Eagles of the Whirlwind

Eagles of the Whirlwind
نسور الزوبعة
Eagles of the Whirlwind logo
Dates of operation	1975-ongoing (in Lebanon) 2012-2019 (in Syria)
Dissolved	November 2019 (in Syria only)
Active regions	Syria, Lebanon
Ideology	Syrian nationalism Anti-Zionism Syrian irredentism[1] Pro-Syrian government
Size	6,000–8,000[2] (in Syria)
Part of	Syrian Social Nationalist Party Syrian Social Nationalist Party in Lebanon
Allies	Syria National Defense Forces (until 2019)  Russia  Hezbollah Sootoro Ba'ath Brigades (Until 2019) Popular Committees (Until 2019) Amal Movement Lebanese National Resistance Front (1982-1991) March 8 Alliance
Opponents	Free Syrian Army Islamic Front Al-Nusra Front Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant Israel Defense Forces (IDF) Lebanese Forces (Until 1991) South Lebanon Army (Until 2000)
Battles and wars	Lebanese Civil War Inter-Christian conflicts in Lebanon 1982 Lebanon War South Lebanon conflict (1985-2000) Syrian Civil War Rif Dimashq Governorate campaign Battle of Zabadani (2015)[3] Battle of Aleppo[4] Northwestern Syria offensive (April–June 2015)[5] Northwestern Syria offensive (October–November 2015)[6] 2015–16 Latakia offensive[7] 2016 Latakia offensive[8] 2016 Hama offensive[9] Hama offensive (March–April 2017)[10] Syrian Civil War spillover in Lebanon[11] As-Suwayda offensive (June 2018)[12] 2018 Southern Syria offensive 2018 As-Suwayda attacks[13] 2018 Idlib demilitarization Israel–Hamas war 2023 Israel–Lebanon border conflict[14]
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The Eagles of the Whirlwind (Arabic: نسور الزوبعة, Nusour al Zawba'a) are the armed wing of the Syrian Social National Party. Around 6,000 to 8,000 men strong,^[2] they participated in many battles and operations throughout the Syrian Civil War fighting alongside the Syrian government and its allies.

After the civil war in Syria turned into a full-scale war, the Eagles began taking recruits and their fighters were primarily deployed in the governorates of Homs and Damascus and were said to be the most formidable military force other than the Syrian Army in Suweida.^[15] Their most notable military operations is their participation in the battles of Sadad, Ma'loula, and al-Qaryatayn, among others.^[16]

As part of campaigns launched by the Ba'ath party to strengthen its role in Syrian society since 2019,^[17] Syrian wing of SSNP (Amana) financed by businessman Rami Makhlouf was banned.^[18] This was part of the wider clampdown on business assets and private militias of Rami Makhlouf ordered by Bashar al-Assad.^[19] In November 2019, Ba'athist authorities initiated crackdown on armed SSNP militias across the country, and dismantled Eagles of Whirlwind. EOW fighters were subsequently assimilated into Russian-backed Fifth Corps after surrendering their artillery.^[20][21][18]

In Lebanon, the Eagles, mainly composed of Orthodox Christians and Shiite Muslims, have been active since the Lebanese Civil War by integrating the Lebanese National Resistance Front with the support of the Syrian Armed Forces, who fought the Lebanese Forces and allied Maronite militias of Israel. They recently participated in the 2023–2024 border clashes against the Israeli army alongside Hezbollah, with which they have a history of armed cooperation since the 1990s against the Israeli army.