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Islamist Uprising In Syria
The Islamist uprising in Syria comprised a series of protests, assassinations, bombings, and armed revolts led by Sunni Islamists, mainly members of the Fighting Vanguard and, after 1979, the Muslim Brotherhood, from 1976 until 1982. The uprising aimed to establish an Islamic republic in Syria by overthrowing the neo-Ba'athist government, in what was described by the Ba'ath Party as a "long campaign of terror". After 1980, the popular resistance to Ba'athist rule expanded, with a coalition of Islamist opposition groups coordinating nation-wide strikes, protests and revolts throughout Syria. During the violent events, resistance militias attacked Syrian Arab Army bases and carried out political assassinations of Ba'ath party cadres, army officials, Soviet military advisors, and bureaucrats linked to Assad family. Civilians were also killed in retaliatory strikes conducted by security forces. The uprising reached its climax in the 1982 Hama massacre, during which the Syrian ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Arab Cold War
The Arab Cold War ( ''al-ḥarb al-`arabiyyah al-bāridah'') was a political rivalry in the Arab world from the early 1950s to the late 1970s and a part of the wider Cold War. It is generally accepted that the beginning of the Arab Cold War is marked by the 1952 Egyptian revolution, Egyptian Revolution of 1952, which led to Gamal Abdel Nasser becoming president of Egypt in 1956. Thereafter, newly formed Arab republics, inspired by revolutionary secular Arab nationalism, nationalism and History of Egypt under Gamal Abdel Nasser, Nasser's Egypt, engaged in political rivalries with conservative Traditionalist conservatism, traditionalist Arab monarchies, influenced by Saudi Arabia. The Iranian revolution, Iranian Revolution of 1979, and the ascension of Ruhollah Khomeini, Ayatollah Ruhollah Khomeini as leader of Iran, is widely seen as the end of this period of internal conflicts and rivalry. A new era of Iran–Saudi Arabia proxy conflict, Arab-Iranian tensions followed, overshadow ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
14th Special Forces Division
The 14th Special Forces Division () was a division of the Syrian Armed Forces specializing in light infantry operations. The Division was part of the Syrian Army's 2nd Corps. Role Syrians used the term "Special Forces" to describe the 14th, 15th divisions, as well as the independent 'special forces' regiments, but they more closely resembled conventional light infantry units than Western Special Forces in both mission and composition. The term "Special Forces" was applied ostensibly because of their specialized training in airborne and air assault operations, but they were regarded as light infantry forces and elite only in relation to the conventional armored and mechanized brigades of the Syrian Army. Command structure ;14th Special Forces Division (2019) * 36th Special Forces Regiment * 554th Special Forces Regiment * 556th Special Forces Regiment Combat history The 14th Special Forces Division was established to command three Special Forces Regiments after the mid 1990s ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Ali Haydar (Syrian Army Officer)
Ali Haydar (; 1932 – 5 August 2022), known as the "Father of the Syrian Special Forces", was a Syrian military officer who was the commander of the Syrian Special Forces for 26 years. He was a close confidant to President Hafez al-Assad and one of the members of Assad's inner circle. Born in the village of Hallet Ara, Haydar was a member of the Ba'ath Party from his youth. He was commissioned into the Syrian Army in 1952 after a stint studying at the Homs Military Academy. After the Ba'ath Party seized power in a 1963 coup d'état, Haydar was put in charge of Syria's special forces and supported al-Assad in his rise to the presidency. During this time he was deployed to Lebanon during their civil war. Haydar opposed the 1984 coup d'état attempt led by Rifaat al-Assad, instead remaining loyal to Hafez al-Assad. After suffering an aneurysm and leaving his post in 1988, he returned to lead the special forces again in the early 1990s. At the time a Major General, he was ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
3rd Armoured Division (Syria)
The 3rd Armoured Division () was a formation of the Syrian Army responsible for securing the northern approach to Damascus. The division is based in a military complex near QutayfahJoseph HallidayThe Syrian Army: Doctrinal Order of Battle Institute for the Study of War, February 2013, p.9 and has traditionally been seen as one of the Syrian Armed Force's most reliable conventional divisions. The division is part of the 3rd Corps. Command structure ;3rd Armoured Division (2021) * 20th Armoured Brigade * 65th Armoured Brigade * 81st Armoured Brigade * 21st Mechanized Brigade * 155th Missile Brigade * 14th Artillery Regiment * 67th Artillery Regiment Source: Combat history Yom Kippur War and Lebanon War With the outbreak of the Yom Kippur War in October 1973, the division was held in reserve. The division, under the command of Lieutenant Colonel Mustafa Sharba, was an armored division consisting of T-62 tanks. On October 9, the division was put into battle and fought in t ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Shafiq Fayadh
Shafiq al-Fayadh (1937 – 8 October 2015) () was a Syrian military officer and former commander of the Syrian Army's 3rd Division and a close adviser to President Hafez al-Assad. He was also one of the members of his inner circle. Early life Fayadh was born in the village of Ayn al-Arus, near Jableh, to an Alawite family of the prominent Kalbiyya clan. Other members of the clan include Fayadh's cousin and former Syrian president Hafez al-Assad.Biography for Shafiq Fayyad - silobreaker His son ‘Ala is married to Lamia, the daughter of |
Defense Companies (Syria)
The Companies for the Defense of the Revolution (; ), commonly referred to as Defense Companies, Defense Corps or Defense Brigades (; ), were a Syrian all-Alawite paramilitary force commanded by Rifaat al-Assad. Their task was to safeguard and defend the government of Hafez al-Assad, and the capital Damascus, from internal and external attack. In 1984, the 55,000 strong Defense Companies was dismantled and merged into the Syrian Arab Armed Forces expanding the Republican Guard, and the 14th Special Forces Division comprising 5 Special Forces regiments. The rump force then became the 569th Armored Division which later became the 4th Armoured Division. History and deployment The lessons of the Six-Day War of 1967 pointed to the fact of the weak airborne and heavy armor capabilities of the Syrian military. There was a perceptible lack of expertise in combined arms operations involving a combined deployment of armoured, artillery and airborne infantry units. Top Syrian military ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Rifaat Al-Assad
Rifaat Ali al-Assad (; born 22 August 1937) is a Syrian former military officer and politician. He is the younger brother of the late President of Syria, Hafez al-Assad, and Jamil al-Assad, and the uncle of the former President Bashar al-Assad. He was the commanding officer of the ground operations of the 1982 Hama massacre ordered by his brother. After launching a 1984 Syrian coup attempt, failed coup attempt against Hafez al-Assad in 1984, Rifaat lived in exile in Europe for 36 years and returned to Syria in October 2021 after being found guilty in France of acquiring millions of euros diverted from the Syrian state. In September 2022, France's highest court, the Court of Cassation (France), Cour de Cassation, confirmed the ruling. In August 2023, Switzerland issued an international warrant for Rifaat's arrest after its Federal Criminal Court of Switzerland, Federal Criminal Court demanded his extradition to prosecute him for his role in supervising ground operations of the 19 ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Syrian Arab Armed Forces
The Syrian Arab Armed Forces (SAAF; ) were the combined armed forces of Syria from 1963 to 2024. They served during the rule of the Ba'ath Party in Syria. The SAAF consisted of the Syrian Arab Army, Syrian Arab Air Force, Syrian Arab Air Defense Force, Syrian Arab Navy. According to the 2012 Constitution of Syria, the President of Syria was the Commander-in-chief of the Armed Forces. The Minister of Defence held the position of Deputy Commander-in-chief of the Army and Armed Forces. The SAAF utilized conscription; males served in the military at age 18, but they were exempted from service if they did not have a brother who can take care of their parents. After the beginning of the Syrian Civil War, Syrian military enlisted strength dropped by over half from a pre-civil war figure of 325,000 to 150,000 soldiers in the army in December 2014 due to casualties, desertions and draft dodging, reaching between 178,000 and 220,000 soldiers in the army, in addition to 80,000 to 1 ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Hikmat Al-Shihabi
Hikmat al-Shihabi (; 8 January 1931 – 5 March 2013) was a Syrian military officer who served as the chief of staff of the Syrian Army from 1974 to 1998. A Sunni Muslim, he was considered one of the few non-Alawite members of the inner circle of former Syrian President Hafez al-Assad. Early life and education Shihabi was born into a Sunni family in 1931 in Al-Bab, Aleppo province. He attended Homs military academy and then had advanced military training in the United States. Career Shihabi began his career in aviation, training in the Soviet Union and the United States. From 1968 to 1970 he served as deputy head of the military security directorate. In 1970, he earned a Soviet degree in intelligence services. In April 1970, he was named head of Syrian military intelligence, with Colonel Ali Duba serving as his deputy since 1971. He was promoted to a general the following year, and supervised the department of military security. After the 1973 Yom Kippur War, he led the Sy ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Mustafa Tlass
Mustafa Abdul Qadir Tlass (; 11 May 1932 – 27 June 2017) was a Syrian military officer, author, historian and politician who was Ba'athist Syria's minister of defense from 1972 to 2004. He was part of the four-member Regional Command during the Hafez al-Assad era. Early life and education Tlass was born in Al-Rastan, Rastan near the city of Homs to a prominent local Sunni Muslim family on 11 May 1932. His father, Abdul Qadir Tlass, was a minor Sunni noble who made a living during the Ottoman Empire, Ottoman period by selling ammunition to the Turkish garrisons. On the other hand, members of his family also worked for the French occupiers after the First World War. His paternal grandmother was of Circassians, Circassian origin and his mother was of Turkish people, Turkish descent. Tlass is said to also have some Alawite family connections through his mother. He received primary and secondary education in Homs. In 1952, he entered the Homs Military Academy. Career Tlass joined ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Hafez Al-Assad
Hafez al-Assad (6 October 193010 June 2000) was a Syrian politician and military officer who was the president of Syria from 1971 until Death and state funeral of Hafez al-Assad, his death in 2000. He was previously the Prime Minister of Syria, prime minister from 1970 to 1971 as well as the regional secretary of the Regional Command of the Arab Socialist Ba'ath Party – Syria Region, regional command of the Arab Socialist Ba'ath Party – Syria Region, Syrian regional branch of the Arab Socialist Ba'ath Party and secretary general of the Ba'ath Party (Syrian-dominated faction), National Command of the Ba'ath Party from 1970 to 2000. Assad was a key participant in the 1963 Syrian coup d'état, which brought the Syrian regional branch of the Arab Socialist Ba'ath Party to power in the country, a power that lasted until the Fall of the Assad regime, fall of the regime in 2024, then led by his son Bashar al-Assad, Bashar. After the 1963 coup, the new leadership appointed Assad as ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
