Defense Companies (Syria)

Not to be confused with defense contractors.

Defense companies
Active	1966 – 1984
Country	Syria
Allegiance	Military of Syria
Branch	Special forces
Type	Praetorian Guard
Size	15,000 - 25,000
Garrison/HQ	Damascus
Equipment	T-72 tanks SAM's Attack helicopters
Engagements	Lebanese Civil War Islamic uprising in Syria Tadmor Prison massacre Siege of Aleppo (1980) Hama massacre
Commanders
Notable commanders	Rifaat al-Assad

The Defense Companies (Saraya ad-Difa) were a paramilitary force in Syria that were controlled by Rifaat al-Assad. Their task was to defend the Assad government, and Damascus, from internal and external attack. They merged into the Syrian Army as the 4th Armoured division.^[1]

History and deployment

The Defense Companies were founded in 1966 and were organizationally independent of the regular armed forces. They were under the command of Rifaat al-Assad, the president's brother. 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.

The Defence Companies served in Syria's first armed intervention in the Lebanese Civil War and were involved in internal security operations during the nationwide strikes and demonstrations in Aleppo in March 1980 and in June 1980. Lt. Col. Nassif ran a revenge operation after an attempted asssassination of the president in 1980, in which a team of Defense Company soldiers killed up to 1,000 Tadmor Prison inmates suspected of belonging to the Muslim Brotherhood. In Spring 1982, units of the Defence Companies and other elite units were deployed in Hamah to quell an Islamist uprising, in what became known as the Hama Massacre. Members of the Defense Companies are alleged to have been involved in a February 1981 assassination attempt against the Prime Minister of Jordan Mudir Badran. In Lebanon, Defense Companies units supported pro-Syrian Lebanese militias, and cooperated closely with the Tripoli-based Arab Knights of the Arab Democratic Party (founded in 1981 by Rifaat al Assad and composed largely of Lebanese Alawis), and the Lebanese Baath Party and its militia, the Assad Battalion.

The internal unrest of the late 1970s and early 1980s increased the president's reliance on Rifaat al-Assad, and the Defence Companies and its associated organizations grew rapidly. In 1983, President Hafez al-Assad temporarily collapsed from exhaustion or possible heart problems, and a power vacuum ensued. Rifaat used the Defence Companies to attempt to position himself as successor, but this was opposed by the ailing president and his allies in other internal security militias, as well as by the regular army. After a tense standoff in Damascus in Spring 1984, Rifaat was relieved of his command, kicked upstairs to the ceremonial role of Vice President for Security Affairs and sent abroad on an official mission to the Soviet Union. He was replaced as Defence Company commander by Lieutenant Colonel Mu'in Nassif, his deputy and brother-in-law. Nassif, in turn, was quickly replaced by General Hikmat Ibrahim, a Hafez loyalist. Soon after, the Defense Companies were renamed Unit 569 and reorganized as a standard Syrian army armored division with four armored and mechanized brigades. This ended their existence as a separate unit. Rifaat al-Assad remains in exile in Western Europe as of 2010, opposing the rule of Hafez al-Assad's son, Bashar al-Assad, who succeeded to power in 2000.

Structure and equipment

Members of the approximately 15,000 to 25,000 strong Defense Companies (some sources claim even higher numbers in 1983-1984) were organised into companies of 100 to 150 men, many of whom received commando and parachute training. The unit included a small but symbolically visible female parachutist corps. 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 soldiers were predominantly Alawites, the ethnic community of the Assad family. Ideological training and propaganda were intense, and focused on revolutionary Baathism, secular nationalism, and a cult of "the Leader", Rifaat al-Assad.

References

 This article incorporates public domain material from websites or documents of the Library of Congress Country Studies.

1. ^ Campell, Kirk (2009). Civil-Military Relations And Political Liberalization: A Comparative Study Of The Military's Corporateness And Political Values In Egypt, Syria, Turkey, and Pakistan. UMI Microform. pp. 228. http://gradworks.umi.com/3330856.pdf. 

• 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 (Men-at-Arms, 194) by Samuel Katz, Osprey Publishing 1988, ISBN 978-0850458008
• Armies in Lebanon 1982 to 1984 (Men at Arms Series, 165) by Samuel Katz and Ronald Volstad, Osprey Publishing 1985, ISBN 978-0850456028

External links

• LOC country study