5th Armoured Division (Syria)

5th Mechanized Division
الفرقة الخامسةميكا
Syrian Armed Forces Flag
Active1970 – present
Branch1st Corps of the Syrian Army
TypeMechanized infantry
RoleConventional warfare
SizeDivision
Garrison/HQDaraa
Izra (12th Armored Brigade, 175th Artillery Regiment)
Nawa (112th Mechanized Brigade)
Saida (38th Infantry Brigade)
Engagements
Commanders
Current CommanderMaj. Gen. Wasel al-Samir[1]
Brigade CommandersMaj. Gen. Suhail Abbas[2]
(12th Brigade)
Brig. Gen. Ahmed Yousef Jarad (132nd Brigade)
Notable
commanders		Lt. Gen. Ali Aslan
Lt. Gen. Ali Abdullah Ayyoub
Maj. Gen. Mufid Hassan[3]

The 5th Mechanized Division (Arabic: الفرقة الخامسةميكا) is a mechanized infantry division of the Syrian Arab Army.

Command structure

5th Mechanized Division (2019)[5][1]
  • 12th Armored Brigade
  • 15th Mechanized Brigade
  • 112th Mechanized Brigade
  • 132nd Mechanized Brigade
  • 38th Infantry Brigade
  • 175th Artillery Regiment

Combat history

The 5th Division is one of the oldest divisions in the Syrian Army and its seat in the Daraa region has changed very little over the years, already during the Six Day War the division existed and was stationed in the southwestern sector, along the border With Jordan and the Golan Heights.

Black September in Jordan

The 5th Division, at that time an infantry formation, invaded Jordan during the events of Black September in Jordan. In September 1970, the division alongside an independent armored brigade and the commando forces participated in an attack by the Syrian army in Jordan.[6] The division then consisted of the 88th Armored Brigade, the 91st Armored Brigade and the 67th Mechanized Brigade (a total of about 200 T-55 tanks).[6]

A second, much larger, Syrian incursion occurred in the same time: it consisted of two armored and one mechanized infantry brigades of the 5th Infantry Division, and around 300 tanks.[6] Although the Syrian tanks had PLA markings, the troops were Syrian Army regulars.[6] After an ineffectual defence by the massively outnumbered Jordanian 40th Armoured Brigade, the 5th Division's attack was repelled with heavy losses[7] on 22 September 1970 mostly through the efforts of the Royal Jordanian Air Force.[8]

Yom Kippur War

The 5th Division also saw action on the Golan Heights during the Yom Kippur War, being deployed alongside the 1st, 3rd, 7th, and 9th divisions. The 5th Division, under the command of Brig. Gen. Ali Aslan, was responsible for the front south and east of Rafid, and north of the Yarmouk Valley.[4] Although designated as an infantry division, it was actually a mechanized division. The 5th Division was the only deployed division which had its full complement of armoured and mechanised vehicles, with some 10,000 men, 200 tanks, 72 artillery pieces, and an equal number of anti-aircraft weapons.[4]

Syrian Civil War

Prior to 2011 the division was part of the 1st Corps.[9] Commenting on events during the April–May 2011 Daraa siege, Henry Boyd of the International Institute for Strategic Studies noted that "the locally based 5th Armoured Division was supplemented by a brigade of the 4th Armoured Division under the command of Maher al-Assad."[10]

Izra is base to the 5th Division's 12th Armoured Brigade and 175th Artillery Regiment.[11] The 12th Armoured Brigade has been reported as taking part in the Siege of Menagh Air Base, near the Turkish border.[12]

On 9 November 2014, during the First Battle of Al-Shaykh Maskin, rebels captured the al-Hesh northern and southern hills, the Army training ground, al-Rahba battalion base, "al-Konkors" battalion base, the medical base, "al-Hejajia" tanks battalion base and Hawi checkpoint around the city of Nawa.[citation needed] Later that day, according to the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights (SOHR), rebels took control over the entire city after the Army retreated[13] towards Brigade 112 HQ base (located between the two towns) as well as Shaykh Maskin. Brigade 112 HQ was eventually captured by the rebels according to two Arab news agencies.[14][15] Both local rebel groups and the al-Nusra Front claimed credit for the opposition advance. Syrian state broadcaster SANA said troops were "redeploying and reorganizing in the Nawa area... in order to prepare for upcoming fighting."[16] At the end of the day, SOHR reported, the Army advanced inside Shaykh Maskin.[17] As of 10 November, according to a military source cited by pro-government media, the Army was still present in the South and East Districts of Shaykh Maskin, and reportedly cleared the two besieged areas surrounding Base 82 and Brigade 112.[18] The next day, rebels advanced in Shaykh Maskin and took control of new positions and eventually captured the eastern neighborhoods on 12 November.[19] In 2016, during the Second Battle of Shaykh Maskin the town was again recaptured by the Syrian Army with participation of 5th Division.[20]

References

  1. ^ a b Gregory Waters (18 July 2019). "The Lion and The Eagle: The Syrian Arab Army's Destruction and Rebirth". Middle East Institute. Retrieved 2022-10-11.
  2. ^ "Brigadier General Suhail Abbas one of high-ranking officers in government campaign against ISIS in east Sweida was critically injured according to pro-government media Rushaydah".
  3. ^ Lund, Aron (2022-05-23). "Can Assad's New Military Appointments Help Rebuild His Regime?". The Century Foundation. Retrieved 2023-04-07.
  4. ^ a b c Dunstan, Simon (2003). The Yom Kippur War 1973: Golan Heights Pt.1. Oxford, United Kingdom: Osprey Publishing Ltd. pp. 17, 18. ISBN 1 84176 220 2.
  5. ^ "Appendix 1: Structure and Command of Armed Forces and Intelligence Agencies". Human Rights Watch.
  6. ^ a b c d Shlaim 2008, p. 326.
  7. ^ Laffin, John (1985) [1982]. Arab Armies of the Middle East Wars 1948-73. Osprey Publishing Ltd. p. 28. ISBN 0-85045-451-4.
  8. ^ Pollack, Arabs at War, 2002, pp. 338-340.
  9. ^ Cooper 2015, p. 17.
  10. ^ http://www.iiss.org/whats-new/iiss-experts-commentary/shades-of-hama-and-grozny-in-homs-and-idlib/ Archived 2012-06-27 at the Wayback Machine, 18 March 2012
  11. ^ Holliday
  12. ^ CNN, 22 January 2013, Rebels in northern Syria pin hopes on airbase's downfall
  13. ^ Ahmed Marshal. "جبهة النصرة والكتائب يسيطرون على مدينة نوى بالكامل". المرصد السورى لحقوق الإنسان. Archived from the original on November 11, 2014. Retrieved 13 November 2014.
  14. ^ "Nawa 'liberated' and the fall of the Brigade 112 Headquarters in the east". Retrieved 13 November 2014.
  15. ^ emiratesvoice. ""الجيش الحر" يعلن سيطرته على اللواء 112 في نوى واللواء 82 في الشيخ مسكين". Retrieved 13 November 2014.
  16. ^ "Syria rebels, Nusra capture key southern town: monitor". The Daily Star Newspaper - Lebanon. Retrieved 21 November 2014.
  17. ^ sohranas. "18 people killed in Daraa today". Syrian Observatory For Human Rights. Archived from the original on 12 November 2014. Retrieved 13 November 2014.
  18. ^ Leith Fadel. "Full Field Report from the Violent Battle at Sheikh Miskeen in Dara'a". Al-Masdar News. Archived from the original on 27 June 2021. Retrieved 13 November 2014.
  19. ^ "Syria rebels overtake strategic base in south". Reuters. 26 January 2015. Retrieved 26 January 2015.
  20. ^ "Islamist rebels suffer more setbacks in northern Daraa as the Syrian Army advances west". Al-Masdar News. Archived from the original on 16 April 2019. Retrieved 27 January 2016.

Bibliography

  • Cooper, Tom (2015). Syrian Conflagration: The Civil War 2011-2013. Middle East@War Volume 1. Helion & Co. ISBN 978-1-910294-10-9.

Further reading