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The Syrian Republican Guard (SRG)[a], also known as the Presidential Guard, was an elite 25,000 man praetorian guard unit in the Syrian Army prior to the fall of the Assad regime, and was reportedly at a corps size with around 60,000 guardsmen.[3][21] It was composed of two mechanized divisions with its main purpose to protect the capital of Syria, Damascus, from any foreign or domestic threats. The Republican Guard was the only Syrian military unit allowed within the capital before the civil war.[22] It was designed to defend the President as well as the major presidential and strategic institutions, including the presidential palaces.
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The Guard was formed in 1976 after the Syrian invasion of Lebanon, during the Lebanese Civil War, to protect the then Syrian president Hafez al-Assad. Major General Adnan Makhlouf commanded the Guard from 1976 until 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.[23] Many members of the Assad family have served in the Republican Guard. The former president 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.[24]
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.[25]
The unit had been accused by Human Rights Watch of engaging in human rights abuses during the conflict.[26] In 2012, Republican guard units played an important role in repelling opposition offensives on Damascus and Aleppo.[27] Later in 2012, 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.[28] 400 Syrian Republican Guard fighters were reportedly called in as reinforcements during the Battle of Al-Hasakah.[29]
The 103rd Brigade reportedly operated in the Latakia province where (in 2013) it assisted other pro-government units in stopping opposition assaults on the Alawite heartland during 2013 Latakia offensive.[30] The brigade also reportedly participated in offensive operations which partially expelled rebels from the Latakia province.[31]
The 124th brigade reportedly participated in the successful defense of IS attacks on the Tabqa airbase in 2014, before the evacuation of the airport.[32] The brigade reportedly defended the Ithriya-Khanasser highway thus preserving a major supply line to Aleppo.[33] The brigade was reported in January 2018 directing the capture of the al-Hass Plain and the Offensive towards Abu-Duhur from the north (front of south Aleppo)[34]
The 104th brigade was well known in the media due to its multi-year deployment against ISIL in Deir ez-Zor.[35] Deployed to the area in late 2012, according to some sources[citation needed] (other sources state that the brigade was not deployed to Deir ez-Zor before early 2014),[36] the brigade, along with other SAA elements, defended pro-government-held territory in Deir ez-Zor.[37] The brigade was largely under siege from January 2015, supported from the air by the Syrian Arab Air Force and Russian Air Force.[38] The brigade in Deir ez-Zor city continued to be besieged until it was relieved on 5 September 2017.[39] In early 2018 reports emerged that the unit was transferred back to Damascus.[40]
In 2016, elements of the 102nd, 106th Brigades and the 800th Regiment were reported to have taken part in the successful Aleppo campaign which expelled opposition elements from the city.[41]
In late 2016 and early 2017, together with other pro-government units, the 800th Regiment was reported to have stopped an ISIL offensive by defending the T4 airbase and preventing a possible ISIL assault on Homs.[42][43]
105th Brigade was largely employed in Damascus and the surrounding areas, mainly focusing on the East Ghouta front[44][45] which has been an opposition stronghold for years, reportedly containing 25,000 opposition fighters.[46][47][48]
In 2017, following several deployments to the Aleppo front[49][50] the 106th brigade reportedly returned to the Damascus operating area where it continued combat operations.[51][52][53]
On October 18, 2017, Issam Zahreddine, a Major General leading the Syrian government's fight against ISIL in Deir ez-Zor and known as "Lion of the Republican Guard,"[54][55] was killed when a land mine struck his vehicle in the Hwaijet Saqer area of Deir ez-Zor's countryside during a military operation.[15][56][54]
In March 2021, its commander since January 2021, Major General Malik Aliaa (formerly commander of the Republican Guard's 30th Division) was sanctioned by the United Kingdom, which named him as "Responsible for the violent repression of the civilian population by troops under his command, particularly during the increased violence of the offensives in north-west Syria of 2019–2020."[16]
Fall of the Assad regime
In the 2024 Syrian opposition offensives, the Syrian Armed Forces quickly collapsed across Syria. The Republican Guard was one of the few military units which were still regarded as reliable at the time.[57] As a result, the Republican Guard was one of the units sent to defend Aleppo, but they only managed to hold some of the city's most strategic locations for a limited time.[58] When rebel groups later advanced into Damascus, the Republican Guard offered no resistance, while the Assad regime crumbled.[59]
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At the outset of the Syrian civil war, the Republican Guard included three mechanized brigades and two "security regiments." The unit had similar organization like other Republican guard type formations. The overall force structure was comparable to a two conventional mechanized infantry divisions, but like the 4th Armored Division, the Republican Guard was outfitted with better equipment and maintained at full strength.[21]
The main ground combat unit of the Syrian military was often called a brigade or regiment and was between 500 and 1,000 strong. This was considerably smaller than a corresponding Western formation of that designation.[21] For reasons of esprit de corps, these retained their pre-civil war titles as tank, infantry, mechanized, artillery, special forces and airborne Republican Guard brigades or regiments. During the civil war, their internal organization was very different from their pre-civil war structure.[60]
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In the last days of October 2017, Jane's Information Group published in its Jane's Intelligence Review an article on the current military situation of the Syrian Arab Army and its future challenges. The text reflects the transformation that the battle order has presented through the conflict, from the old order of battle of the Soviet influence to the current one, more adapted to the new challenges.[2]
Between 2017 and 2021, Syrian Republican Guard's battle order was partially changed and new units were created.[61] As of October 2021, according to Gregory Waters, Republican Guard operates nine brigades, two mechanized regiments, two armored regiments, five special forces regiments and three artillery regiments:
- Syrian Republican Guard (2021)[61]
- 100th Artillery Regiment (equipped with 122 mm howitzer 2A18 (D-30), 2S1 Gvozdika, 2S3 Akatsiya howitzers and BM-21 Grad rocket launchers, is able to repel any attack by enemy forces in the city and its suburbs)
- 101st and 102nd Infantry "Security" Regiments (whose task is to provide security to the President, government ministers, senior government officials and the Army headquarters and other government institutions)[62][11][41]
- 103rd Commando Brigade
- 104th Airborne Brigade
- 105th Mechanized Brigade
- 107th Artillery Regiment[b]
- 108th Armored Regiment[c]
- 109th Armored Regiment[d]
- 151th Mechanized Regiment[e]
- 152nd Mechanized Regiment[f]
- 800th Regiment[11][64]
- 30th Division[65][66][67]
Other special units:
- Lionesses of Defense Armored Brigade[73][74]
- Popular Security and Support Forces[g]
- Syrian Marines[h]
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The Republican Guard uniform was distinct from the regular Army uniform. Service dress consisted of woodland camouflage worn with red berets, rather than the standard black or green, red epaulettes, red lanyards, and brown leather belts with green camouflaged shoes.[77] On ceremonial occasions, officers wore red peaked caps instead of a beret.[78] Commandos of the Guard could easily been discerned from other units by their 'القوات الخاصة – "Commandos" patch, but were only rarely seen wearing their red beret.[77]
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The Republican Guard tended to usually be better equipped than the standard Syrian Army. The Republican Guard had been documented and photographed using the American made M-16 rifle.[79] The Soviet made AKM 7.62×39mm rifle was also used with a folding stock which makes it the AKMS variant. The AK-74 and the AKS-74U Carbine was used along with the more modern AK-100 series which both are chambered for 5.45×39mm. The AK-74M rifles were believed to have entered Syria in the mid to late 1990s following a deal with Russia. The AK-74M was also sometimes seen with an NSPU night vision optic sight or a GP-25 Grenade Launcher in some cases.[80]
Members of the Republican Guard had also been seen with the Glock handgun which was in their holster.[81] The Makarov PM 9×18mm pistol was also seen in use with the Guard and in holsters. Maher al-Assad, who was in the Republican Guard as a Commander and also is the brother of former President Bashar al-Assad, was seen with a Springfield Armory XD pistol in his holster while visiting troops.[82]
The NSV machine gun chambered for 12.7×108mm had also been used by the Republican Guard during the civil war and was usually seen being used whilst the guard members were in a building firing at rebels. The PKM machine gun chambered in 7.62×54mmR was also used by the Republican Guard.[83]
Armored units of the Guard were equipped with T-55, T-62, T-72 (T-72 Adra) and more modern T-90s. Some T-55s were upgraded with locally developed Viper thermal imager.[84] All tanks were upgraded with soft-kill Sarab Active Protection System.[85] The main IFVs of the SRG were the BMP-1 and the BMP-2.[86] Since 2015, Russia was upgrading SRG with the most modern APCs such as BTR-80, BTR-82A,[87] GAZ-2975 Tigr,[88] BMPT-72 Terminator 2 and GAZ-39371 Vodnik, etc.[89]
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