Republican Guard (Syria)
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Republican Guard |
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|---|---|
 Coat of arms of the Republican Guard |
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| Lineup | 1976 |
| Country |
 Syria
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| Armed forces |
 Armed Forces of Syria
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| Armed forces |
 Syrian army
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| Type | Raiding party |
| Subordinate troops |
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| Strength | 25,000 |
| Butcher |
Occupation of Lebanon Syrian Civil War |
| commander | |
| commander | Mahir al-Assad , currently represented by Shoaeb Suleiman |
| Deputy | Mohamed Qasem |
| Brigade commanders |
|
The Republican Guard ( Arabic الحرس الجمهوري السوري al-Ḥaras al-ǧumhūrī as-sūrī ), also known as the Presidential Guard , is an elite division of the Syrian armed forces . The headquarters are located on the Jebel Qasiun . Your main task isto protectthe capital Damascus from any "foreign threat". Until the outbreak of the civil war in Syria , it had a staff of 25,000 men. In addition, because of its alleged strong loyalty to the al-Assad family, it was the only military unit allowed to be armed in the capital.
The Guard was founded in 1976 when Islamist and Palestinian groups carried out attacks on Syrian politicians and the military in the course of the Lebanese civil war and the subsequent stationing of Syrian troops in Lebanon . The first commander of the Guard, Major General Adnan Machluf, commanded the brigade from its establishment until 1997. Machluf belongs to a billionaire family who are related to Anisa al-Assad, a wife of Hafiz al-Assad , and the extended family circle of al-Assad family. Like the Assads, the Machlufs belong to the Alawites (Nuṣairiyūn) minority . They come from the Haddadin tribe. Machluf was in direct contact with Hafiz al-Assad, in particular in the 1980s he committed numerous human rights violations such as ethnic persecution, torture and murder. One of the extended duties of the Guard is to protect the families of high government officials. Bashar al-Assad himself once served as a colonel in the Guard. The guard is currently commanded by Mahir al-Assad , the brother of Bashar al-Assad. He is considered to be particularly ruthless in suppressing the uprisings, including a video in which he personally shoots unarmed demonstrators during the 2011 protests in Damascus.
The Guard has numerous mechanized brigades, artillery regiments , airborne units and air defense regiments. Alongside the Tiger forces, they are considered to be the most efficient and best-equipped special forces within the Syrian military. Like the Assad family, their members almost exclusively belong to the Alawites minority. According to Manaf Tlas , a deserted general in the Guard, this loyalty among the Alawites makes a coup in Syria virtually impossible.
At the beginning of the civil war, the guard stayed out of the conflict. After numerous casualties from fallen, defected or surrendering soldiers of the Syrian army, it intervened, for the first time in June 2012 in the suburbs of the capital Qudsaya and al-Hamah. There are also reports that the 4th Brigade of the Republican Guard was involved in a major attack on Jisr el-Shughur in June 2011 . In the course of the war, the guard fought in more and more places in the country. Human Rights Watch and Amnesty International accuse the guard of numerous human rights violations and war crimes. During an operation in Damascus in June 2013, the guard is said to have used children as “human shields” and blown up houses in the neighborhood when people, alleged insurgents, were still there. There were also numerous house searches, and the operation triggered a large wave of refugees to Turkey . The Guard deployed tanks and artillery within the city.
During the Deir-ez-Zor offensive , the guard was deployed with over 400 men. In February 2017, members of the Guard were said to have been involved and killed in a firefight with troops of the Free Syrian Army in the Turkish Operation Euphrates Shield .
At least four commanders of the Guard have been killed or wounded since the beginning of the civil war, most recently the Druze Major General Issam Zahreddine on October 18, 2017; he died in the Deir-ez-Zor offensive by a land mine.
Individual evidence
- ↑ Syria's Praetorian Guards: A Primer. Middle East Intelligence Bulletin 7, August 2000, accessed July 20, 2011 .
- ↑ Shmuel Bar: Bashar's Syria: The Regime and its Strategic Worldview. In: Comparative Strategy. 25, 2006, Special Issue, p. 381 (English).
- ^ Bashar's Syria: The Regime and its Strategic Worldview. (PDF file) herzliyaconference.org, 2006, pp. 379, 384 , accessed on June 23, 2011 (English).
- ↑ al-Arabiya : Syrian leader's brother symbol of military crackdown. ( Memento of the original from August 27, 2017 in the Internet Archive ) Info: The archive link was inserted automatically and has not yet been checked. Please check the original and archive link according to the instructions and then remove this notice. June 16, 2011 (English).
- ↑ Martin Gehlen: The butcher of Syria. Frankfurter Rundschau , June 14, 2011, accessed on June 14, 2011 .
- ↑ Die Presse : Syria: General of the Republican Guard deserted. July 16, 2012.
- ↑ T-online.de : How strong is Assad's army?
- ↑ Alsharq : The core is stable - How Assad holds on to power in Syria.
- ↑ Leith Fadel: Republican Guard Arrives in Al-Hasakah City to Forestall ISIS Advance. Al-Masdar News, accessed August 3, 2015 .
- ^ Frankfurter Allgemeine Zeitung : Army attacks Dschisr al Schughur.
- ↑ USA Today : Activists: Syrian rebels clash with elite troops. June 26, 2012 (English).
- ↑ Human Rights Watch: By All Means Necessary! December 15, 2011 (English).
- ↑ Die Welt: Reports of brutal offensive by Assad's brother. July 16, 2013.
- ↑ haberler.com: Rejim, Deaş'ı Fırat Kalkanı'ndan Koruyacak. (Turkish).
- ^ The Daily Telegraph: Top Syrian general killed by Isil landmine near Deir Ezzor. (English).
