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Republican Guard (Syria)

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Syrian Republican Guard Forces
الحرس الجمهوري
Republican Guard shoulder sleeve insignia
Active1976 — present
Country Syria
AllegiancePresident of Syria
BranchSyrian Arab Army
TypeShock Troops
RoleMechanized infantry
Size25,000[1]
Garrison/HQMount Qasioun, Damascus
Colors
tactical color marking
EngagementsSyrian Civil War
Commanders
Current
commander		Maj. Gen. Shoaeb Suleiman
Deputy CommanderBrig. Gen. Mohamed Qasem
Brigade CommandersBrig. Gen. Issam Zahreddine (104th Brigade)
Brig. Gen. Talal Makhlouf (105th Brigade)
Brig. Gen. Rukin Mohamed Khaddor (106th Brigade)
Notable
commanders		Bashar al-Assad
Adnan Makhlouf
Manaf Tlass (formerly) (105th Brigade)

The Syrian Republican Guard (Arabic: الحرس الجمهوري al-Haras al-Jamhūriyy as-Sūrī), also known as the Presidential Guard, is an elite 25,000 man mechanized division comprised almost entirely of Alawites. Its main purpose is to protect the capital, Damascus, from any foreign or domestic threats. The Guard is the only Syrian military unit allowed within the capital city centre.[5]

History

The Guard was formed in 1976 when anti-Syrian Palestinian groups launched attacks on Syrian officials. Major-General Adnan Makhlouf commanded the Guard from 1976 till 1997. The Republican Guard is used mostly to protect top Syrian government officials from any external threats and to serve as a counter-weight to the other powerful Syrian Army formations near the capital, the 4th Mechanized Division, the 3rd Armoured Division, and the 14th Special Forces (Airborne) Division.[6] It is reported[by whom?] that in order to maintain loyalty to the Syrian government, officers of the Republican Guard receive a significant share of the revenue from the Syrian oil fields in the Deir ez-Zor region, which in large part is not recorded in the country's budget.[7] Many members of the Assad family have served in the Republican Guard. Bashar al-Assad was a Colonel, and was given control of a brigade. His younger brother Maher was also a Colonel in the Republican Guard.[8]

Structure

At the outset of the 2011 conflict, the Republican Guard included three mechanized brigades and two “security regiments.” The overall force structure is comparable to a conventional mechanized infantry division, but like the 4th Armored Division, the Republican Guard is outfitted with better equipment and maintained at full strength. Brigade commanders include regime stalwarts like Talal Makhlouf, who hails from the family of Hafez al-Assad’s wife, and the Division’s officers and soldiers are almost entirely Alawites. The Republican Guards did include Sunni leadership at the outset of the conflict, notably Manaf Tlass, son of Syria’s long-serving Defense Minister Mustafa Tlass and close friend to Bashar before the uprising. As early as May 2011, the government reportedly placed Tlass under house arrest, and he defected in July 2012.[4]

Women in the Republican Guard

A republican guard armored battalion of 800, composed entirely of women, was raised to fight within the capitals limits in Damascus.[9]

Syrian civil war

At the beginning of the Syrian civil war, the Republican Guard kept out of the conflict, with only the regular Syrian Armed Forces fighting. In June 2012, the Republican Guard clashed with rebels near its housing compounds and bases in the suburbs of Qudsaya and al-Hamah, about 8 kilometers from central Damascus.[10] The unit has been accused by Human Rights Watch of engaging in human rights abuses during the conflict.[11] Later on, Republican Guard units were deployed to government bases in the North and East of the country, in order to bolster and stiffen the resistance against rebel advances.[citation needed]

400 Syrian Republican Guard fighters were called in as reinforcements during the Battle of Al-Hasakah.[12]

Uniform and insignia

The Republican Guard uniform is distinct from the regular Army uniform. Service dress is composed of red berets rather than the standard black or green, red epaulettes, red lanyards, and brown leather belts with brown shoes. On ceremonial occasions, officers wear red peaked caps instead of a beret.[citation needed]

See also

References

  1. ^ "Syrian rebel leader to Haaretz: Assad's opposition will secure chemical weapons". Haaretz. 28 May 2012. Retrieved 2 August 2012.
  2. ^ [1]
  3. ^ ABC News. "Government Troops Advance in Syria's Largest City". ABC News. Retrieved 5 November 2014.
  4. ^ a b http://www.understandingwar.org/sites/default/files/SyrianArmy-DocOOB.pdf
  5. ^ MEIB (August 2000). "Syria's Praetorian Guards: A Primer". Middle East Intelligence Bulletin. 2 (7). Retrieved 20 July 2011.
  6. ^ Paul, James (1990). Human rights in Syria. Human Rights Watch. p. 50.
  7. ^ Batatu, Hanna (1999). Syria's peasantry, the descendants of its lesser rural notables, and their politics. Princeton, NJ: Princeton Univ. Press. p. 237. ISBN 0-691-00254-1.
  8. ^ Bar, Shmuel (2006). "Bashar's Syria: The Regime and its Strategic Worldview" (PDF): 379, 384. Retrieved 23 June 2011. {{cite journal}}: Cite journal requires |journal= (help)
  9. ^ http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-3011838/Syria-s-female-tank-drivers-Battalion-800-women-commandos-fierce-clashes-rebels-line-Damascus.html
  10. ^ "Activists: Syrian rebels clash with elite troops". USA Today. Associated Press. 26 June 2012. Retrieved 6 May 2013.
  11. ^ "Appendix 1: Structure and Command of Armed Forces and Intelligence Agencies". Human Rights Watch.
  12. ^ Leith Fadel. "Republican Guard Arrives in Al-Hasakah City to Forestall ISIS Advance". Al-Masdar News. Retrieved 3 August 2015.

Further reading

  • Kenneth M. Pollack, Arabs at War: Military Effectiveness 1948-91, University of Nebraska Press, Lincoln and London, 2002, and Pollack's book reviewed in International Security, Vol. 28, No.2.
  • Richard Bennett, The Syrian Military: A Primer MEIB Bulletin, Vol. 3, No. 8, August/September 2001
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