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ABSTRACT
As a result of the debilitating situation that the Syrian state reached during the Syrian Civil War, the government relies heavily on paramilitary groups to confront security challenges. Existing studies imply that all the paramilitary groups in Syria were formed in a largely top-down process. Focusing on the rise of al-Baqqer Brigade in Syria and relying on a series of in-depth interviews with members of the al-Baggara tribe who make up most of this militia, this paper challenges that assumption. The paper shows that the emergence of tribal militias is principally a grassroots phenomenon stemming from competition over local resources. It argues that the Syrian state has seized this opportunity and outsourced some of its security and counterinsurgency tasks to the group.
Disclosure statement
No potential conflict of interest was reported by the author(s).
Notes
1. Haian Dukhan is a Syrian British Academic. He is a Research Fellow at the Central European University and the author of ‘State and Tribes in Syria: Informal Alliances and Conflict Patterns.’ Haid, ‘Reintegrating Syrian Militias.’
2. Ahram, Proxy Warriors.
3. Clayton and Thomson, ‘Civilianizing Civil Conflict,’; Bolte, ‘Pro-Government Militias,’.
4. Abdul-Jabar, ‘Shaykhs and Ideologues,’ 48.
5. Ibid.
6. Allinson, ‘The Struggle for the State in Jordan’
7. Brenner, ‘Agrarian Class Structure.’
8. Ma’oz, Ottoman Reform in Syria and Palestine.
9. Toth, ‘Last Battles of the Bedouin,’ 49–76.
10. Khalaf, ‘Family, Village and the Political Party,’ 93.
11. Drysdale, ‘The Asad Regime and its Troubles,’ 3–11.
12. Rae, ‘Tribe and Rangeland Management in Syria.’
13. Chatty, ‘The Bedouin in Contemporary Syria,’ 29–49.
14. Dukhan, The State and the Tribes in Syria.
15. Savelsberg, ‘The Syrian-Kurdish Movements.’
16. See above 14.
17. Ibid.
18. Lowe, The Syrian Kurds.
19. Malmvig, ‘Mosaics of Power.’
20. Holden, Armies Without Nations.
21. Dukhan, ‘Tribes of Syria.’
22. Mubashar, ‘Bani Khaled Shield Brigade.’
23. Shamee Forever, ‘Idlib, announcing establishing Mawali tribe brigade.’
24. Dukhan and Alhamad, ‘Iran’s Growing Network of Influence among Eastern Syrian Tribes.’
25. Jentzsch, ‘Militias and the Dynamics of Civil Wars,’; Schubiger, ‘Repression and Mobilization in Civil War.’
26. Zakariya, Ashair al-Sham.
27. Interview via WhatsApp with Abdol Mohsen Ali: one of the members of the al-Baggara tribe in Aleppo on the 22nd of May 2020.
28. Barout, ‘The last decade in the history of Syria.’
29. Pagani, ‘Urban Conflicts and Multiple War Narratives.’
30. Haddad, ‘The Formation and Development of Economic Networks in Syria,’ 37–76.
31. Dukhan, ‘Tribes and Tribalism in the Syrian Uprising,’ 1–28.
32. Al-Mustafa, ‘What made the majority of the tribal leaders stand with Assad’s regime?’
33. Hussein, ‘Tribes in Aleppo during the revolution.’
34. Lund, ‘The Non-State Militant Landscape in Syria.’
35. Lacher, Libya’s Fragmentation.
36. See above 29.
37. Hussein, ‘Tribes in Aleppo during the revolution,’; This story was narrated by many members of the al-Baggara tribe whom I interviewed for this research too.
38. Our-Syria, ‘Iranian Militias in Syria.’
39. Blocq, ‘The grassroots nature of counterinsurgent tribal militia,’ 710–724.
40. Akins, ‘Tribal militias and political legitimacy in British India and Pakistan,’ 304–322.
41. Alwan, ‘The Tribal Power in Contemporary Iraq.’
42. The Carter Center, ‘Syria Pro-Government Paramilitary Forces.’
43. Leenders and Giustozzi, ‘Outsourcing state violence,’ 157–180.
44. See above 42.
45. Biberman, Gambling with Violence.
46. al-Tamimi, ‘Who are Liwa al-Baqir,’.
47. Thomson, ‘Ethnic Conflict and Militias.’
48. COAR, ‘Tribal Tribulations Tribal Mapping and State Actor Influence in Northeastern Syria.’
49. Euphrates Post, ‘Fadi al-Afees threatens to take over SDF controlled areas in Deir Ezzor.’
50. Alquds, ‘The pro-Iranian “Baqir Brigade” spreads Shiism and recruits children in its ranks in Aleppo, Syria.’
51. Mazur, ‘Dayr al-Zur from Revolution to ISIS.’
52. Interview via WhatsApp with Sheikh Zakkour Salman, one of the members of the al-Baggara tribe who resides in Turkey on the 13th of May 2020.
53. Interview via WhatsApp with Ramadan Habbash, one of the members of the al-Baggara tribe who resides in the countryside of Aleppo on the 2nd of May 2020.
54. See above 51.
55. Tibi, ‘The Simultaneity of the Unsimultaneous,’ 127–152.
56. Alaesa, ‘Tank, Plane, Baggara, Attack.’
57. Khoury and Kostiner, ‘Introduction: Tribes and the Complexities of State Formation in the Middle East,’ 1–23.
58. See above 35.
59. Shield of Tribes, Facebook page representing the Militia of Shield of Tribes set up by Sheikh Qaddour.
60. See above 35.
61. Hassan, ‘Arab Tribes in al-Hasakah and Deir ez-Zor Choose Their Allies.’
62. al-Khatib, ‘How did al-Baqqer Brigade become a stumbling block in the face of the Russians?’.
63. Ayyam Syria, ‘How did Russia establish their own militias in Syria?’
64. Peic, ‘Divide and Co-Opt,’ 1022–1049.
65. Dawood, ‘The “State-ization” of the Tribe and the Tribalization of the State’
66. An interview via WhatsApp with Ali Hamadeen, one of the leaders of Liwa al-Baqqer in May 2021
67. Mazrui, ‘Violent Contiguity and the Politics of Retribalization in Africa,’ 89–105.
68. Salih, ‘New Wine in Old Bottles,’ 168–174.
69. al-Arabi, ‘Disagreements hit al-Baqqer Brigade.’
70. An interview via WhatsApp with Mohammad Sha’ar, one of the residents of Western Aleppo
71. Boutaleb, ‘The Political Aspects of the Tribal Phenomenon in Arab Societies.’
72. al-Tamimi, ‘The Local Defence Forces,’.
73. Ezzi, ‘The Regime and its militias will face difficulty disentangling from each other.’
74. Ibid.
75. Akdedian and Hasan, ‘Conclusion.’
76. Lefèvre, Jihad in the City.
77. Al Rasheed, The Rashidi Tribal Dynasty.
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Haian Dukhan
Haian Dukhan is a Lecturer in Politics and International Relations at Teeside University. He has taught politics and international relations at the universities of St Andrews, Leicester and Edinburgh. His most recent book is State And Tribes In Syria: Informal Alliances And Conflict Patterns (2019).