The Struggle Companies (; ''Saraya al-Sira'') was a 5,000-strong commando force deployed around the Syrian capital
Damascus
Damascus ( , ; ) is the capital and List of largest cities in the Levant region by population, largest city of Syria. It is the oldest capital in the world and, according to some, the fourth Holiest sites in Islam, holiest city in Islam. Kno ...
. It was created in 1973 and commanded by Maj. Gen
Adnan Assad, a cousin of the late Syrian president,
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 ...
.
[MIDDLE EAST SECURITY REPORT 8:The Assad Regime by Joseph Holliday, dtd March 2013] The all
Alawite
Alawites () are an Arabs, Arab ethnoreligious group who live primarily in the Levant region in West Asia and follow Alawism, a sect of Islam that splintered from early Shia as a ''ghulat'' branch during the ninth century. Alawites venerate A ...
Struggle Companies are broadly similar to the
Defense Companies and were fanatically loyal to the Syrian government and were heavily used during the
1982 Hama massacre.
The Syrian president exercised direct control over the Saraya al-Sira',
Saraya al-Difa', and 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 ...
all of whom function as a
Praetorian Guard
The Praetorian Guard (Latin language, Latin: ''cohortes praetoriae'') was the imperial guard of the Imperial Roman army that served various roles for the Roman emperor including being a bodyguard unit, counterintelligence, crowd control and ga ...
.
[Arab Amies of the Middle East Wars (2), Osprey Men at Arms series #194 p43 by Samuel Katz] The headquarters of the Saraya al-Sira' was
Mezzeh Military Airport.
The Saraya al-Sira' wore combat uniforms quite distinct from the regular Syrian military, their uniform consisted of
lizard-patterned camouflage fatigues worn with Soviet
combat boots, helmets and bulletproof vests. Headgear consisted of a red or orange beret.
See also
*
Defense Companies (Syria)
*
Shabiha
References
Sources
* Arabs at War: Military Effectiveness 1948-91, Kenneth M. Pollack, University of Nebraska Press, Lincoln and London, 2002, and Pollack's book reviewed in International Security, Vol. 28, No. 2
* Arab Armies of the Middle East Wars (Men-at-Arms, 194) by Samuel Katz, Osprey Publishing 1988,
* Armies in Lebanon 1982 to 1984 (Men at Arms Series, 165) by Samuel Katz and Ronald Volstad, Osprey Publishing 1985,
External links
LOC country study
{{Use dmy dates, date=June 2017
Military units and formations established in 1973
Special forces of Syria