The Ba'ath Brigades ( ar, كتائب البعث, Katā'ib al-Baʿth), also known as the Ba'ath Battalions, were a volunteer

militia A militia () is generally an army or some other fighting organization of non-professional soldiers, citizens of a country, or subjects of a state, who may perform military service during a time of need, as opposed to a professional force of r ...

made up of Syrian Ba'ath Party members, almost entirely of

Sunni Muslims Sunni Islam () is the largest branch of Islam, followed by 85–90% of the world's Muslims. Its name comes from the word '' Sunnah'', referring to the tradition of Muhammad. The differences between Sunni and Shia Muslims arose from a dis ...

from Syria and many Arab countries, loyal to the Syrian Government of

Bashar Assad Bashar Hafez al-Assad, ', Levantine pronunciation: ; (, born 11 September 1965) is a Syrian politician who is the 19th president of Syria, since 17 July 2000. In addition, he is the commander-in-chief of the Syrian Armed Forces and the S ...

History

They was set up in

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under the command of Hilal Hilal, the current Assistant Regional Secretary, after rebels took most of the eastern half of the city in summer 2012. Initially, the Ba'ath Brigades were used to guard government buildings and other key installations in Aleppo, but their role expanded as their strength grew from 5,000 members in November 2012 to 7,000 in December 2013. Units later formed in Latakia and Tartus. At the end of 2013, the Brigades began deploying in Damascus, tasked with manning checkpoints and conducting "light logistical operations". They spearheaded the assault on the

Old City of Aleppo The Ancient City of Aleppo ( ar, مدينة حلب القديمة, Madīnat Ḥalab al-Qadīma) is the historic city centre of Aleppo, Syria. Before the Syrian Civil War, many districts of the ancient city remained essentially unchanged since i ...

in early 2014. The Ba'ath Battalions participated in lifting the three-year siege at Kuweires military airbase alongside the elite Cheetah Forces, and

National Defence Forces 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 ...

. The Ba'ath Brigades were previously led by Ra'ed bin 'Ali Ghadban—a high-ranking member of the

Ba'ath Party The Arab Socialist Baʿath Party ( ar, حزب البعث العربي الاشتراكي ' ) was a political party founded in Syria by Mishel ʿAflaq, Ṣalāḥ al-Dīn al-Bītār, and associates of Zaki al-ʾArsūzī. The party espoused ...

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branch. He resigned as the brigades' commander in 2017 to become a member of the

central committee Central committee is the common designation of a standing administrative body of communist parties, analogous to a board of directors, of both ruling and nonruling parties of former and existing socialist states. In such party organizations, the ...

of the party, as well as a member of the Syrian government's delegation to the Sochi peace talks in the context of the

Syrian peace process The Syrian peace process is the ensemble of initiatives and plans to resolve the Syrian civil war, which has been ongoing in Syria since 2011 and has spilled beyond its borders. The peace process has been moderated by the Arab League, the UN S ...

. On 27 February 2017, Col. Salama Mohammed, a high-ranking Ba'ath Brigades commander and leader of the group's Tartus Governorate branch, was reportedly killed in action while fighting in the area around

Hama Hama ( ar, حَمَاة ', ; syr, ܚܡܬ, ħ(ə)mɑθ, lit=fortress; Biblical Hebrew: ''Ḥamāṯ'') is a city on the banks of the Orontes River in west-central Syria. It is located north of Damascus and north of Homs. It is the provincial ...

. Some claimed, however, that Mohammed had instead died of a

heart attack A myocardial infarction (MI), commonly known as a heart attack, occurs when blood flow decreases or stops to the coronary artery of the heart, causing damage to the heart muscle. The most common symptom is chest pain or discomfort which ma ...

. The Ba'ath Legion of the

Syrian Army " (''Guardians of the Homeland'') , colors = * Service uniform: Khaki, Olive * Combat uniform: Green, Black, Khaki , anniversaries = August 1st , equipment = , equipment_label = , battles = 1948 Arab–Israeli War Six-D ...

's 5th Corps was formed from Ba'ath Brigades volunteers. By mid-2018, the Syrian government began to disband the Ba'ath Brigades, as well as other pro-government militias, integrating parts of them into the Syrian Army. The Ba'ath Brigades were dissolved following the Idlib demilitarization agreement in September of 2018. The group's then-leader, Jihad Barakat, announced on his

Facebook Facebook is an online social media and social networking service owned by American company Meta Platforms. Founded in 2004 by Mark Zuckerberg with fellow Harvard College students and roommates Eduardo Saverin, Andrew McCollum, Dust ...

page that "the military operations conducted by Baath forces have completely ended".

Legacy

Despite the Ba'ath Brigades' end, several of their former commanders continued to play a prominent role in Syria. Bassem Sudan and Isam Nabhan Subai, former commanders of the brigades in Latakia and Hama respectively, successfully ran as candidates in the

2020 Syrian parliamentary election Parliamentary elections were scheduled to be held in Syria on 13 April 2020 to elect members of the People's Council of Syria. However, on 14 March they were postponed to 20 May due to the coronavirus pandemic. On 7 May, it was decided to postp ...

References

{{Ba'ath Party Anti-ISIL factions in Syria Arab nationalist militant groups Ba'athist organizations Left-wing militant groups Military units and formations established in 2012 Military wings of nationalist parties Organizations associated with the Ba'ath Party Pro-government factions of the Syrian civil war 2012 establishments in Syria Axis of Resistance

History

Legacy

See also

References