The 5th Assault Corps (), also called the Fifth Legion, was an all-volunteer

corps Corps (; plural ''corps'' ; from French , from the Latin "body") is a term used for several different kinds of organization. A military innovation by Napoleon I, the formation was formally introduced March 1, 1800, when Napoleon ordered Gener ...

formation Formation may refer to: Linguistics * Back-formation, the process of creating a new lexeme by removing or affixes * Word formation, the creation of a new word by adding affixes Mathematics and science * Cave formation or speleothem, a secondary ...

of the

Syrian Army The Syrian Army is the land force branch of the Syrian Armed Forces. Up until the fall of the Assad regime, the Syrian Arab Army existed as a land force branch of the Syrian Arab Armed Forces, which dominanted the military service of the fo ...

involved in the Syrian Civil War fighting against the

Syrian opposition Syrians () are the majority inhabitants of Syria, indigenous to the Levant, most of whom have Arabic, especially its Levantine and Mesopotamian dialects, as a mother tongue. The cultural and linguistic heritage of the Syrian people is a blend ...

Tahrir al-Sham Hay'at Tahrir al-Sham (HTS) was a Sunni Islamist political organisation and paramilitary group involved in the Syrian civil war. It was formed on 28January 2017 as a merger between several armed groups: Jaysh al-Ahrar (an Ahrar al-Sham facti ...

, Al-Qaeda in Syria, and

ISIS Isis was a major goddess in ancient Egyptian religion whose worship spread throughout the Greco-Roman world. Isis was first mentioned in the Old Kingdom () as one of the main characters of the Osiris myth, in which she resurrects her sla ...

. It was first formed in 2016. Unlike other corps in the Syrian Army, the 5th Corps was not divided into divisions, but commanded eleven brigades, while the actual number of serving soldiers was lower (about a third of the manpower in other corps).

Command structure

;5th Assault Corps (2021) *1st Assault Brigade **13th Infantry Battalion **1579th Infantry Battalion *2nd Assault Brigade *3rd Assault Brigade **103rd Battalion *4th Assault Brigade ** Ba'ath Battalion *5th Assault Brigade **1st Infantry Regiment **2nd Infantry Regiment *6th Assault Brigade **79th Infantry Battalion **86th Infantry Battalion *7th Assault Brigade **3rd Infantry Battalion *8th Assault Brigade * Emblem of Liwa Al-Quds

al-Quds Brigade **Lions of al-Quds Battalion **Defenders of Aleppo Battalion **Deterrence Battalion **Lions of al-Shahba Battalion *103rd Artillery Brigade *148th Artillery Brigade

History

The formation of the 5th Corps in 2016 was preceded by the creation of the 4th Volunteer Assault Corps, which did not live up to expectations, whose sphere remained the local defense of Latakia. The Fifth Corps of volunteered recruited men from over age 18 from across the country "not already eligible for military service or deserters". The Russians took an active part in preparing and equipping the corps. The 5th Volunteer Assault Corps was formed entirely from contract soldiers from scratch. Russian officers participated in the command of the formation, ranging from company to the corps commander. Russian signal officers provided communications between units and corps headquarters. The corps was commanded by a Syrian, his Russian deputy usually remained in the shadows. 5th Corps soldiers were trained, equipped and advised by Russian military personnel since their intervention in 2015. Most main battle tanks of the 5th Assault Corps were modernized Soviet tanks, including the

T-62 The T-62 is a Soviet main battle tank that was first introduced in 1961. As a further development of the T-55 series, the T-62 retained many similar design elements of its predecessor including low profile and thick turret armour. In contra ...

M and

T-72B3 The T-72 is a Soviet-designed main battle tank that entered production in 1973. It replaced the T-54/55 series as the workhorse of Soviet tank forces (while the T-64 and T-80 served as the Soviet high-technology tanks). In front-line Russian serv ...

. According to Abdullah Soleiman Ali in al-Safir paper, the formation of "Fifth Attack Troop Corps" was the apex point of cooperation among members of the

Russia–Syria–Iran–Iraq coalition The Russia–Syria–Iran–Iraq coalition (RSII coalition), also referred to as 4+1 (in which the "plus one" refers to Hezbollah of Lebanon), was a joint intelligence-sharing cooperation between opponents of the Islamic State (IS) with operatio ...

. The corps was commanded by Lieutenant General Valery Asapov until his death in

Deir ez-Zor Deir ez-Zor () is the largest city in eastern Syria and the seventh largest in the country. Located on the banks of the Euphrates to the northeast of the capital Damascus, Deir ez-Zor is the capital of the Deir ez-Zor Governorate. In the 2018 ...

on 23 September 2017. The 5th Corps unit, ''The Ba'ath Legion'', was formed from

Ba'ath Brigades The Ba'ath Brigades (), also known as the Ba'ath Battalions, were a volunteer militia made up of Syrian Ba'ath Party members, almost entirely of Sunni Muslims from Syria and many Arab countries, loyal to the Syrian Government of Bashar al-Assad. ...

volunteers. It was later transformed into the 4th Brigade. According to the

Russian International Affairs Council The Russian International Affairs Council (RIAC, ) is a non-profit academic and diplomatic think tank established by the presidential decree dated 2 February 2010. The founders of the RIAC are the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of the Russian Federa ...

, the Qalamoun Shield Forces also joined the Fifth Corps, though no other sources confirmed this. In February 2018, 20 members of the

ISIS Hunters The ISIS Hunters (صاءدو داعش) were a special forces unit of the Wagner group, formed in 2017 during the Syrian civil war. The unit was informal part of Wagner PMC in Syria. Between 2021 and 2023, the unit was formally dissolved. Howeve ...

(a 5th Corps subunit) died in a US airstrike. After the rebels surrendered in July 2018 in

Daraa Daraa (, Levantine Arabic: ) is a city in southwestern Syria, north of the border with Jordan. It is the capital of Daraa Governorate in the Hauran region. Located south of Damascus on the Damascus–Amman highway, it serves as a way sta ...

, they were integrated into the 5th Corps from October 2018 as the 8th Brigade with a permanent location in

Bosra Bosra (), formerly Bostra () and officially called Busra al-Sham (), is a town in southern Syria, administratively belonging to the Daraa District of the Daraa Governorate and geographically part of the Hauran region. Bosra is an ancient cit ...

, its commander was the former rebel

Ahmad al-Awda Ahmad al-Awda (), 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 re ...

, who previously commanded the

Youth of Sunna Forces The Youth of Sunna Forces or Sunni Youth Forces, formerly the Youth of Sunna Division and the Youth of Sunna Brigade, was a Syrian rebel group affiliated with the Free Syrian Army's Southern Front that was armed with U.S.-made BGM-71 TOW anti-t ...

group. The majority of the rebels (the total number of forces of the Southern Front FSA was 30,000 people) chose to evacuate to the province of

Idlib Idlib (, ; also spelt Idleb or Edlib) is a city in northwestern Syria, and is the capital of the Idlib Governorate. It has an elevation of nearly above sea level, and is southwest of Aleppo. It is located near the border with Turkey. History ...

(about 5,000 people) or return to peaceful life. By April 2019, former rebels made up more than 75% of the brigade's fighters. As of April 2019, the strength of the 8th Brigade was 1,585 military personnel. The 8th Brigade was unique in that it consisted entirely of natives of the province

. The brigade's personnel were made up of three categories: ordinary civilians (300 people), mainly engaged in maintenance; civil servants who had previously participated in the rebellion against the government and joined the brigade in order to avoid criminal prosecution, since they had previously worked for the rebels; the rebels themselves were from the Youth of Sunna Forces (about 860 fighters). The 8th Brigade participated in operations against IS in the desert

Suwayda Suwayda (), also spelled Sweida, is a mainly Druze city located in southern Syria, close to the border with Jordan. It is the capital of Suwayda Governorate, one of Syria's 14 governorates, bordering Jordan in the South, Daraa Governorate i ...

, Latakia and

. The brigade consisted of 4 infantry battalions, a reconnaissance company, a fire support company, a logistics company support and headquarters. In March 2021, its commander since January 2018, Major General Zaid Salah (formerly commander the

Republican Guard A republican guard, sometimes called a national guard, is a state organization of a country (often a republic, hence the name ''Republican'') which typically serves to protect the head of state and the government, and thus is often synonymous wit ...

’s 30th Division) was sanctioned by the

United Kingdom The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland, commonly known as the United Kingdom (UK) or Britain, is a country in Northwestern Europe, off the coast of European mainland, the continental mainland. It comprises England, Scotlan ...

, who named him as "Responsible for the violent repression of the civilian population by troops under his command, particularly during the increased violence of the Idlib/Hama offensive which began in April 2019." Later that year, the Russians discontinued support for the group and it became part of

Military Intelligence Military intelligence is a military discipline that uses information collection and analysis List of intelligence gathering disciplines, approaches to provide guidance and direction to assist Commanding officer, commanders in decision making pr ...

Combat history

In March 2021, the 5th Corps unit supported by the Russians managed to control Tuenan gas plant and Al-Thawrah oilfield in

Raqqa Governorate Raqqa Governorate (, Kurdish: ''Parêzgeha Reqa'') is one of the fourteen governorates of Syria. It is situated in the north of the country and covers an area of 19,618 km2. The capital is Raqqa. The Islamic State of Iraq and Levant claim ...

, previously held by

Liwa Fatemiyoun Liwa Fatemiyoun (; Persian language, Persian/Dari Persian, Dari: ), literally "Fatimid Liwa (Arabic), Banner" or Fatemiyoun Brigade, also known as Lashkar-e-Fatemiyoun (; Persian language, Persian/Dari Persian, Dari: ) or Fatemiyoun Division is an ...

Leadership changes

In July 2020, Maj. Gen. Milad Jadid replaced Maj. Gen. Zaid Salah as commander of the 5th Corps. In August 2022, Maj. Gen. Munzar Ibrahim was appointed as commander of the 5th Corps. On 30 December 2023, Maj. Gen. Muhammad al-Daher was named as a commander of the 5th Assault Corps. On 3 April 2024, Maj. Gen. Omran Mahmoud Omran was appointed as a commander of the 5th Assault Corps.

References

{{reflist Military units and formations of Syria Military units and formations established in 2016 Corps by country 2016 establishments in Syria Military units and formations disestablished in 2024

Command structure

History

Combat history

Leadership changes

See also

References