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Liwa Zainebiyoun

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Liwa Zainebiyoun
لواء زينبیون
Dates of operationlate 2014 – present[1]
Allegiance
Active regions
Ideology
StatusActive
Sizec. 15,000+ (2022)[17]
Part ofAxis of Resistance[18][19]
AlliesState allies

Non-State allies

OpponentsState opponents

Non-State opponents

Battles and warsSyrian civil war
Yemeni Civil War[7]
Insurgency in Jammu and Kashmir[26]

The Followers of Zainab Brigade (Template:Lang-ar, Persian/Dari: لواء زينبیون or لشکر زينبیون, Liwa Zainebiyoun or Liwa Zainabiyoon, Template:Lang-ur), literally Zainebiyoun Brigade, also known as Zainebiyoun Division, is a pro-government militia fighting in Syria composed of Shia Pakistanis.[30][2] It draws recruits mainly from Shia Pakistanis living in Iran,[2] ethnic Hazaras in Pakistan[31] and native Shia of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa.[1]

It was formed and trained by the Iranian Revolutionary Guards and operates under their command.[2] Initially tasked with defending the Sayyidah Zaynab Mosque,[3][4] it has since entered frontlines across Syria.[1] Its dead are buried primarily in Iran.[2][4] Approximately 158 of their fighters have died in Syria as of March 2019, excluding those killed in Israeli airstrikes.[32] According to recent estimations, the total number of Pakistani fighters on the brigade hardly exceeds 800.[13]

History

Pakistanis have been fighting in Syria since 2013.[3] They originally fought in the Afghan Liwa Fatemiyoun, and only became numerous enough to warrant a distinct brigade in early 2015.[1] Some of the fighters are Hazara[31] and Baloch[33] while others are Pashtun (mainly from Parachinar),[13] Punjabi[34] or from Gilgit-Baltistan[35] and Karachi.[36] Like other Shia foreign brigades in Syria, it is funded, trained, and overseen by the Iranian Revolutionary Guard Corps.[5][6]

Its official purpose is to defend the Sayyidah Zaynab Mosque (the shrine of Zaynab bint Ali, sister of Imam Hussain and granddaughter of the prophet Muhammad) and other Shia holy sites in Syria.[3] It operates primarily in Damascus defending these holy sites. However, since 2015, it has also engaged in offensive action around Daraa[2][37] and Aleppo, along with other foreign Shia fighters.[1]

On 9 April 2015, seven fighters were killed defending the Imam Hasan Mosque in Damascus and were buried in Qom, Iran.[3] In March 2016, six fighters were killed defending the Imam Reza shrine, also buried in Qom.[38] On 23 April, five more fighters were killed.[39] An estimated 69 fighters were killed between November 2014 and March 2016.[1]

In early 2018 the group was involved in the Battle of Khasham against US special forces and the US-backed Syrian Democratic Forces.[21]

Reaction in Pakistan

In December 2015, a bomb killed 25 and injured over 30 in Parachinar, Khyber Pakhtunkhwa. Terrorist group Lashkar-e-Jhangvi claimed responsibility, and said that it was "revenge for the crimes against Syrian Muslims by Iran and Bashar al-Assad" and threatened to continue terror attacks if Parachinar citizens did not "stop sending people to take part in Syrian war".[25]

The government of Pakistan officially denies the presence of Pakistani fighters in Syria, and has been reluctant to take back members of the brigade caught in Syria.[35]

See also

References

  1. ^ a b c d e f g "Liwa Zainebiyoun: Syria's Pakistani Fighters". iraqeye.
  2. ^ a b c d e f "Meet the Zainebiyoun Brigade: An Iranian Backed Pakistani Shia Militia Fighting in Syria". Archived from the original on 2 May 2016. Retrieved 28 April 2016.
  3. ^ a b c d e Farhan Zahid (27 May 2016). "The Zainabiyoun Brigade: A Pakistani Shiite Militia Amid the Syrian Conflict". Terrorism Monitor Volume.
  4. ^ a b c "Funeral Service for Seven Pakistani Militants Killed in Syria; Qom, Iran, Apr 2015". Konflictcam.
  5. ^ a b "Iran recruits Pakistani Shias for combat in Syria". The Express Tribune. 11 December 2015.
  6. ^ a b "Increasing Number Of Afghans, Pakistanis Killed In Syria Buried In Iran".
  7. ^ a b Misto, Mohamad; Emre Özcan, Ethem. "Iran boosting Yemeni Houthis with Syrian fighters: Local sources". Anadolu Agency. Retrieved 8 May 2021.
  8. ^ "Kashmir – The New Battlefield For Saudi-Iran Proxy War – Israel Media Reports". 22 July 2019. Retrieved 29 August 2021. {{cite web}}: |archive-date= requires |archive-url= (help)
  9. ^ "The Zainabiyoun Brigade". Farda News. 3 March 2016.
  10. ^ جهان|TABNAK, سایت خبری تحلیلی تابناك|اخبار ایران و. "پیکر ۵ شهید مدافع حرم در قم تشییع شد".{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: multiple names: authors list (link) CS1 maint: numeric names: authors list (link)
  11. ^ Julius, Anthony (1 May 2015). Trials of the Diaspora: A History of Anti-Semitism in England – via Google Books.
  12. ^ "Foreign Shiite combat fatalities in Syria and nationality since January 19, 2012." Ali Alfoneh. Twitter. 4 March 2019.
  13. ^ a b c d e f Wigger, Leo (26 September 2019). ""Why Pakistan holds a key in the Iranian-Saudi confrontation"". magazine.zenith.me. Retrieved 1 October 2019.{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: url-status (link)
  14. ^ Julius, Anthony (1 May 2015). Trials of the Diaspora: A History of Anti-Semitism in England – via Google Books.
  15. ^ Michael, Robert; Rosen, Philip (1 May 2015). Dictionary of Antisemitism from the Earliest Times to the Present – via Google Books.
  16. ^ "Foreign Shiite combat fatalities in Syria and nationality since January 19, 2012." Ali Alfoneh. Twitter. 4 March 2019.
  17. ^ "ایران کی زینبیون برگیڈ نے پاکستان میں بھرتی تیز کر دی".{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: url-status (link)
  18. ^ Drums Of War: Israel And The "AXIS OF RESISTANCE" (PDF), International Crisis Group, 2 August 2010, archived from the original (PDF) on 4 March 2016
  19. ^ "After ISIS, Fatemiyoun Vows to Fight with "Axis of Resistance" to Destroy Israel". Middle East Institute. Archived from the original on 16 July 2020. Retrieved 23 July 2020.
  20. ^ "After ISIS, Fatemiyoun Vows to Fight with "Axis of Resistance" to Destroy Israel". Middle East Institute. Archived from the original on 16 July 2020. Retrieved 23 July 2020.
  21. ^ a b c d 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. Der Spiegel, 2 March 2018.
  22. ^ Will Fulton, Joseph Holliday, and Sam Wyer, Iranian Strategy in Syria Archived 2016-02-01 at the Wayback Machine, Institute for the Study of War, May 2013
  23. ^ "Kashmir – The New Battlefield For Saudi-Iran Proxy War – Israel Media Reports". 22 July 2019. Retrieved 29 August 2021. {{cite web}}: |archive-date= requires |archive-url= (help)
  24. ^ Kajjo, Sirwan (25 August 2016). "Who are the Turkey backed Syrian Rebels?". Voice of America. Archived from the original on 19 February 2017. Retrieved 19 February 2017.
  25. ^ a b Mehdi Hussain (13 December 2015). "At least 23 killed, 30 injured in Parachinar blast". The Express Tribune.
  26. ^ "Kashmir – The New Battlefield For Saudi-Iran Proxy War – Israel Media Reports". 22 July 2019. Retrieved 29 August 2021. {{cite web}}: |archive-date= requires |archive-url= (help)
  27. ^ Says, Motorhead (28 October 2016). "IRGC commander killed on eve of Aleppo battle | FDD's Long War Journal". www.longwarjournal.org.
  28. ^ "Array of pro-Syrian government forces advances in Aleppo | FDD's Long War Journal". www.longwarjournal.org. 9 December 2016.
  29. ^ Truzman, Joe (14 February 2020). "IRGC trained militias suffer losses in northwest Syria". Long War Journal. Retrieved 26 August 2021.
  30. ^ "Liwa Zainebiyoun".
  31. ^ a b Rondeaux, Candance; Toumaj, Amir; Ammar, Arif (28 July 2021). "Iran's Tricky Balancing Act in Afghanistan". War on the Rocks. Archived from the original on 22 March 2022. Retrieved 29 April 2022. It also established the Fatemiyoun's Pakistani sister unit, the Zeynabiyoun Brigade. Thousands of ethnic Afghan and Pakistani Hazara foreign fighters fought and died with those units to help save the Assad regime.
  32. ^ "Foreign Shiite combat fatalities in Syria and nationality since January 19, 2012." Ali Alfoneh. Twitter. 4 March 2019.
  33. ^ "The Zainabiyoun Brigade: A Pakistani Shiite Militia Amid the Syrian Conflict". Jamestown.
  34. ^ Ahmed, Roohan (15 May 2019). "Missing men and the neighbouring country that cannot be named". Samaa News. Retrieved 29 April 2022. According to Aamir Rana, a security analyst and the director of the Pakistan Institute of Peace Studies, scores of Pakistani Shias have been to Syria. "Many were arrested from Punjab and Parachinaar after they returned to Pakistan," Rana said.
  35. ^ a b "Pakistan reluctant to take back fighters captured in Syria". Hindustan Times. 30 July 2021. Retrieved 29 April 2022.
  36. ^ Ali, Imtiaz (22 June 2017). "CTD seeks ban on 25 websites spreading 'terrorism, extremism'". Dawn. Retrieved 29 April 2022. Meanwhile, SSP CTD Omer Shahid Hamid told Dawn that many people from Pakistan, including Karachi, had gone to fight in Syria belonging to both Sunni and Shia communities.
  37. ^ "Iran Tightens Its Grip On Syria Using Syrian And Foreign Forces". MEMRI. 5 May 2015.
  38. ^ "The Zainabiyoun Brigade". Farda News. 3 March 2016.
  39. ^ جهان|TABNAK, سایت خبری تحلیلی تابناك|اخبار ایران و. "پیکر ۵ شهید مدافع حرم در قم تشییع شد".{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: multiple names: authors list (link) CS1 maint: numeric names: authors list (link)
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