9th Armoured Division
Divisional tactical color marking
Active1970 — present
Country Syria
AllegianceMilitary of Syria
Branch1st Corps of the Syrian Army
TypeDivision
RoleArmoured
Engagements
Commanders
Current
commander		Maj. Gen. Hussein Ismail Al-Jeddawi
Chief of StaffBrig. Gen. Yusha Saad al-Din
Notable
commanders		Maj. Gen. Ramadan Ramadan[3]

The 9th Armoured Division (Arabic: الفرقة التاسعة المدرعة) is an elite division of the Syrian Arab Army, part of the 1st Army Corps and it was established in 1970.

Command structure

9th Armoured Division (2019)

Source:[3][6]

Combat history

As the 9th Infantry Division, it was heavily engaged during the 1973 October War, and in the Valley of Tears.[7]

In April 1976, it was announced by Kamal Junblatt, leader of the Lebanese National Movement, that the 91st Armoured Brigade had entered Lebanon.[8] This was in addition to other Syrian forces that had entered previously.

The 9th Armored Division served in the 1991 Gulf War as the Arab Joint Forces Command North reserve and saw little action.[9]

In 2001 Richard Bennett estimated that its brigades included the 43rd and 91st Armored Brigades and the 52nd Mechanized Brigade. He wrote that it was part of the 1st Corps, which covered from Golan Heights, the fortified zone and south to Der'a near the Jordanian border.

The 52nd Armored Brigade was reported in Der'aa in southern Syria in May 2013.[10] It was reported in October 2015 that "Syrian armed opposition factions seized the strategic Tel Ahmar in the northern countryside of Quneitra on Saturday, following violent clashes with government forces. The capture of Tel Ahmar comes days after opposition factions seized the Fourth Division of the Syrian army’s Brigade 91 in the same offensive, which aims to break the siege on Western Ghouta."[11]

During the Syrian Civil War it has been involved in the following engagements:

References

  1. ^ "Exclusive: Syrian Army's 9th Division shock troops prepare to storm ISIS stronghold (photos)". Al Masdar News. 29 April 2018. Archived from the original on 13 June 2018. Retrieved 29 April 2018.
  2. ^ Aymenn Jawad Al-Tamimi (30 July 2021). "Events in Deraa: Perspective from the Fourth Division". Retrieved 31 July 2021.
  3. ^ a b Gregory Waters (18 July 2019). "The Lion and The Eagle: The Syrian Arab Army's Destruction and Rebirth". Middle East Institute. Archived from the original on 21 July 2019. Retrieved 19 October 2019.
  4. ^ "Largest Syrian Brigade Nears Breaking Point". Arutz Sheva. 16 May 2013. Archived from the original on 7 June 2013. Retrieved 7 June 2013.
  5. ^ "Syrian Army restores all lost points in Golan Heights". 12 September 2016. Archived from the original on 17 October 2018. Retrieved 18 September 2016.
  6. ^ "Archived copy" (PDF). Archived from the original (PDF) on 1 November 2013. Retrieved 3 September 2015.((cite web)): CS1 maint: archived copy as title (link)
  7. ^ Kenneth Pollack, 'Arab Armies at War', University of Nebraska Press, 2001.
  8. ^ Marius Deeb, Syria's Terrorist War on Lebanon and the Peace Process, Palgrave Macmillan, 2003, ISBN 1403980969, 9781403980960, 18.
  9. ^ Schwarzkopf, It doesn't take a hero, Bantam Books, 1993, 467-9.
  10. ^ "Largest Syrian Brigade Nears Breaking Point". Arutz Sheva.
  11. ^ al-Youm, Madar. "Opposition Seizes Strategic Tel Ahmar, Advances on Western Ghouta". The Syrian Observer.
  12. ^ "Pictures: Syrian Army floods east Damascus with massive reinforcements to annihilate jihadist offensive". al-Masdar. 1 January 2018. Archived from the original on 16 September 2019. Retrieved 1 January 2018.
  13. ^ "مقتل شاب برصاص قوات النظام في درعا البلد ومطالبات أهلية بإفراغ المنطقة من أهلها وسكانها بعد تصعيد قوات النظام الأخير" (in Arabic). SOHR. 29 July 2021. Retrieved 29 July 2021.

Further reading

Category