Lions of Hussein

Lions of Hussein
Lions of Hussein
Arabic: لواء أسود الحسين
	The logo of the militia. On the bottom the slogan "Homeland, Honour, Sincerity" is written.
Leaders	Muhammad Tawfiq al-Assad †; Hussein Tawfiq al-Assad
Dates of operation	1980s – 2015 (as Shabiha and criminal organization); 2015 – present (as official militia)
Allegiance	Syria;
Headquarters	Qardaha
Active regions	Syria
Ideology	Pro-Syrian government; Anti-Wahhabism
Size	c. 1,000 (2014)
Part of	Syrian Army's 4th Corps (denied by the militia); Local Defence Forces (since 2018);
Allies	Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps; Hezbollah; Various other Syrian pro-government militias;
Opponents	Syrian opposition and allied mujahideen; Islamic State; Army of Conquest
Battles and wars	Syrian Civil War Al-Ghab offensive (July–August 2015); Palmyra offensive (July–August 2015); Siege of Eastern Ghouta 2015 Marj al-Sultan offensive; ; 2015–16 Latakia offensive; Battle of Aleppo (2012–16); 2016 Latakia offensive; Eastern Syria campaign (September–December 2017) Battle of Deir ez-Zor (September–November 2017); ; Deir ez-Zor offensive (May–June 2018);

The Guardians of Syria Forces - Lions of Hussein (Arabic: قوات حماة سوريا - أسود الحسين, Quwat Humat Souriya - Usud al-Hussein), formerly known as Lions of Hussein Brigade (Arabic: لواء أسود الحسين, Liwa Usud al-Hussein) and often shortened to Lions of Hussein, are an Alawite militia which fights for the Ba'athist government during the Syrian Civil War. The unit originates as Shabiha, a criminal organization that has operated in Latakia Governorate since the 1980s, and only adopted its current name and appearance in 2015. Since then, the Lions of Hussein reportedly continued their "criminal activities on the side".^[1]

^ ^a ^b ^c Vincent Beshara; Cody Roche (11 December 2016). "Assad Regime Militias and Shi'ite Jihadis in the Syrian Civil War". Bellingcat. Retrieved 11 January 2017.
^ ^a ^b ^c ^d ^e ^f ^g ^h Aymenn Jawad Al-Tamimi (14 February 2016). "Liwa Usud al-Hussein: A New Pro-Assad Militia in Latakia". Syria Comment. Retrieved 5 July 2018.
^ Grinstead 2017, p. 7.
^ ^a ^b Cite error: The named reference support was invoked but never defined (see the help page).
^ "Streitkräfte des Assad-Regimes, Februar 2017" [Armed forces of the Assad regime, February 2017] (PDF). Truppendienst.com (Austrian Armed Forces) (in German). 15 February 2017. Retrieved 3 February 2018.
^ @IvanSidorenko1 (1 March 2016). "#Syria #Aleppo #EasternAleppo Photo Today from a Liwa Usud al-hussein #SAA #SyrianArabArmy #SyrianArmy Soldier" (Tweet). Retrieved 11 January 2017 – via Twitter.^{[dead link]}

Cite error: There are <ref group=lower-alpha> tags or {{efn}} templates on this page, but the references will not show without a {{reflist|group=lower-alpha}} template or {{notelist}} template (see the help page).

[bell-1] Vincent Beshara; Cody Roche (11 December 2016). "Assad Regime Militias and Shi'ite Jihadis in the Syrian Civil War". Bellingcat. Retrieved 11 January 2017.

[Usud-2] ^ ^a ^b ^c ^d ^e ^f ^g ^h Aymenn Jawad Al-Tamimi (14 February 2016). "Liwa Usud al-Hussein: A New Pro-Assad Militia in Latakia". Syria Comment. Retrieved 5 July 2018.

[FOOTNOTEGrinstead20177-3] Grinstead 2017, p. 7.

[support-4] Cite error: The named reference support was invoked but never defined (see the help page).

[truppendienst-5] "Streitkräfte des Assad-Regimes, Februar 2017" [Armed forces of the Assad regime, February 2017] (PDF). Truppendienst.com (Austrian Armed Forces) (in German). 15 February 2017. Retrieved 3 February 2018.

[aleppo-7] @IvanSidorenko1 (1 March 2016). "#Syria #Aleppo #EasternAleppo Photo Today from a Liwa Usud al-hussein #SAA #SyrianArabArmy #SyrianArmy Soldier" (Tweet). Retrieved 11 January 2017 – via Twitter.^{[dead link]}

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