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| Liwa Zainebiyoun لواء زينبیون | |
|---|---|
| File:ZEINAB.jpgOfficial Flag of Liwa Zainabiyoon | |
| Dates of operation | early 2014 – present |
| Active regions | Sayyidah Zaynab Aleppo |
| Ideology | Shia Jihadism |
| Allies |  Syrian Armed Forces Islamic Revolutionary Guards Corps Hezbollah File:Fatimiyun.jpg Liwa Fatemiyoun |
| Opponents |  Free Syrian Army Islamic Front al-Nusra Front Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant |
| Battles and wars | Battle of Aleppo |
The Followers of Zainab Brigade (لواء زينبیون File:ZEINAB.jpg Liwa Zainebiyoun or Liwa Zainabiyoon) is a pro-government brigade fighting in Syria composed of Shia Pakistanis. It draws recruits from Shia Hazara refugees living in Pakistan, Shia Pakistanis living in Iran, and native Shia of Khyber-Pakhtunkhwa. Although Pakistanis have been fighting in Syria since November 2014, originally as part of the Afghan Liwa Fatemiyoun, they only became numerous enough to warrant a distinct brigade in early 2014. It was formed and trained by the Iranian Revolutionary Guards and operates under their command. Initially tasked with defending the Sayyidah Zaynab Mosque, it has since entered the Battle of Aleppo, along with other foreign Shia fighters. Its dead are buried primarily in Iran.
History
Since the outbreak of Syrian Civil War in 2011, a plethora of violent Islamist groups have surfaced in various parts of the country, some fighting for the Syrian regime of Bashar al-Assad, and many fighting against it. According to an estimate from the Soufan Group, nationals from 81 different countries are fighting in Syria (Soufan Group, 2014). Some have come to defend their sects; others are proxies for foreign interests or have been recruited as mercenaries. As the conflict has grown increasingly sectarian, these foreign fighters have also become divided along sectarian lines, with a number of liwas (groups) named after Shia and Sunni heroes, often from the early Islamic period.
Pakistani jihadis were latecomers to the Syrian conflict, but began to appear in 2013 in response to a rocket attack by Salafi militias on the shrine of Zainab ( Sayyidah Zaynab Mosque ) in Damascus. That attack – comparable for many Shia to the destruction of the Church of Holy Sepulcher by Fatimid Caliph Al-Hakim Amr-Allah, in 1009, an event that paved the way for the Crusades – was the impetus for the formation of the Zainabiyoun Brigade.
Liwa Zainebiyoun Join the Syrian Conflict
By 2013, a number of Pakistani Shias were already keen to join the fight against the ideologically Salafist Islamic State (IS), a result of IS’ campaign of destruction targeting Shia holy shrines in Syria and Iraq. The 2013 rocket attack by IS on the Sayeeda Zainab mosque in central Damascus, which destroyed the outer walls of the shrine of Zainab, the sister of Imam Hussain and granddaughter of Mohammed, provided the catalyst; a new militant unit of Pakistani Shias, the Zainabiyoun Brigade, was raised with Iranian support. Up until this point, the security of the tomb of Zainab was the responsibility of the Liwa Abul Fadl al-Abbas, which was comprised of Iraqi and Syrian Shia volunteers. This iwa was also responsible for securing holy shrines in Aleppo where its rival, the Harakat Nour al-Din al-Zenki, a brigade afiliated with IS, inflicted a crushing defeat on it in May 2014.
The Zainabiyoon group
The group's official purpose is the defense of the shrine of Zaynab bint Ali( Sayyidah Zaynab Mosque ), the granddaughter of Prophet Muhammad. A member claims that "We do not fight for money, we fight for love, meaning that we fight to defend the shrine of Zaynab bint Ali( Sayyidah Zaynab Mosque )" Many fighters are from the Shia-dominated Parachinar, in the Kurrum district of Pakistan’s lawless Federally Administered Tribal Areas (FATA). Some are ethnic Baluch are also fighters, although it is unclear whether they hail from Pakistani or Iranian Baluchistan .
The Zainabiyoun Brigade has been largely restricted to Damascus where scores of its fighters were supposedly killed while defending the shrine of Zainab. In another battle on April 9, 2015, another seven were killed defending the Imam Hasan Mosque in Damascus. The Brigade has also fought alongside Syrian forces in the Darra region, in southern Syria ..
See Also
References
- ^ "Liwa Zainebiyoun: Syria's Pakistani Fighters". iraqeye.
- Robert Fisk (26 February 2016). "Syria civil war: State-of-the-art technology gives President Assad's army the edge". The Independent.
- "Liwa Zainebiyoun".
- ^ "Meet the Zainebiyoun Brigade: An Iranian Backed Pakistani Shia Militia Fighting in Syria". Retrieved 28 April 2016.
- ^ "Funeral Service for Seven Pakistani Militants Killed in Syria; Qom, Iran, Apr 2015". Konflictcam.
- Farhan Zahid (27 May 2016). "The Zainabiyoun Brigade: A Pakistani Shiite Militia Amid the Syrian Conflict". Terrorism Monitor Volume.
- Cite error: The named reference
Terrorism Monitor Volumewas invoked but never defined (see the help page). - Jamal al-Ghorabi (March 29, 2013). "The Damascus: Guardians of Zainab's Shrine". Al-Akhbar Management.
- "The Damascus: Guardians of Zainab's Shrine". MEMRI. May 5, 2015.