Suheil al-Hasan
| Suheil Salman al-Hassan | |
|---|---|
| Born | 1970 (age 46–47) Jableh, Latakia Governorate, Syria |
| Allegiance |
 Syrian Arab Republic
|
| Service/branch |
 Syrian Army
|
| Years of service | 1991–present |
| Rank | Brigadier general |
| Battles/wars | |
Suheil Salman al-Hassan (Arabic: سهيل الحسن) (born in 1970), nicknamed The Tiger, is a Brigadier general in Syrian Army and commander of its Tiger Forces. He graduated from the Syrian Arab Air Force academy in 1991, and served in many units of the Syrian Arab Air Forces and Air Defence Command, completing several training courses. After serving in the Syrian Arab Air Force and Syrian Arab Air Defence units, he joined the Air Forces Intelligence Service, where he was responsible for the training of the elements of the Special Operations Section. During the Syrian Civil War, Suheil al-Hassan has served and commanded his troops during several major engagements, including Operation Canopus Star and the battle for the Shaer gas field. He is part of the new generation of field Syrian army commanders who emerged during the civil war. French newspaper Le Monde has claimed he could be a rival to Assad as leader of Syria.
Hassan is an Alawite. He is said to have a son that he has not seen since the beginning of the Syrian Civil War. Hassan's first major media appearance was a spring 2014 video filmed and posted online by the pro-government Sama TV, showing Hassan visiting troops at the front in Aleppo. He is known for liking poetry, even broadcasting his own poems over to the loudspeaker at his enemies, as a warning of what will come if they do not surrender. He says that he always tries to give a chance to his enemies to give up and surrender, but has no pity if they do not or if they betray him.
Hassan refused a promotion to become brigadier general in order to continue to lead his troops directly on the battlefield. His battle tactics have been described as utilizing a scorched earth policy followed by assaulting opposition positions with house to house raids. A Syrian military source claimed Hassan had "never lost any battles" with Syrian opposition forces, yet the Second Siege of Wadi Deif was seen as a personal defeat for Hassan, while the Tiger forces under Hassan's command failed to break opposition force's lines when dispatched to Idlib to counter opposition offensives in 2015.
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