Syria's war, now in its sixth year, is is three conflicts in one. It is a regional proxy war, an international counter-terrorism operation, and a popular uprising against a dictator. Developments on the ground are murky, with a plethora of armed groups involved in the fighting.
Since the start of the conflict in 2011, groups have come and gone, alliances have formed and dissolved, complicating facts on-the-ground even further. After the fall of east Aleppo last year and the launch of peace talks in Astana and Geneva in January, rebel factions in northern Syria have formed significant coalitions.
The list below gives an overview of the most prominent actors supporting the Assad regime, and of their ideological outlook. It is not exhaustive, but it covers a full range from Iran's Revolutionary Guards Corps to Hizbullah to Iran-backed Shia militias.
Chapter 1
Leader: Major-General Qassem Suleimani
Date of Establishment: 5 May 1979
Number of Fighters: 15,000
Funding: Iran's Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC)
Ideology: Internationalist Shia (Wilayat al-Faqih)
Objectives:
To support Assad
To expand Iranian influence
To promote Shia interests
Location: Iran, Lebanon, Iraq, Syria, and some Gulf States
Country of Origin: Iran
Key Facts:
The Quds Force is an elite special forces unit within the Iranian military, which is called Iran's Revolutionary Guard Corps. Only devoted Shia Muslims are considered eligible for the Quds Force, with mosques and holy sites playing a key role in the recruitment process. Fighters are recruited from outside Iran as well, including in Saudi Arabia, Syria, and Lebanon.
Chapter 2
Leader: Hassan Nasrallah
Date of Establishment: 9 April 1983
Number of Fighters: around 25,000, with 6,000- 8,000 in Syria
Funding: Iran and Syria. Hizbullah also has fundraising networks across the globe, including in the Arabian Peninsula, Europe, the Middle East, and the US. Much of its money comes from private donations and profits businesses. Groups and individuals from abroad support Hizbullah through illicit activities, such as the blood diamond trade in Sierra Leone and credit card fraud in the US.
Ideology: Internationalist Shia (Wilayat al-Faqih)
Objectives:
To support Assad
To expand Iranian influence
To promote Shia interests
To expel Western influences from Lebanon and the wider Middle East
To destroy Israel
Location: Syria and Lebanon
Country of Origin: Lebanon
Key Facts:
Some members of Hizbullah were part of the Amal Movement, a Lebanese political party associated with the Shia community in the 1980s before it emerged as an independent organisation.
In 1983, Hizbullah carried out an attack on a US embassy marine base in Beirut that killed 63 people.
Chapter 3
Leader: Abu Mahdi al-Muhandis
Date of Establishment: 2007
Number of Fighters: around 7,000
Funding: IRGC
Ideology: Internationalist Shia (Wilayat al-Faqih)
Objectives:
To support Assad
To expand Iranian influence
To promote Shia interests
To expel Western influences from Lebanon and the wider Middle East
To fight ISIS
Location: Iraq and Syria
Country of Origin: Iraq
Key Facts:
In December 2009, the group reportedly conducted a sophisticated cyber-attack, hacking into US drone feeds in Iraq to monitor and evade military operations. This led to speculatation that the group has a relatively sophisticated cyber unit or specialist working under its command.
Chapter 4
Leader: Laith al-Khazali (brother of former leader Qais al-Khazali)
Date of Establishment: 2006
Number of Fighters: around 5,000
Funding: Iran
Ideology: Internationalist Shia (Wilayat al-Faqih)
Objectives:
To support Assad
To expand Iranian influence
To promote Shia interests
To expel Western influences from Lebanon and the wider Middle East
To fight ISIS
Location: Syria and Iraq
Country of Origin: Iraq
Part of: Popular Mobilisation Units (PMUs) in Iraq, which was formed on the basis of a fatwa by Iraqi Shia cleric Ali Sistani. The PMU was integrated into Iraq's armed forces last year.
Key Facts:
The group is involved in Iraqi politics through a party named Sadiqoon, however it has not surrendered its weapons to the government.
Chapter 5
Leader: Akram al-Kaabi
Date of Establishment: 2013
Number of Fighters: around 7,000
Funding/Support: Iran
Ideology: Internationalist Shia (Wilayat al-Faqih)
Objectives:
To support Assad
To expand Iranian influence
To promote Shia interests
To expel Western influences from Lebanon and the wider Middle East
To fight ISIS
Location: Syria and Iraq
Country of Origin: Iraq
Part of: Popular Mobilisation Units (PMUs) in Iraq.
Key Facts:
The group has three brigades (Liwa Ib Yasi, Liwa al-Hamad, and Liwa al-Imam al-Hasan al Mujtaba) that are actively operating in Syria's Aleppo, Homs, and Idlib provinces, as well as Damascus, in support of President Assad.
Chapter 6
Leader: Hadi al-Amiri
Date of Establishment: 1983
Number of Fighters: around 10,000 - 50,000
Funding/Support: Iran
Ideology: Internationalist Shia (Wilayat al-Faqih)
Objectives:
To support Assad
To expand Iranian influence
To promote Shia interests
To expel Western influences from Lebanon and the wider Middle East
To fight ISIS
Location: Syria
Country of Origin: Iraq
Part of: Popular Mobilisation Units (PMUs) in Iraq
Key Facts:
The Badr organisation is a political party with a military wing. In 1980, it fought alongside the IRGC in the Iran-Iraq War. It led attacks against Iraqi government officials in the south of the country.
Chapter 7
Leader: Abu Shahd al-Jabouri
Date of Establishment: mid 2013
Funding/Support: Iran
Ideology: Internationalist Shia (Wilayat al-Faqih)
Objectives:
To support Assad
To protect religious shrines, in particular the Sayyida Zaynab shrine.
Location: South Damascus
Country of Origin: Afghanistan, the Hazara minority
Key Facts:
Syrian opposition groups have accused the brigade of committing a massacre in al-Nabk city in 2013. The Brigade's leader was shown executing a man in public surrounded by dead children.
Chapter 8
Leader: Current leadership unknown. The former leader Ali Reza Tavassoli was killed in Syria in 2015.
Date of Establishment: 2014
Number of Fighters: around 20,000
Funding/Support: Iran
Ideology: Internationalist Shia (Wilayat al-Faqih)
Objectives:
To support Assad
To protect religious shrines
Location: Deraa province
Country of Origin: Afghanistan, the Hazara minority
Key Facts:
The Fatimiyun Brigade is one of the group's that has been bolstered by IRGC's recruitment of Afghan Shia refugees. IRGC reportedly pays the recruits 500 US dollars a month to be "martyrs" in Syria.
Chapter 9
Date of Establishment: 2015
Number of Fighters: between 2,000 - 5,000
Funding/Support: Iran
Ideology: Internationalist Shia (Wilayat al-Faqih)
Objectives:
To support Assad
To protect religious shrines
To fight ISIS
Location: Aleppo province, including Damascus.
Country of Origin: Pakistan
Key Facts:
The brigade is comprised of Shia Pakistani fighters recruited by the IRGC under a religious rhetoric to fight the Sunni extremism of groups like ISIS by "protecting shrines." The members mostly come from the west Pakistani Tori and Panjish tribes. The Iranian government has promised Iranian citizenship for Afghani and Pakistani Shia fighters who "serve for Iran's interest."
According to Zahnabiyun Brigade's Facebook page, volunteers are offered around 1,200 US dollars as a monthly salary with 15 days of holidays after three months.
Chapter 10
Leader: Ghassan Nassour and Fadi Saqr
Date of Establishment: 2013
Number of Fighters: around 100,000
Funding/Support: Iran
Ideology: Secular Nationalist
Objectives:
To support Assad
Location: Damascus, Homs, and Aleppo provinces.
Country of Origin: Syria
Former Name: "Shabiha," a reference to President Bashar al-Assad's Alawi supporters.
Key Facts:
NDF militants are heavily armed and equipped, but reportedly receive little military training.