Guardians of the Dawn

Guardians of the Dawn
حراس الفجر Participant in the Syrian Civil War
A promotional image for the Guardians of the Dawn, showcasing their insignia to the right. The constituent groups of the coalition also frequently use the Christian cross, the Flag of Syria and images of Bashar al-Assad as logos.
Active	2015 – present
Ideology	Christian solidarity Christian holy war Syrian nationalism
Allegiance	Air Force Intelligence Directorate
Groups	Usud al-Cherubim Ararat Group Usud al-Wadi Usud al-Hamidiya (formerly) Intervention Regiment Usud Dwel’a
Leaders	Fadi Abd al-Massih Khouri
Headquarters	Various Christian towns throughout Syria
Area of operations	Syria
Allies	Syrian Armed Forces SSNP Sootoro Various other pro-government militias
Opponents	Free Syrian Army Army of Conquest Jaysh al-Islam Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant Jund al-Aqsa
Battles and wars	Syrian Civil War Rif Dimashq Governorate campaign Siege of Darayya and Muadamiyat Rif Dimashq offensive (April–May 2016) Rif Dimashq offensive (June–October 2016) Homs offensive (November–December 2015) 2016 Hama offensive

Syrian Civil War

The Guardians of the Dawn (Arabic: حراس الفجر Ḥurrās al-Fajr) are a coalition of Christian pro-government militias which are involved in the Syrian Civil War and affiliated with the Air Force Intelligence Directorate. Although the Guardians of the Dawn, whose official motto is "A homeland that we do not protect is one we do not deserve to live in", promote themselves as a Syrian nationalist force, their fighters are primarily motivated by a concept of holy war to defend the Christian areas of Syria from hostile rebels. The militiamen of Usud al-Cherubim, one of the coalition's constituent groups, even refer to themselves as "mujahideen of the cross".

According to their official leader, Fadi Abd al-Massih Khouri, the Guardians of the Dawn were established on 11 September 2015, when various Christian militias banded together to defend the Christian town of Maarounah from an attack by Jaysh al-Islam; as this ad-hoc alliance proved highly successful, the coalition was promptly formalized under Khouri's leadership. The idea behind its foundation was that the different Christian militias should help each other when their villages come under assault.

Initially, the new coalition was known as "Homeland Shield" ("Dir’ al-Watan"), and soon began to participate in various campaigns to defend or liberate Christian localities in Syria: In late 2015 the member groups joined a government offensive in the western Homs Governorate, during which they helped to retake Sadad and Mahin from the Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant. For these operations they received the official gratitude of Sootoro. In March 2016 the alliance adopted its current name, and later that year sent fighters to the northern Hama Governorate in order to defend a number of Christian villages from a Jihadist-led rebel offensive.