Coastal Shield Brigade
Coastal Shield Brigade (Arabic: لواء درع الساحل, romanized: Liwāʼ Dirʻ al-Sāḥil) is a Syrian Assadist militant organization formed in January 2015. It announced its operations in February 2025, after the fall of the Assad regime. HistoryThe group was officially founded on 1 January 2015, in Latakia province as a local militia for Republican Guard. The group started recruitment of soldiers in late May of the same year.[1] In 2025, after the fall of the Assad regime, the group published a video showing its establishment against the Military Operations Command and the Syrian Transitional Government[clarification needed] which was spread by the Syrian Popular Resistance.[5][6] They established the Coastal Brigade near the Latakia Mountains in the Latakia Governorate to fight against Hay'at Tahrir al-Sham (HTS) in their original stronghold. He also called for Alawites and previous supporters of Bashar al-Assad to "take arms" against HTS leader Ahmed al-Sharaa.[7] Fatiha stated in the video about the Coastal Shield Brigade's establishment to the escalation of violations by Ahmad al-Sharaa’s authority[clarification needed] after the attacks on the Alawites in the cities of the Syrian coast, stressing the brigade’s responsibility for any targeting of al-Sharaa’s authority on the coast and outside the Syrian coast.[8][9] Fatiha stated the Coastal Shield Brigade would take responsibility for any operations done against Hay'at Tahrir al-Sham in the Latakia Governorate.[10] According to Turkish media, Fatiha was notorious for his alleged involvement in drug trafficking, bribery, kidnapping and extrajudicial killings during the Assad regime.[11] Fatiha likely used resources and human networks developed under the Assad regime to establish the Coastal Shield Brigade.[2] References
|
||||||||||||||||||||||||||
.png)
