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Liwa Zainebiyoun
Pakistani Shia militia From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
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The Followers of Zainab Brigade (Arabic: لِوَاء الزَّيْنَبِيُون, romanized: Liwā' az-Zaynabīyūn, Persian: لواء زينبیون, romanized: Liwa Zeinabiyoun, Urdu: لواء زينبیون, romanized: Liwa Zaynabiyoun) also known as the Zainabiyoun Brigade,[p] Lashkar-e-Zainabiyoun,[q] or the Zainabiyoun Division,[r] is a Shia Pakistani Khomeinist militant group. It was actively engaged in the Syrian Civil War against ISIL.[90][9] It draws recruits mainly from Shia Pakistanis living in Iran,[9][91] with some also from the Shia Muslim communities living in various regions of Pakistan,[6][92][93] as well as Shia Afghan refugees living in Pakistan.[94] The Brigade had sent thousands of fighters to Syria, Iraq, and Yemen to fight against ISIL and other groups and factions under the support of Iran's Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps.[95]
It was formed and trained by the Iranian Revolutionary Guards and operates under their command.[9][96] Initially tasked with defending the Sayyidah Zaynab Mosque,[10][11] it entered frontlines since then across Syria, until 2024.[6] Its dead are buried primarily in Iran.[9][11] A minimum of 158 of their fighters had died in Syria as of March 2019 (based on publicly announced funeral services), excluding those killed in Israeli airstrikes.[27] According to 2019 estimates, the total number of Pakistani fighters in the brigade barely exceeded 800.[19]
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Overview
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Background
The initial core of Liwa Zainebiyoun constituted of former members and fighters of Tehreek-e-Jafaria Pakistan and Sipah-e-Muhammad Pakistan, former Shia Islamist political party and the ladder being a Shia Islamist armed organisation in Pakistan both of which fought against the Anti-Shia sectarian leadership of the banned terrorist groups Sipah-e-Sahaba and Lashkar-e-Jhangvi. Both of these groups had strong presence in Shia communities of Pakistan and were headquartered in Thokar Niaz Beg the Shia majority town of Lahore, where they ran a "virtual state within a state" in the 1990s until the collapse of their presence there by 2007 or 2010.[97]
Later around 2012 or 2013 their former members joined and fought as part of the Shia Syrian Abu al-Fadhal al-Abbas brigade and later the Shia Afghan Liwa Fatemiyoun Brigade during the early years of the Syrian civil war, before forming the Zainebiyoun Brigade as a Pakistani Shiite volunteer group, which was formed soon after the Liwa Fatemiyoun Brigade, under the orders of IRGC-QF.[98]
During the Iran–Iraq War (1980–1988), many Shia Pakistanis and Shia Indians volunteered to fight against Iraq for Iran.[99][100] It is believed that these former volunteers later became high-ranking commanders in the Zainabiyoun brigade, similar to how former members of the Shia Tehran Eight and the Shia Abuzar Brigade became high ranking members of Liwa Fatemiyoun.[101]
Role in Syria
According to news sources affiliated with the IRGC, the group was founded in Syria and Iraq during the rise of Anti-Shia sectarian attacks by Salafi Jihadist organisations al-Qaeda and ISIL in Arab spring unrest and it officially started the armed operations late in 2014 especially in Syrian civil war to support Syrian government forces against the ISIL for targeting holy sites of Shia muslims in Syria.[102] Liwa Zainabiyoun's fighters also were involved limitedly in War in Iraq (2013–2017) and Yemeni civil war under the support of IRGC’s Quds Force as the Brigade is the part of Iran's Axis of Resistance. According to sources affiliated with the IRGC, its official purpose is to defend the Sayyidah Zaynab Mosque (the shrine of Zaynab bint Ali, sister of Imam Hussain and granddaughter of the prophet Muhammad) and other Shia holy sites in Syria and Iraq and to protect IRGC interests in Iran–Saudi Arabia proxy conflict[19] also in Iran–Israel proxy conflict.[10] It had operated primarily in Damascus, Aleppo and other regions of Syria defending holy sites from ISIL until 2024.[9][103][6][104] Following the Fall of the Assad regime, its fighters had moved to Iraq, after Iran and Russia withdrew their forces from Syria.[16][18][17]
Recruitment and training
The Pakistani Shiite volunteers have been fighting in various conflicts since 2012 especially in Syrian civil war on pro-government side under the orders of IRGC against ISIL and its subgroups.[10] In addition, large numbers of Pakistani Shia fighters have fought on the pro-government side as part of the Zeinabiyoun Brigade, which had up to 1,000 fighters in Syria.[5] They originally fought in the Iraqi Abu Fadl al-Abbas Brigade and later the Afghan Liwa Fatemiyoun brigade, and only became numerous enough to warrant a distinct brigade in either late 2014[105][106] or early 2015.[6] Some of the fighters are Hazaras[91][93] and Balochis[107] (mainly from Quetta)[93] while others are Pashtuns (mainly from Parachinar, Kurram, KPK),[19][93][108] Punjabis[108] (mainly from Sahiwal, as well as Lahore in Punjab, mostly from Thokar Niaz Beg),[108][93] Gilgitis andBaltis from Skardu, Gilgit-Baltistan,[109] Karachan/Karachite (including Muhajirs, Sindhis, and others) from Karachi[110][35] and Kashmiris from the Kashmir.[111] Like other Shiite foreign brigades in Syria, it is funded, trained, and overseen by the IRGC.[5][13]
According to one source, Iran had offered the fighters a financial incentive in the form of a monthly salary of $500–700, nearly half of what most Pakistanis earned in a year. As per another source, according to the Zainabiyoun Facebook page, volunteers must be between 18-35 years of age and physically fit. They were offered up to Rs.120,000 ($1200) as a monthly salary with 15 days of holidays after three months.[70] While another source claims that Pakistani migrants were offered citizenship, jobs, and a steady income for themselves and their families, and thus were made to feel obliged to agree to fight on conditions that Iran imposed on them. Otherwise, they would've face deportation.[112] This source also claimed that Pakistani fighters were offered an average monthly salary of around 120,000 rupees ($700-750) in return for fighting under given conditions and were even promised 15-day holidays after three months, according to this other source.[112] The IRGC had also been reported to pay fighters about $500 per month, by another source.[93] According to Pakistani counter-insurgency officials, fighters recruited, by pro-Iran groups in Pakistan, for the war in Syria were being paid Rs.60,000 ($573) to Rs.110,000 ($1,050) per month.[93]
After arriving in Damascus, fighters were often transferred to the Shibani camp just West of the city in order to receive their respective assignments.[113]
Losses of volunteer fighters
In 2019, the U.S. State Department claimed that the over 158 Pakistani national fighters of Iranian-backed Zainebiyoun Brigade were killed in Syria between January 2012 and August 2018.[34]
On 9 April 2015, seven fighters were killed defending the Imam Hasan Mosque in Damascus and were buried in Qom, Iran.[10] In March 2016, six fighters were killed defending the Imam Reza shrine, also buried in Qom.[22] On 23 April, five more fighters were killed.[23] An estimated 70 fighters were killed between November 2014 and March 2016.[6]
In February 2018, the brigade was involved in the Battle of Khasham along with Russian Wagner Group and Interbrigades[114][115][116] against the US special forces and the US-backed Syrian Democratic Forces and lost many fighters.[28]
In 2020 the group, along with other Iran-backed Militias suffered heavy casualties fighting against Türkiye in the Northwestern Syria offensive (December 2019 – March 2020) in Idlib governorate as part of Türkiye's Operation Spring Shield.[s]
It has been reported that more than 1,000 Iran-backed fighters from Zainebiyoun, Fatemiyoun, Hezbollah, and from other Iran-backed Shia groups had been killed from 2011 to 2016.[123][124] This estimate rose to roughly 2,400 in 2018.[125][better source needed]
During the 2024 Syrian opposition offensives, it was reported that 25 pro-Assad/Iran-backed militiamen were killed during the clashes with at least 15 of them being non-Syrian militiamen. These fighters were likely the last members of Hezbollah, Zanabiyoun, and Fatemiyoun, to have died in Syria before their withdrawal.[126]
The families of fallen fighters are granted residency in Iran along with free pilgrimage to Shia Holy Shrines (Ziyarat), at the expense of the Iranian government.[93]
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Presence outside Syria
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Iraq
The brigade fought in Iraq against ISIL during the War in Iraq (2013–17) with other foreign Shia fighters to defend and protect holy sites and Iraqi peoples from the ISIL.[15] After the fall of the Assad regime, Hundreds of fighters from the Iran-Backed Fatemiyoun and Zainabiyoun were warehoused inside complexes in the Al-Qa'im Bases and Camp Ashraf (also known as the Martyr Abu Munthadher al-Muhammadawi Camp) in Iraq's Diyala province by groups affiliated with the Popular Mobilization Forces and Islamic Resistance in Iraq.[18][16]
Yemen
In 2019, Some media sources claim that the brigade is allegedly involved in Yemeni Civil War along with other foreign Shia fighters to fought against the Saudi Arabian-led intervention in Yemen and to support Houthis.[19][20][21]
Pakistan
In Pakistan, former members of the Zainebiyoun brigade have been actively involved in Parachinar's sectarian clashes along with local Shia Turi and Bangash tribes based in the city of Parachinar for the Protection of Shia Muslim community and to fight against the Anti-Shia banned sectarian terrorist groups such as Sipah-e-Sahaba, the Pakistani Taliban, the Islamic State – Khorasan Province and Lashkar-e-Jhangvi which had been targeting the Shia community of Parachinar in sectarian attacks. A major conflict was fought in 2007. The Sectarian violence in Pakistan has been become a serious issue from then onwards.[127][128][2]
The Zainebiyoun brigade reportedly recruited many fighters from Parachinar, and has strong support base in Parachinar's Shia muslim community especially among the Turi Tribe from Kurram Agency as well as the Shia community in Karachi and Lahore.[129]
From 2020 to 2025 several former/retired members of the Zainebiyoun brigade who had been linked to participating in sectarian violence and street crime in Karachi, were arrested by the CTD.[130][131][132][133]
The Zainebiyoun brigade's former Kashmiri fighters, have been reported to be active in Kashmir insurgency, fighting against Indian security forces (such as the Indian Army, Border Security Force, Central Armed Police Forces, Central Reserve Police Force, Indian National Security Guard, Rashtriya Rifles, Indian Jammu and Kashmir Police, etc) either as part of Hizbul Mujahideen, Lashkar-e-Taiba, or as part of different groups.[19][134][135]
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Reaction in Pakistan
Reaction
In December 2015, a bomb killed 25 and injured over 30 in Parachinar, Khyber Pakhtunkhwa. Terrorist group Lashkar-e-Jhangvi claimed responsibility, and said that it was "revenge for the crimes against Syrian Muslims by Iran and Bashar al-Assad" and threatened to continue terror attacks if Parachinar citizens did not "stop sending people to take part in Syrian war".[75]
The government of Pakistan officially had denied the presence of Pakistani fighters in Syria, and has been reluctant to take back members of the brigade caught in Syria.[109]
After the reports of presence of Pakistani fighters of Zainebiyoun brigade in Syria, the Pakistani Taliban claimed that they have set up camps and sent hundreds of fighters to Syria to fight alongside Islamist jihadist groups opposed to Bashar al-Assad such as al-Nusra Front, Ahrar al-Sham and Ansar al-Tawhid in an effort to strengthen ties with al Qaeda against the government of Pakistan in the Khyber Pakhtunkhwa Insurgency.[72][73][74]
Disappearance and death of the brigade commander
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The brigade's former commander Saqib Haider Karbalai, also known by the Arabic-language nickname Haj Haider in Syria he was a Pakistani religious Shia muslim from Parachinar who had been a senior member and militant of Tehreek-e-Jafaria Pakistan and Sipah-e-Muhammad Pakistan, the Shia Islamist religio-political organizations in Pakistan. He was well known for his Anti-America and Anti-Zionist views and speeches in his hometown. He had strong ties with the Islamic Republic of Iran and was a strong supporter of Wilayat al Faqih concept including Khomeinism.[32] The IRGC-affiliated source's claimed that the Haj Haider went Iran, Iraq and Syria multiple times for Ziyarat of Shia holy sites in 2000s where he meet many IRGC officers and had established close ties with them at the beginning of the Syrian civil war the IRGC appointed him and Shia Afghan militant Ali Reza Tavassoli as an Chief Commanders of the Zainebiyoun Brigade and the Fatemiyoun Brigade respectively, mainly appointed by Qasem Soleimani, the erstwhile Iranian commander of the Quds Force, as commanders of Shia volunteer fighters from Pakistan and Afghanistan respectively with training and funding from Iran to defend the Shia holy shrines from ISIL and it's subgroups. They both served as the commanders of their respective brigades, until their deaths.[1]
In 2017, Saqib Haider Karbalai went missing while fighting alongside Syrian government forces during the Hama offensive (March–April 2017). The IRGC-affiliated Tasnim News Agency reported his death in 2019, claiming that the body of Haider was transferred to Tehran two years after he was killed in the Syrian city of Hama by ISIS terrorists. According to Tasnim News Agency, the identity of the commander of the Zainabiyoun Brigade was identified after a DNA test, and he was transferred to Tehran where he was to be buried. The news agency also reported that "his body has no head and no arms" and that he was killed in action in April 2017 in the Tal Turabi area in the Hama Governorate, during the offensive.[1]
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Relationship with Liwa Fatemiyoun & Hezbollah Afghanistan
According to researcher Phillip Smyth, Liwa Fatemiyoun, Liwa Zainebiyoun and Hezbollah Afghanistan were originally different groups, but showed such great overlap in ideology and membership by 2014 that they had become "incorporated". In contrast, researcher Oved Lobel continued to regard Liwa Fatemiyoun and Hezbollah Afghanistan as separate organizations in 2018, though groups were part of Iran's "regional proxy network".[33] Other sources such as Jihad Intel and Arab News have treated the militas as the same organization.[136] Researcher Michael Robillard called Liwa Fatemiyoun a "branch of Hezbollah Afghanistan". Iran is also known to have established branches of Hezbollah in Afghanistan and Pakistan, with several pro-Iranian groups operating in both countries by the Soviet–Afghan War.[31][32]: 175
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Designation as a terrorist organization and ban
Liwa Zainebiyoun is designated as a terrorist organization by the U.S. State Department in 2019. In 2024, the Interior Ministry of Pakistan banned the Zainebiyoun Brigade.[34][70]
See also
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