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]
- ^ a b c d e f g Aymenn Jawad Al-Tamimi (23 May 2016). "The Local Defence Forces: Regime Auxiliary Forces in Aleppo". Retrieved 20 February 2018.
- ^ Cite error: The named reference
fddwas invoked but never defined (see the help page). - ^ a b "Liwa al-Baqir". Jihad Intel. 16 February 2018. Retrieved 18 February 2018.
- ^ Amir Toumaj; Romany Shaker (13 April 2018). "IRGC-controlled Syrian militia declares jihad against US forces in Syria". Long War Journal. Retrieved 16 April 2018.
- ^ a b David Botti; Christian Triebert (14 June 2018). "The Militia That's Threatening American Troops in Syria". The New York Times. Retrieved 14 June 2018.
- ^ "'Esad rejimine bağlı güçler Afrin'e girdi' iddiası". Habertürk. 20 February 2018. Retrieved 14 June 2018.
- ^ "The Death of Two Commanders of the IRGC and Al-Baqir Brigade in Syria". Nedaa Syria. 27 October 2017. Archived from the original on 18 November 2018. Retrieved 12 March 2018.
- ^ "Streitkräfte des Assad-Regimes, February 2017" [Armed forces of the Assad regime, February 2017] (PDF). Truppendienst.com (Austrian Armed Forces) (in German). 15 February 2017. Retrieved 3 February 2018.
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