Syrian Army
Land force branch of the Syrian Armed Forces
Follow Syrian Army on Notably News to receive short updates to your email — rarely!
| December 21 2024 | Leaders of Syrian rebel forces announced the disbandment of their individual forces and their intention to merge under the new defence ministry, marking a significant restructuring of the Syrian military following the fall of the Assad regime. |
| October 2024 | Major General Osama Horia, previously commander of the 5th Mechanized Division, was appointed as the second Deputy Chief of the General Staff of the Syrian Army. |
| 2022 | Syrian Army published its Order of Battle, detailing the organizational structure of its key military divisions and brigades across multiple corps and specialized units. |
| June 2022 | Lieutenant General Ali Mahmoud Abbas appointed as Minister of Defence and Deputy Commander-in-Chief of the Army and Armed Forces, representing a Sunni Muslim in a high-ranking military leadership position. |
| April 2022 | Major General Mufid Hassan was appointed as the Deputy Chief of the General Staff of the Syrian Army by President Bashar Al-Assad. |
| 2021 | New military units were created within the Syrian Arab Army, further evolving its organizational structure and potentially enhancing its operational capabilities. |
| 2018 | Concluded a period of extensive structural modifications to the Syrian Arab Army, involving strategic reforms and potential unit realignments with support from Russian and Iranian military advisors. |
| June 2018 | Israeli Defence Minister Avigdor Lieberman states that the Syrian Arab Army has recovered its pre-2011 strength levels after experiencing significant manpower shortages during the Syrian Civil War. |
| 2015 | 2nd Armored Division was formed, expanding the Syrian Army's armored divisions during the ongoing Syrian Civil War. |
| 2015 | 8th Armored Division was formed, expanding the Syrian Army's armored divisions. |
| 2015 | 6th Armored Division was formed, representing a significant organizational development in the Syrian Army's structure. |
| 2015 | Some regular units of the Syrian Army were equipped with Russian 6B7 helmets, expanding their protective gear options. |
| 2015 | Syrian forces began receiving significant military equipment assistance from Russia, marking a notable shift in military support during the ongoing conflict. |
| 2015 | Syrian Arab Army began undergoing significant structural changes through cooperation with Russia and Iran, marking a pivotal period of military reorganization. |
| 2014 | Analyst Charles Lister reports significant Syrian Arab Army (SAA) losses, including 35,601 fatalities, approximately 50,000 defections, and a reduced personnel strength of roughly 125,000 troops. |
| October 2013 | Elements of the 17th Division remained under siege north of Raqqa city. |
| August 2013 | The International Institute for Strategic Studies reports that the Syrian army's strength has been reduced by approximately half compared to 2010, due to defections, desertions, and casualties, with troop numbers dropping to around 110,000. |
| June 14 2013 | 73 Syrian Army officers, including seven generals and 20 colonels, along with their families (totaling 202 people), sought refuge in Turkey. |
| March 6 2013 | Reported capture of Raqqa by Syrian Army forces, with elements of the 17th Division involved in the operation. |
| 2012 | The 93rd Brigade of the 17th Division left Idlib to secure Raqqa Governorate. |
| August 2012 | 40 brigadier generals defected from the Syrian Army to the opposition, out of a total of 1,200 generals. |
| July 18 2012 | Damascus bombing results in the death of Syrian Minister of Defence General Dawoud Rajiha, a Christian officer, highlighting the internal tensions within the Syrian military during the civil war. |
| March 15 2012 | Significant military defections occurred, with a Turkish official reporting 60,000 soldiers had deserted the Syrian Army, including 20,000 since February 20, primarily junior officers and soldiers dissatisfied with government crackdowns on pro-democracy protesters. |
| 2011 | Syrian military demographics revealed a significant ethnic imbalance, with Alawites (12% of population) comprising 70% of career soldiers and approximately 80% of officer corps, despite Sunnis forming the majority of the 300,000 military conscripts. |
| 2011 | Large-scale re-equipment programme to replace AK(M) and other assault rifle derivatives with AK-74Ms was halted due to the outbreak of the Syrian Civil War. |
| 2011 | Standard issue combat helmets were olive Chinese QGF-02 for active forces, and Soviet SSh-68 for reserve forces, with Syrian Leaf camouflage helmet covers. |
| November 16 2011 | Rami Abdel Rahman of the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights estimated fewer than 1,000 army desertions, while an FSA battalion commander claimed 25,000 army deserters had joined their ranks. |
| November 15 2011 | The European Council sanctioned Major General Wajih Mahmud, commander of the 18th Armored Division, for violence committed in Homs. |
| October 1 2011 | According to Colonel Riad Assaad, 10,000 Syrian Army soldiers, including high-ranking officers, had deserted the army and some formed the Free Syrian Army, beginning their engagement in combat against government forces. |
| April 2011 | Syrian Army's military equipment inventory documented, revealing a substantial Soviet-era arsenal with approximately 9,300 armored fighting vehicles, 6,400 towed artillery pieces, and over 4,000 surface-to-air missile launchers. |
This contents of the box above is based on material from the Wikipedia article Syrian Army, which is released under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 International License.