Liwa Fatemiyoun

Liwa Fatemiyoun
لواء الفاطميون
LeadersAli Reza Tavassoli ("Abu Hamed Ali Sah Xakis") †[1][2]
Hussain Fedayee ("Zulfiqar") †[3]
Dates of operationNovember 2014 – present[4]
Allegiance Iran (IRGC)[3][5][6]
HeadquartersMashhad, Iran
Active regionsSyria[1][7][8][9][10]
Yemen[11]
IdeologyShia Islamism
Khomeinism
Sloganإِن يَنصُرْكُمُ ٱللَّهُ فَلَا غَالِبَ لَكُمْ [Quran 3:160]
"If Allah helps you, none can defeat you."[12][13][14]
Sizec. 10,000 – 20,000 (2018)[3]
500–1,500 (2020)[15]
Part ofAxis of Resistance[16][14]
Allies Syria
 Iran
 Russia
Liwa Zainebiyoun
 Hezbollah
Iraqi Shia private militias[16]
Houthis
 Yemen (Supreme Political Council)
Opponents Free Syrian Army
Islamic Front
al-Nusra Front/Hayat Tahrir al-Sham
Islamic State
Syrian Democratic Forces[17][failed verification]
 Yemen (Hadi government)
 Saudi Arabia
 United States
Battles and warsSyrian civil war Yemeni Civil War[24]
Balkhab uprising[25]

Liwa Fatemiyoun (Arabic: لِوَاء الْفَاطِمِيُّون, romanized: Liwā’ al-Fāṭimīyūn; Persian/Dari: لواء فاطمیون or لشکر فاطمیون), literally "Fatimid Banner", also known as Fatemiyoun Division or Fatemiyoun Brigade,[3] is an Afghan Shia militia formed in 2014 to fight in Syria on the side of the Syrian government. The group's officially designated purpose, is the defense of the shrine of Zaynab bint Ali, and to fight "takfiri terrorists" in Syria, which would come to include the Islamic State (IS).[26][27] It is funded, trained, and equipped by the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC), and fights under the command of Iranian officers.[4] Both the Fatemiyoun Brigade and the Iranian government downplay their relationship with one another, despite clear coordination and the brigade's operation under the auspices of the IRGC.[4] Liwa Fatemiyoun is also closely associated with Hezbollah Afghanistan.[4]

By late 2017, the unit was presumed to have numbered between 10,000 and 20,000 fighters.[3] According to Zohair Mojahed, a cultural official in the Fatemiyoun Brigade, the group suffered 2,000 killed and 8,000 wounded up to the end of 2017 while fighting in Syria.[28] A minimum of 925 deaths among the brigade's troops were documented based on monitoring of open source coverage of funeral services.[29]

  1. ^ a b "Iran mourns 7 Afghans killed fighting for Damascus ally". Daily Star Lebanon. Archived from the original on 3 April 2015. Retrieved 7 May 2015.
  2. ^ yalibnan (24 October 2015). "Top Iranian Guards commander, several fighters killed in Syria". Archived from the original on 3 June 2016. Retrieved 6 May 2016.
  3. ^ a b c d e f g Ahmad Shuja Jamal (13 February 2018). "Mission Accomplished? What's Next for Iran's Afghan Fighters in Syria". War on the Rocks. Archived from the original on 14 May 2019. Retrieved 4 August 2018.
  4. ^ a b c d Phillip Smyth (3 June 2014). "Iran's Afghan Shiite Fighters in Syria". Washington Institute for Near East Policy. Archived from the original on 11 November 2017. Retrieved 18 May 2022.
  5. ^ AFPC 2017, p. 340.
  6. ^ "Liwa al-Fatemiyoun". Jihad Intel. Archived from the original on 4 August 2018. Retrieved 4 August 2018.
  7. ^ "Syria rebel group denies releasing Afghan prisoners". 23 February 2016. Archived from the original on 24 February 2016. Retrieved 23 February 2016.
  8. ^ Sohranas. "More than 50 air raids carried out on Jeser al-Shagour, and the violent clashes continue around hills in Frikah village and al-Alawin checkpoint". Syrian Observatory For Human Rights. Retrieved 9 May 2015.
  9. ^ Leith Fadel (2 November 2015). "Syrian Army and Hezbollah Make Huge Gains in Southern Aleppo: Military Operations Begin in Al-Hadher". Al-Masdar News. Archived from the original on 28 March 2019. Retrieved 29 August 2016.
  10. ^ Amir Toumaj (3 August 2016). "Iranian military involvement in the battle for Aleppo". The Long War Journal. Archived from the original on 1 February 2017. Retrieved 29 August 2016.
  11. ^ "Iran Sent Them to Syria. Now Afghan Fighters Are a Worry at Home". New York Times. 11 November 2017. Archived from the original on 17 August 2019. Retrieved 12 November 2017. Not only did Iran send smaller units of the Fatemiyoun to cross Syrian borders and fight in Yemen
  12. ^ Ari Heistein; James West (20 November 2015). "Syria's Other Foreign Fighters: Iran's Afghan and Pakistani Mercenaries". National Interest. Retrieved 18 May 2022.
  13. ^ Robillard 2021, pp. 167–187.
  14. ^ a b Drums Of War: Israel And The "AXIS OF RESISTANCE" (PDF), International Crisis Group, 2 August 2010, archived from the original (PDF) on 2016-03-04
  15. ^ Cite error: The named reference Latifi was invoked but never defined (see the help page).
  16. ^ a b "After ISIS, Fatemiyoun Vows to Fight with "Axis of Resistance" to Destroy Israel". Middle East Institute. Archived from the original on 2020-07-16. Retrieved 2020-07-23.
  17. ^ a b Christoph Reuter. American Fury: The Truth About the Russian Deaths in Syria: Hundreds of Russian soldiers are alleged to have died in U.S. airstrikes at the beginning of February. Reporting by Der Spiegel shows that events were likely very different. Archived 2018-03-04 at the Wayback Machine Der Spiegel, 2 March 2018.
  18. ^ Amir Toumaj (2 April 2017). "Qassem Soleimani reportedly spotted in Syria's Hama province". Long War Journal. Archived from the original on 3 April 2017. Retrieved 3 April 2017.
  19. ^ Amir Toumaj (14 June 2017). "Qassem Soleimani allegedly spotted in Syria near the Iraqi border". Long War Journal. Archived from the original on 1 May 2019. Retrieved 15 June 2017.
  20. ^ "Including a Commander, new dead of Fatimioun militia in Syria". Al-Dorar Al-Shamia. 27 July 2017. Archived from the original on 1 August 2017. Retrieved 28 August 2017.
  21. ^ "UN aid convoy to make fresh attempt to reach battered Syrian rebel enclave". www.yahoo.com. Archived from the original on 2019-04-19. Retrieved 2018-03-09.
  22. ^ "Military commander in the Southern Front illustrates latest developments of Daraa". 22 June 2018. Archived from the original on 18 November 2018. Retrieved 18 July 2018.
  23. ^ Joe Truzman (14 February 2020). "IRGC trained militias suffer losses in northwest Syria". Long War Journal. Archived from the original on 17 February 2020. Retrieved 17 February 2020.
  24. ^ Mashal, Mujib; Faizi, Fatima (November 11, 2017). "Iran Sent Them to Syria. Now Afghan Fighters Are a Worry at Home". The New York Times. Archived from the original on August 17, 2019. Retrieved November 12, 2017.
  25. ^ "شورش مهدی بلخابی؛ نبرد علیه طالب به رهبری طالب". ایندیپندنت فارسی. 19 August 2022.
  26. ^ Cite error: The named reference :0 was invoked but never defined (see the help page).
  27. ^ Cite error: The named reference :1 was invoked but never defined (see the help page).
  28. ^ "More than 2,000 Afghans killed in Syria fighting for Bashar al-Assad: Official". Middle East Eye. Archived from the original on 2019-02-20. Retrieved 2020-07-23.
  29. ^ "The Quds Force After Suleimani". Arab Gulf States Institute in Washington. 2020-05-29. Retrieved 2021-08-23.