Guardians of the Dawn

Guardians of the Dawn
حراس الفجر
LeadersFadi Abd al-Massih Khouri[1]
Dates of operation2015[1][2] – present
AllegianceSyrian Air Force Intelligence Directorate[1][2]
Group(s)
  • Lions of the Cherubim
    • Earthquake of Jobar
  • Ararat Group
  • Lions of the Valley
  • Lions of Hamidiya (former)
  • Intervention Regiment
  • Lions of Dwel’a
HeadquartersVarious Christian towns throughout Syria
Active regionsWestern Syria
IdeologyChristian solidarity
Christian holy war
Syrian nationalism
Allies Syrian Armed Forces
SSNP
Sootoro
SyriaIraq Various other pro-government militias
Opponents Free Syrian Army
border=no Army of Conquest
Jaysh al-Islam
Islamic State Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant
Jund al-Aqsa
Battles and warsSyrian Civil War

The Guardians of the Dawn (Arabic: حراس الفجر, romanizedḤurrās al-Fajr) are a coalition of Christian pro-government militias which are involved in the Syrian Civil War and affiliated with the Air Force Intelligence Directorate. Although the Guardians of the Dawn, whose official motto is "A homeland that we do not protect is one we do not deserve to live in", promote themselves as a Syrian nationalist force, their fighters are primarily motivated by a concept of holy war to defend the Christian areas of Syria from hostile rebels. The militiamen of Usud al-Cherubim, one of the coalition's constituent groups, even refer to themselves as "mujahideen of the cross".[1]

  1. ^ a b c d Aymenn Jawad Al-Tamimi (14 December 2016). "Usud Al-Cherubim: A Pro-Assad Christian Militia". Syria Comment. Retrieved 15 December 2016.
  2. ^ a b Oehring (2017), p. 14.