KRF militia units operated mainly in East Beirut, the Aley District, the Matn District, Mount Lebanon, the Koura and Keserwan Districts, but also had a presence at the south in the Jabal Amel, where their local militants - after merging with local Shia Muslim and Druze militias - played a key part in the formation on 21 October 1976 of the Israeli-backed informal Army for the Defense of South Lebanon or ADSL (French: Armée de Défense du Liban-Sud or ADLS), later to become known as the Free Lebanese Army (FLA), the predecessor of the South Lebanon Army (SLA).