Shabiha

Shabiha
شبيحة
Leaders	Maher al-Assad[1] Fawaz al-Assad[2] Mundhir al-Assad[2] Numeir al-Assad[3] Zaino Berri   (Aleppo leader)[4] Ayman Jaber (Latakia leader) Mohammed al-Assad † (Qardaha leader)
Dates of operation	1980s – 2012[5]
Merged into	NDF[5]
Allegiance	Al-Assad family
Group(s)	al-Assad's group Berri clan militias[6]
Motives	Counter-insurgency
Ideology	Pro-Syrian government[7] Anti-Sunnism[8]
Size	5,000–10,000 (2011)[6]
Allies	Syria  Russia  Iran
Opponents	Free Syrian Army Ahrar al-Sham Al-Nusra Front ISIL
Battles and wars	Battle of Aleppo (2012–16) Battle of Tremseh[9] Siege of Homs

Shabiha (Levantine Arabic: شَبِّيحَة Šabbīḥa, pronounced [ʃabˈbiːħa]; also romanized Shabeeha or Shabbiha; lit. 'ghosts') is a colloquial and generally derogatory term for various loosely-organised Syrian militias loyal to Assad family, used particularly during the initial phase of the Syrian Civil War. As the war has evolved, many groups which had previously been considered shabiha were amalgamated into the National Defence Force and other paramilitary groups.^[10]

Shabiha were established in the 1980s to smuggle weapons to the Syrian soldiers stationed in Lebanon during the Syrian occupation of Lebanon.^[11] Whilst many shabiha were members of the Alawi minority, the main common denominator of the groups was loyalty to the Assad family rather than religion, and in areas such as Aleppo they were primarily Sunni.^[12]

The word became common in the 1990s, when it was being used to refer to "thugs" who work with the government and often drove Mercedes-Benz S-Class and gave their guards the same car; that specific car model was nicknamed Shabah (Ghost) in many Arabic countries which led to its drivers being called Shabeeh ^[13] The Syrian opposition stated that the shabiha are a tool of the government for cracking down on dissent.^[14] The Syrian Observatory for Human Rights has stated that some of the shabiha are mercenaries.^[14] Strongly loyal to the Assad dynasty and containing anti-Sunni factions, shabiha militias are discreetly financed by powerful Syrian businessmen, and have often been responsible for the more brutal actions against the opposition, including possible massacres. Psychological warfare against Syria's Sunni population is also known to have been employed by Alawi Shabiha, which includes demonising Sunni religious beliefs and usage of deriding slogans such as "There is no God but Bashar".^[15]