Baqir Brigade
Syrian loyalist militia / From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
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The Baqir Brigade (Arabic: لواء الباقر; Liwa al-Baqir), is a Syrian pro-government militia originating in the Aleppo Governorate that fights in the Syrian Civil War. The militia is one of the most prominent and largest pro-government militias from the Aleppo area and part of the "Local Defence Forces" network. Its members mostly consists of tribesmen from the al-Baggara tribe that traditionally supported the rule of the al-Assad family despite being mostly Sunni Muslim. Though the militia's fighters thus come from a largely Sunni background, many of them have converted to or are at least strongly influenced by Shia Islam. The Baqir Brigade has also been noted for its strong connections to the Lebanese Hezbollah, Iran, and various Shiite Iraqi militias, and is thus generally considered to be a Shia or "Shi'ified" fighting force.[1][3][8]
Baqir Brigade | |
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لواء الباقر | |
Leaders | Khalid al-Hassan[1] |
Dates of operation | 2012[lower-alpha 1]– present |
Allegiance | Syria |
Ideology | Shia Islamic jihadist resistance[1][4] Syrian nationalism[5] Anti-Zionism[1] |
Size | c. 3,000[lower-alpha 2] |
Part of | Local Defence Forces |
Allies | Iran Hezbollah Syrian Democratic Forces (Afrin Region only, since 2018)[6] Various Iraqi Shia militias |
Opponents | Islamic State Tahrir al-Sham Turkey Free Syrian Army and allies United States Syrian Democratic Forces (eastern Syria only, since 2018) |
Battles and wars |
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