Issam Zahreddine

Issam Zahreddine
Nickname(s) Lion of the Republican Guard
(Arabic:أسد الحرس الجمهوري)
Born 1961 (age 53–54)
Tarba, As-Suwayda, Syria
Allegiance  Syria
Service/branch Syrian Arab Army
Years of service 1980-
Rank Major General
Unit Republican Guard
Commands held

104th Brigade[1]

Commander of SAA troops in Aleppo (July-October 2013)

Commander of Republican Guards in Deir ez-Zor (October 2013-present)
Battles/wars

Syrian civil war

Issam Zahreddine (Arabic: عصام زهر الدين‎) (sometimes also transliterated as Issam Zaher Eldin or Issam Zaher al-Deen) is a Brigadier General of the Syrian Republican Guard,[1] who has played a major role in the Syrian Civil War, leading Syrian Government forces on several fronts.[2]

Background

Zahreddine is from al-Suwayda.[3] He is a member of the Druze religious community.[2] He was commissioned as an officer in the Airborne (Special Forces) Armoured units in 1985. Before that he served in the Baath Party's People's Militia as a conscript from 1980. In 1988, he was inducted into the Republican Guard.

Role in Syrian civil war

Zahreddine commanded the Republican Guard 104th brigade in Douma and Harasta alongside with Brigadier General Manaf Tlass before the latter's defection.[1] This brigade was led by Bashar Assad before he became President, and by Basil Assad until his death in 1994.[4]

In a statement to Human Rights Watch, a former Lieutenant Colonel in the Syrian Army claimed that Zahreddine had ordered most of the beatings of protesters in Douma, during the early stages of the Syrian Civil War, and that Zahreddine always had an electric baton on his person, which he used to attack protesters.[1]

Zahreddine is one of the most prominent and high-ranking members of the Druze community in Syria currently fighting for the Syrian government in the Syrian Civil War. In this role Zahreddine has been the subject of derision from other members of the Druze community, such as Walid Jumblatt, who has accused Zahreddine of fighting against his own people.[5] Zahreddine was also singled out by a group of Druze religious leaders meeting in As-Suwayda in February 2013 as an individual deserving of death, in a statement otherwise decrying the use of violence by both sides.[6]

Sometime after 2013, he was promoted from Brigadier General to Major General.

Following the start of the Aleppo offensive (October 2013), Zahreddine was originally going to lead an assault to Anadan. However, he was requested for assistance in Deir ez-Zor due to Major General Jameh Jameh's death.[7] On November 27, 2013, while commanding his forces in al-Rashdiya district, Zahreddine was wounded in the leg by a bullet.[8]

See also

References

  1. ↑ 1.0 1.1 1.2 1.3 "By All Means Necessary!" (PDF). Human Rights Watch. December 2011. Retrieved 21 July 2012.
  2. ↑ 2.0 2.1 Gambill, Gary C. (2013), Syrian Druze: Toward Defiant Neutrality, Middle East Forum, retrieved 9 July 2013
  3. ↑ "Syrian security branches and Persons in charge" (PDF). Syrian Network for Human Rights. 9 April 2013. Retrieved 9 July 2013.
  4. ↑ Malas, Nour (6 July 2012). "Defected Syrian General Heads to Paris as Diplomats Meet". The Wall Street Journal. Retrieved 6 July 2012.
  5. ↑ Illeik, Hassan (6 March 2013). "Jumblatt: "I Am With al-Nusra Front Against Assad"". Alakhbar English. Retrieved 6 July 2012.
  6. ↑ Dick, Marlin (18 February 2013). "Druze preachers in Swaida urge defections". The Daily Star. Retrieved 6 July 2012.
  7. ↑ Maj. General 'Issam Zahreddeen Slightly Wounded (Syrian Perspective), 28 November 2013
  8. ↑ Maj. General 'Issam Zahreddeen Slightly Wounded (Syrian Perspective), 28 November 2013