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Syria Special and Irregular Armed Forces
Defense Companies (Saraya ad Difa)
In 1987, the Assad government controlled or sponsored several
important special military units in addition to the regular armed
forces. Until they were disbanded and reorganized as a standard
division in 1984, the most important special forces were the
Defense Companies, which consisted of about 15,000 to 25,000
specially trained and equipped officers and men. Established in
1971, the Defense Companies were organizationally independent of
the regular armed forces and under the command of Rifaat al
Assad, the president's brother. 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. Foreign observers viewed this
elite military unit as the president's private army.
Defense Company personnel were recruited independently of the
regular armed forces. Recruitment was believed to be
predominantly among Alawis, the ethnic community presumed most
loyal to Assad. Observers reported that 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 call on regular forces for logistical help
and military support.
The Defense Companies were garrisoned outside Damascus,
presumably with the primary mission of countering attempted coups
or other challenges to the central government. These special
forces, however, also had military missions beyond the role of a
praetorian guard. For example, they acquired combat experience
during Syria's first armed intervention in Lebanon (June-October
1976). Defense Companies units also were involved in internal
security, such as carrying out house-to-house searches during the
nationwide strikes and demonstrations in Aleppo in March 1980 and
in June 1980 killing between 600 and 1,000 Tadmur Prison inmates
suspected of belonging to the banned Muslim Brotherhood. In 1982
units were deployed in Hamah during the armed uprising by the
Muslim Brotherhood, and they participated in the massacre of
10,000 to 25,000 civilians there.
The Defense Companies have also been deployed against Jordan.
In late February 1981, some of their senior commanders, including
Colonel Adnan Barakat, were alleged to have been involved in an
abortive assassination attempt against Jordanian Prime Minister
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 three mechanized brigades.
Data as of April 1987
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