Defense companies

Infobox National Military
country=Syria
name=
native_name=


caption=


caption2=
founded=1946
current_form=
disbanded=
branches=Syrian Army Syrian Navy Syrian Air Force Syrian Air Defense Force Police and Security Force
headquarters=Damascus
commander-in-chief=Bashar al-Assad
commander-in-chief_title=President of Syria
minister=
minister_title=
commander=
commander_title=
age=
conscription=
manpower_data=
manpower_age=
available=4,356,413 (2005 est.)
available_f=
fit=3,453,888 (2005 est.)
fit_f=
reaching=225,113 (2005 est.)
reaching_f=
active=
ranked=
reserve=
deployed=
amount=858 million-1 billion (FY00 est.)
percent_GDP=5.9% (FY00)
domestic_suppliers=
foreign_suppliers=
imports=
exports=
history=
ranks=The Defense Companies ("Saraya ad Difa") was a paramilitary force in Syria which falls directly under the Vice-President for Security and Defense Affairs. Their task was to defend the Assad government, and Damacus, from internal and external attack.

The Defense Companies were founded in 1971 and were organizationally independent of the regular armed forces and were under the command of Rifaat al-Assad, the president's brother. The 15,000 to 25,000 strong Defense Companies, were organised into companies of 100 to 150 men, many of whom received commando and parachute training. In 1984 Rifaat was relieved of his command and replaced by Lieutenant Colonel Mu'in Nassif, his deputy commander and brother-in-law. Nassif, in turn, was replaced by General Hikmat Ibrahim.

Members were were predominantly Alawites, the ethnic community presumed most loyal to Assad. The Defense Companies were equipped with some of the most modern weapons available to the Syrian Army, including T-72M tanks, SAMs, and attack helicopters, and could demand logistical help and support from the regular military. The Defense Companies were garrisoned outside Damascus, with the primary mission of countering attempted coups and challenges to the Assad government. These special forces, however, also had military missions beyond the role of a praetorian guard.

They served in Syria's first armed intervention in Lebanon's Civil War and were involved in internal security operations during the nationwide strikes and demonstrations in Aleppo in March 1980 and in June 1980. Where they killed up to 1,000 Tadmur Prison inmates suspected of belonging to the Muslim Brotherhood. In 1982 units were deployed in Hamah during the the Muslim Brotherhood uprising, and where they may have killed up to 25,000 civilians.

The Defense Companies have also been deployed against Jordan where, in February 1981, some of their senior commanders, including one Colonel Adnan Barakat, were alleged to have been involved in an assassination attempt against the Prime Minister of Jordan Mudir Badran.

Members of the Defense Companies also reportedly have been sent abroad to monitor Syrian political exiles and to impede their activities. In Lebanon, Defense Companies units have supported pro-Syrian Lebanese militias, such as the Tripoli-based Arab Knights of the Arab Democratic Party (founded in 1981 by Rifaat al Assad and composed largely of Lebanese Alawis of Syrian origin), and the Lebanese Baath Party and its militia, the Assad Battalion.

Following a power struggle between Rifaat al Assad and his rivals in the armed forces in early 1984, the Defense Companies were renamed Unit 569 and reorganized as a standard armored division with four armored and mechanized brigades.

References

* Arabs at War: Military Effectiveness 1948-91, Kenneth M. Pollack, University of Nebraska Press, Lincoln and London, 2002, and Pollack's book reviewed in International Security, Vol. 28, No.2
* Arab Armies of the Middle East Wars by Samuel Katz
* Armies in Lebanon 1982 to 1984 by Samuel Katz

External Links

* [http://www.country-data.com/cgi-bin/query/r-13587.html LOC country study]