Shabeeha
| Shabiha | |
|---|---|
|
شبيحة Participant in the Syrian civil war |
|
| Active | 1980s – 2012 |
| Groups | Mohammed al-Assad's group |
| Leaders |
Namir al-Assad Zaino Berri  (Aleppo Leader)Ayman Jaber (Latakia Leader) Mohammed al-Assad † (Qardaha leader) |
| Became |
 National Defense Force
|
| Allies |
 Syrian Armed Forces
|
| Opponents |
 Free Syrian Army Al-Nusra Front Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant
|
| Battles and wars |
Battle of Aleppo (2012–16) Rif Dimashq clashes (November 2011–March 2012) Battle of Tremseh Rif Dimashq offensive |
Shabiha (North Levantine Arabic: شبيحة šabbīḥa, pronounced [ʃabˈbiːħa]; also romanized Shabeeha or Shabbiha ; loosely translated "spirits", "ghosts", "shadows", or "apparitions") were mostly Alawite groups of armed militia in support of the Ba'ath Party government of Syria, led by the Al-Assad family. However, in the Aleppo Governorate, Shabiha was composed entirely from the local pro-Assad Sunni tribes such as al-Berri, al-Baggara, al-Hasasne and al-Zeido. In the city of Aleppo itself it was led by a powerful Sunni Arab al-Berri tribe.
The Syrian opposition stated that the shabiha are a tool of the government for cracking down on dissent.Syrian Observatory for Human Rights has stated that some of the shabiha are mercenaries.
According to Shabiha privately interviewed by The Star in 2012, the Shabiha were established in the 1980s by Namir al-Assad, President Hafez al-Assad's cousin, and Rifaat al-Assad, the former president's brother. They were originally concentrated in the Mediterranean region of Syria around Latakia, Banias and Tartous, where they allegedly benefited from smuggling through the ports in the area. The shabiha, who were named for the Arabic word for ghost or for the Mercedes S600 that was popular for its smuggling sized trunk and was called the Shabah, were known by the Alawites in Syria as Alawi ganglords. During the late 1980s and early 1990s, they smuggled food, cigarettes and commodities, subsidized by the government, from Syria into Lebanon and sold them for a massive profit, while luxury cars, guns and drugs were smuggled in reverse from Lebanon up the Bekaa Valley and into Syria's state controlled economy.
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