The Conquering Lion of God Forces of Iraq and the Levant ( ar, قوات اسد الله الغالب في العراق والشام, ''Quwwat Assad Allah al-Ghalib fi al-Iraq wa al-Sham''), more commonly known by its original name ( ar, لواء اسد الله الغالب في العراق والشام, Liwa Assad Allah al-Ghalib fi al-Iraq wa al-Sham) or simply LAAG, is a
Shia Muslim
Shīʿa Islam or Shīʿīsm is the second-largest branch of Islam. It holds that the Islamic prophet Muhammad designated ʿAlī ibn Abī Ṭālib as his successor (''khalīfa'') and the Imam (spiritual and political leader) after him, most ...
militant group operating throughout
Syria and
Iraq
Iraq,; ku, عێراق, translit=Êraq officially the Republic of Iraq, '; ku, کۆماری عێراق, translit=Komarî Êraq is a country in Western Asia. It is bordered by Turkey to the north, Iran to the east, the Persian Gulf and K ...
. It is named after the title of Imam
Ali.
History
Liwa Assad Allah al-Ghalib was originally set up in late 2013 as part of the
Liwa Abu al-Fadhal al-Abbas network,
ostensibly to work with other Shia militias to protect the
Sayyidah Zaynab shrine,
and was initially advised by
Asa'ib Ahl al-Haq
Asa'ib Ahl al-Haq (AAH; ar, عصائب أهل الحق Aṣaʾib ʾAhl al-Haqq, "League of the Righteous"), also known as the Khazali Network ( ar, شبكة الخزعلي), is a radical Iraqi Shi'a political party and paramilitary group active ...
veterans.
Although the group has Syrian members
and has been considered to be one of the Syrian government's "domestic allies", LAAG primarily recruits Iraqi Shiites since its formation and has built an extensive recruitment network within Iraq.
Since mid-August 2013, LAAG began to actively fight for the Syrian government against various
Syrian opposition groups. In this capacity, it originally operated almost exclusively in the
Rif Dimashq Governorate
Rif Dimashq Governorate ( ar, محافظة ريف دمشق, ', literally, the "Governorate of the Countryside of Damascus", Damascus Suburb) is one of the fourteen governorates (provinces) of Syria. It is situated in the southwestern part of the ...
, notably participating in the
Rif Dimashq offensive (March–August 2013) and the
Battle of Al-Malihah
The Battle of Al-Malihah was a battle in the Rif Dimashq Governorate during the Syrian Civil War.
Battle
On 3 April, the Syrian Arab Army launched a "large-scale military operation" in a bid to capture the rebel-held town of Al-Malihah and ...
.
This changed after June 2014, when
ISIL
An Islamic state is a state that has a form of government based on Islamic law (sharia). As a term, it has been used to describe various historical polities and theories of governance in the Islamic world. As a translation of the Arabic term ...
conquered Mosul, as LAAG set up an Iraq branch,
named "Kata'ib Assad Allah al-Ghalib" and led by Sayyid Abu Ghayth al-
Hassani.
Since then, however, strong differences have emerged between LAAG and Kata'ib Assad Allah al-Ghalib, with Sheikh Abdallah al-Shaibani claiming that the latter has illegitimately appropriated his group's name and branding, while Kata'ib Assad Allah al-Ghalib no longer claims to be part of LAAG.
Despite that, LAAG still had an active Iraqi branch by early 2016.
Another Iraqi militia partially influenced by LAAG is
Jaysh al-Mu'ammal, whose founder Sa'ad Sawar had fought with LAAG in Syria before forming his own militant group in 2016.
In early 2015, LAAG, among other Shia militias, deployed forces to
Latakia Governorate, when Sunni rebel forces threatened the local
Alawite population.
While LAAG returned to rural Rif Dimashq after this first northern foray,
it became more active throughout Syria afterwards. In late 2015, LAAG sent fighters to
Aleppo for the
Aleppo offensive (October–December 2015)
The Aleppo offensive (October–December 2015) was a Syrian Army large-scale strategic offensive south of Aleppo. The main objective of the operation was to secure the Azzan Mountains, while also creating a larger buffer zone around the only ...
,
and in early 2016 it returned to the Syrian coastal highlands to participate in a
local government offensive.
At the same time, the group also began to provide advisors for the
Desert Hawks Brigade,
while adopting the latter's uniforms and insignia. Meanwhile, LAAG's Iraqi units had joined forces with
Harakat al-Abdal, and developed close links with the
Badr Organization and
Kata'ib Sayyid al-Shuhada
The Master of Martyrs Battalions, or Kata'ib Sayyid al-Shuhada' (KSS) ( ar, كتائب سيد الشهداء, The Battalions of the Master of Martyrs) is an Iraqi Shia militia formed in 2013. Its stated mission is to protect "(Shia) shrines acr ...
.
LAAG still operated in the Damascus area as of March 2017.
Later that month, LAAG was one of the Shia militias mobilized by the
IRGC against a major rebel offensive in
northern Hama. At
Qamhana, Abdallah al-Shaibani's men helped to stop
Tahrir al-Sham's attack, and thereafter aided the government counter-offensive.
By mid-2017, LAAG had come to be closely allied with another Shia Islamist militia, Liwa'a Zulfiqar, and even began to operate under the latter's name and logo. Around this time, Abdallah al-Shaibani's men took part in the
Syrian Desert campaign (May–July 2017), during which they clashed with
United States
The United States of America (U.S.A. or USA), commonly known as the United States (U.S. or US) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It consists of 50 states, a federal district, five major unincorporated territori ...
-supported
Free Syrian Army groups near the
al Waleed border crossing (
al-Tanf).
See also
*
List of armed groups in the Syrian Civil War
A number of states and armed groups have involved themselves in the ongoing Syrian Civil War as belligerents.
Syrian Arab Republic and allies
A number of sources have emphasized that as of at least late-2015/early-2016 the Syrian Arab Republic ...
*
Liwa Abu al-Fadhal al-Abbas
Notes
References
Bibliography
*
*
{{Militant Islamism
Anti-ISIL factions in Syria
Anti-ISIL factions in Iraq
Pro-government factions of the Syrian civil war
Resistance movements
Shia Islamist groups
Shia organizations
Syrian Shia organizations
Anti-Americanism
2013 establishments in Iraq
2013 establishments in Syria
Jihadist groups in Syria
Arab militant groups
Axis of Resistance