, the brigade eventually left the Army of Revolutionaries in February 2016. By this point, the unit was generally known by its new name "Northern Democratic Brigade", and became an independent group within the SDF. Continued operations against pro-Turkish forces and ISIL In August 2016, the Northern Democratic Brigade and other pro-SDF FSA groups condemned the Turkish military intervention in Syria and the international coalition for supporting it, accusing the Turkish-backed forces of committing "massacres" in villages near Jarabulus, and announced their support for the SDF's Jarabulus Military Council. Soon after, the brigade participated in the Western al-Bab offensive against ISIL forces in northern Aleppo, and captured Harbul, Maarat Umm Hawsh, and several other villages in the area. In October 2016, the group participated in the second Western al-Bab offensive, during which it helped to capture the village Tal Malid from the Turkish-backed rebel groups (TFSA). In course of the following Battle of al-Bab, the Northern Democratic Brigade again fought TFSA groups, including at al-Samakia. In the final phase of the Battle of Aleppo in December 2016, the Northern Democratic Brigade called upon FSA groups encircled in the city to join the SDF, claiming that one local unit, the "Complete Military Battalion" had already joined it. Since June 2017, the Northern Democratic Brigade also sent its fighters to take part in the SDF campaign to capture Raqqa from ISIL. Units from the group were stationed in Tabqa while others participated in the Battle of Raqqa. On 2 July, the military commander of the unit declared that the Northern Democratic Brigade was ready to help "liberate all Syrian territory from the Turkish occupation" and called on TFSA groups to defect to the SDF. This statement was in response to alleged Turkish plans to invade Afrin Canton and the Shahba region. He repeated this declaration four