Eastern Homs Offensive (January–February 2017)
The Palmyra offensive in 2017 was launched by the Syrian Arab Army against the armed forces of the Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant (ISIL) in the Eastern Homs Governorate in January 2017, with the goal of recapturing Palmyra and its surrounding countryside. ISIL forces had retaken the city of Palmyra in a sudden offensive from 8 to 11 December, after previously being expelled from it by Syrian government and Russian forces in March 2016. On 2 March 2017, the Syrian Army alongside Russian reinforcement, succeeded again in recapturing the beleaguered city of Palmyra. Background In mid-December, ISIL launched an assault on Palmyra, eventually taking full control of the city as the Syrian Army withdrew. ISIL started advancing westwards from Palmyra to the Tiyas Military Airbase (also called al-Taifor and T4 airbase) after the city's capture, and nearly besieged it. Clashes continued around the airbase until the end of December, when ISIL's assault was repelled. In early ... [...More Info...]       [...Related Items...]     OR:     [Wikipedia]   [Google]   [Baidu]   |
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10th Mechanised Division (Syria)
The 10th Mechanised Division ( ar, الفرقة الآلية العاشر) is a division of the Syrian Arab Army, currently engaged in the Syrian Civil War. In Lebanon in 1982, the 10th Armoured Division was deployed south of the Beirut-Damascus road, and inside Beirut, and consisted of the 76th and 91st Tank Brigades – equipped with T-62s and BMP-1s – and the 85th Mechanized Brigade, equipped with T-55s and BTR-60s. The division was also assigned control of the 20th Commando Battalion as well. The same year the division was reported to have taken place in the 1982 Hama massacre. In 2001 Richard Bennett's estimate of the Army order of battle reported that the 10th Mechanized Division was headquartered in Shtoura, Lebanon, part of the 2nd Corps. Its main units ere in 2001deployed to control the strategic Beirut-Damascus highway with the 123rd Mechanized Brigade near Yanta, the 51st Armored Brigade near Zahle in the Beqaa Valley and the 85th Armored Brigade, deployed aro ... [...More Info...]       [...Related Items...]     OR:     [Wikipedia]   [Google]   [Baidu]   |
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Military Intelligence Directorate (Syria)
The Military Intelligence Directorate ( ar, شعبة المخابرات العسكرية, translit=Shu'bat al-Mukhabarat al-'Askariyya), is the military intelligence service of Syria. Although its roots go back to the French mandate period (1923–1943), its current organization was established in 1969.Conflict Studies Journal at the University of New Brunswick . Lib.unb.ca. Retrieved on 19 October 2010. Its predecessor organisation was called the '''' (the Second Bureau). It is headquartered at the [...More Info...]       [...Related Items...]     OR:     [Wikipedia]   [Google]   [Baidu]   |
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Middle East Eye
Middle East Eye (MEE) is a London-based news website covering events in the Middle East and North Africa. MEE describes itself as an "independently funded online news organization that was founded in April 2014." MEE seeks to be the primary portal of Middle East news, and describes its target audience as "all those communities of readers living in and around the region that care deeply for its fate". Organisation MEE is edited by David Hearst, a former foreign leader writer for the British daily, ''The Guardian''. MEE is owned by Middle East Eye Ltd, a UK company incorporated in 2013 under the sole name of Jamal Awn Jamal Bessasso. It employs about 20 full-time staff in its London office. MEE has been accused of being backed by Qatar. The governments of Saudi Arabia, UAE, Egypt and Bahrain accuse MEE of pro-Muslim Brotherhood bias and receiving Qatari funding. As a consequence, they demanded MEE to be shut down following the Saudi-led blockade of Qatar. MEE has denied the accusat ... [...More Info...]       [...Related Items...]     OR:     [Wikipedia]   [Google]   [Baidu]   |
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Al-Shaitat
Al-Shaitat ( ar, الشُّعَيْطَاتُ, aš-Šuʿayṭāt), in Standard Arabic al-Shuʿaytāt, is a Sunni Arab clan which lives in the Deir ez-Zor Governorate in eastern Syria. Its membership numbers between 70,000 and 90,000 and it is led by Sheikh Rafaa Aakla al-Raju.Massacre And Media: ISIS And The Case Of The Sunni Arab Shaitat Tribe Alberto M. Fernández, , June 23, 2015 In the local Arab dialect, the "u" is not pronounced and since the sound often is not transcribed, the name is written Shaitat, Shaytat, Sheitat, Sheitaat and the like. The l ... [...More Info...]       [...Related Items...]     OR:     [Wikipedia]   [Google]   [Baidu]   |
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Golan Regiment
The Golan Regiment (Arabic: فوج الجولان, Fouj al-Joulan) is a Syrian militia based in Khan Arnabah that is part of the National Defence Forces (NDF). Though primarily active in the Golan Heights, the unit has been deployed in various warzones of western Syria, fighting against many different Syrian opposition forces and the Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant. The Golan Regiment is notable insofar as it was the first government unit during the Syrian Civil War that was founded by Free Syrian Army (FSA) defectors. History Rebellion and return to the government side The beginnings of the Golan Regiment trace back to 2011, when its later leader Majid Himoud volunteered for the Syrian Army. According to Himoud, the officers in his division abused him and other soldiers, whereupon they decided to defect. In December 2011, they formed a Free Syrian Army unit under Himoud's leadership, the al-Mutasim Battalion, and began to fight against the government near the bor ... [...More Info...]       [...Related Items...]     OR:     [Wikipedia]   [Google]   [Baidu]   |
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National Defence Forces (Syria)
The National Defence Forces (NDF) ( ar, قوات الدفاع الوطني ''Quwāt ad-Difāʿ al-Watanī'') is a pro-government militia, that was formed on 1 November 2012 and organized by the Syrian government during the Syrian Civil War as a part-time volunteer reserve component of the Syrian Armed Forces. The NDF is made of units across various Syrian provinces, each of them consists of local volunteers willing to fight against rebels for various reasons. Formation By the beginning of 2013, the Syrian government took steps to formalize and professionalize hundreds of Popular Committee militias under a new group dubbed the National Defence Forces.Will Fulton, Joseph Holliday, and Sam Wyer''Iranian Strategy in Syria'', Institute for the Study of War, May 2013 The goal was to form an effective, locally based, highly motivated force out of pro-government militias. The NDF, in contrast with the Shabiha forces, received salaries and military equipment from the government. S ... [...More Info...]       [...Related Items...]     OR:     [Wikipedia]   [Google]   [Baidu]   |
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Qalamoun Shield Forces
The Qalamoun Shield Forces ( ar, قوات درع القلمون, ''Quwwāt Dirʿ l-Qalamūn'', short: QSF) was a militia formed by natives of the Qalamoun Mountains that fought for the Syrian government during the Syrian Civil War. Originally a small auxiliary and self-defense group, QSF grew into relatively large and well-equipped paramilitary force that operated nationwide. Led by Firas Jaz'ah, the Qalamoun Shield Forces were closely affiliated with the 3rd Armoured Division. History Early history as Republican Guard auxiliaries The origins of the Qalamoun Shield Forces lie in a small militia of the same name that was set up in al-Nabek after its capture from rebels during the Battle of Qalamoun (2013). Formed by "notables, retired officers and other locals" on 9 January 2014, this unit was designated as auxiliaries to the Republican Guard and was supposed to secure areas retaken from rebel groups. A Damascus native named Adel Ibrahim Dellah eventually became commander ... [...More Info...]       [...Related Items...]     OR:     [Wikipedia]   [Google]   [Baidu]   |
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Tiger Forces
The 25th Special Mission Forces Division, mostly known by their former name Tiger Forces or Quwwat al-Nimr ( ar, قُوَّات النِّمْر), is an elite formation (special forces unit) of the Syrian Arab Army which functions primarily as an offensive unit in the Syrian Civil War. It has been described as a "hot commodity for any government offensive", but their relatively small numbers make it difficult to deploy them to multiple fronts at once. History The special forces unit was formed during the Syrian civil war. According to Gregory Waters, the Tiger Forces are operated by the Air Force Intelligence Directorate.p. 2 After successful operations in Latakia and Hama,p. 2 Colonel Suheil al-Hassan was tasked a special project by the Syrian Armed Forces Central Command in the fall of 2013—to train and lead a Special Forces unit that would work primarily as an offensive unit. Colonel Hassan handpicked many of the soldiers that would later form the Tiger For ... [...More Info...]       [...Related Items...]     OR:     [Wikipedia]   [Google]   [Baidu]   |
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Syrian Commando
Syrians ( ar, سُورِيُّون, ''Sūriyyīn'') are an Eastern Mediterranean ethnic group indigenous to the Levant. They share common Levantine Semitic roots. The cultural and linguistic heritage of the Syrian people is a blend of both indigenous elements and the foreign cultures that have come to inhabit the region of Syria over the course of thousands of years. The mother tongue of most Syrians is Levantine Arabic, which came to replace the former mother tongue, Aramaic, following the Muslim conquest of the Levant in the 7th century. The conquest led to the establishment of the Caliphate under successive Arab dynasties, who, during the period of the later Abbasid Caliphate, promoted the use of the Arabic language. A minority of Syrians have retained Aramaic which is still spoken in its Eastern and Western dialects. In 2018, the Syrian Arab Republic had an estimated population of 19.5 million, which includes, aside from the aforementioned majority, ethnic minorities such a ... [...More Info...]       [...Related Items...]     OR:     [Wikipedia]   [Google]   [Baidu]   |
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Syrian Marines
Faouj Maghawir al-Bahr ( ar, فوج مغاوير البحر, Faouj Maghawir al-Bahr, Marines Regiment) or the Syrian Marines is a military unit based in the Latakia Governorate. It has participated in operations in the Syrian Civil War. In February 2016, the Syrian Marines participated in a Latakia offensive alongside Syrian government forces. In March 2016, a large number of Syrian Marine convoys were deployed to the Battle of Palmyra from northern Latakia. On 25 November 2016, several units of the SSNP and Syrian marines arrived to Aleppo city in participation of Operation Dawn of Victory. Most of them were redeployed from the Latakia governorate. On 23 February 2017, al-Masdar News reported that over 900 Syrian Marines had joined the Military Security Shield Forces in order to avoid being drafted into the regular army.https://mobile.almasdarnews.com/article/exclusive-900-syrian-marines-join-elite-military-shield-forces/ See also * Suqour al-Sahara *Syrian Navy *Tiger Fo ... [...More Info...]       [...Related Items...]     OR:     [Wikipedia]   [Google]   [Baidu]   |
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Syrian Marines SSI
Syrians ( ar, سُورِيُّون, ''Sūriyyīn'') are an Eastern Mediterranean ethnic group indigenous to the Levant. They share common Levantine Semitic roots. The cultural and linguistic heritage of the Syrian people is a blend of both indigenous elements and the foreign cultures that have come to inhabit the region of Syria over the course of thousands of years. The mother tongue of most Syrians is Levantine Arabic, which came to replace the former mother tongue, Aramaic, following the Muslim conquest of the Levant in the 7th century. The conquest led to the establishment of the Caliphate under successive Arab dynasties, who, during the period of the later Abbasid Caliphate, promoted the use of the Arabic language. A minority of Syrians have retained Aramaic which is still spoken in its Eastern and Western dialects. In 2018, the Syrian Arab Republic had an estimated population of 19.5 million, which includes, aside from the aforementioned majority, ethnic minorities such as ... [...More Info...]       [...Related Items...]     OR:     [Wikipedia]   [Google]   [Baidu]   |