An Account of Liwa al-Baqir's Defection from the Assad Regime and Iran
Of the various Syrian groups that were identified under the ‘Islamic Resistance in Syria’ brand and formed part of the Iranian and Hezbollah-backed ‘Local Defence Forces’ network, Liwa al-Baqir (“The Baqir Brigade”) was arguably the most well-known among them. Originating from Aleppo province and rooted in Bekara tribesmen, the group was thought to be one of the strongest allies for Iran and Hezbollah in Syria.
An emblem of Liwa al-Baqir, evoking Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps and Hezbollah imagery.
Yet when the insurgents led by Hay’at Tahrir al-Sham launched the final offensive that brought down the Assad regime, Liwa al-Baqir was nowhere to be seen as a fighting force. The reality is that the group’s members either stood on the sidelines and refused to participate in the fighting alongside the Assad regime’s army and other Iranian and Hezbollah-backed forces, or actually defected to the insurgents’ side. One source who had been involved with the group put it to me as follows, “We did not participate in the final battle, because we saw the [Syrian] army’s collapse in the provinces, because of the betrayal. We were neutral because the army withdrew.”
al-Hajj Khalid al-Mara‘i, leader of Liwa al-Baqir.
The following below is an account recently provided by an outlet for Liwa al-Baqir, explaining what exactly happened. One may of course ask how it is that a Shi‘a-led group chose to abandon the Assad regime, Iran and Hezbollah. However, it would appear that analysts and observers over-estimated the ideological affinity of Liwa al-Baqir with the ‘axis of resistance’ based on a misunderstanding about the religious affiliations of the group’s leadership and members.