Shabiha

{{Short description|Term for militias loyal to Ba'athist Syria}} {{Italic title}} {{Infobox war faction | name = Shabiha | native_name = {{Script/Arabic|شبيحة}} | native_name_lang = ar | war = {{tree list}} * Syrian civil war ** June 2011 Jisr ash-Shughur clashes ** 2012 Homs offensive ** Hama Governorate clashes (2011–2012) ** Daraa Governorate clashes (2011–2013) ** Deir ez-Zor clashes (2011–2014) ** Battle of Rastan (January–February 2012) ** 2012 Aleppo Governorate clashes ** Idlib Governorate clashes (June 2012 – April 2013) ** Battle of Aleppo (2012–16) ** Rif Dimashq offensive (August–October 2012) ** Battle of Tremseh<ref>{{cite web|url=http://abcnewsradioonline.com/world-news/syrian-army-denies-using-heavy-artillery-in-tremesh-assault.html |date=July 16, 2012|title=Syrian Army Denies Using Heavy Artillery in Tremesh Assault |publisher=ABC News Radio|access-date=August 9, 2018 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20121126184306/http://abcnewsradioonline.com/world-news/syrian-army-denies-using-heavy-artillery-in-tremesh-assault.html |archive-date=November 26, 2012}}</ref> ** Siege of Homs {{tree list/end}} | image = Flag of the United Arab Republic (1958–1971), Flag of Syria (1980–2024).svg | caption = Flag of Ba'athist Syria | active = 1980s – 2012 (independently)<ref name="reuters1">{{cite web|title=Insight: Battered by war, Syrian army creates its own replacement|url=https://www.reuters.com/article/us-syria-crisis-paramilitary-insight-idUSBRE93K02R20130421|publisher=Reuters|date=21 April 2013|access-date=31 October 2015}}</ref><br> 2012 – 2024 (as part of the NDF) | clans = {{ubl|Al-Assad's group|Berri clan militias{{sfnp|Cooper|2015|p=21}}}} | leaders = Maher al-Assad<ref name=alHendi /><br />Fawaz al-Assad{{sfnp|Cooper|2015|p=20}}<br />Mundhir al-Assad{{sfnp|Cooper|2015|p=20}}<br />Numeir al-Assad<ref>{{cite news|last=Dougherty|first=Jill|title=Al-Assad's inner circle, mostly family, like 'mafia'|url=http://security.blogs.cnn.com/2012/08/09/assads-inner-circle-will-it-crack/|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120810203134/http://security.blogs.cnn.com/2012/08/09/assads-inner-circle-will-it-crack/|url-status=dead|archive-date=August 10, 2012|access-date=18 August 2012|publisher=CNN|date=9 August 2012}}</ref><br />Zaino Berri{{KIA}} {{small|(Aleppo&nbsp;leader)}}<ref>{{cite news|title=Executions Reported as Syria Civilian Crisis Looms|url=https://www.wsj.com/articles/SB10000872396390443545504577563360252949488|work=Wall Street Journal|date=1 August 2012|access-date=26 May 2013}}</ref><br />Ayman Jaber {{small|(Latakia&nbsp;leader)}}<br />Mohammed al-Assad{{KIA}} {{small|(Qardaha leader)}} | headquarters = | area = | ideology = {{Plainlist| *Assadism<ref name="auto">{{Cite book |last=Phillips |first=Christopher |title=The Battle for Syria: International Rivalry in the New Middle East |publisher=Yale University Press |year=2015 |isbn=9780300217179 |location=London, UK |chapter=2: The Arab Spring Comes to Syria|pages=2, 53–54}}</ref> }} | slogan = Assad or We Burn the Country ({{langx|ar|الأسد أو نحرق البلد}})<br>Assad or No One Else ({{langx|ar|الأسد او لا احد}}) | size = 5,000–10,000 (2011){{sfnp|Cooper|2015|p=21}} | partof = | merged = {{flagicon image|InfoboxNDF.png}} NDF<ref name="reuters1"/> | allies = {{flagicon image|Flag of the Syrian Arab Armed Forces (1980–2024).svg}} Syrian Arab Armed Forces <br /> {{flag|Hezbollah}} <br /> {{flag|Iran}} | opponents = {{flagicon|Syrian opposition}} Free Syrian Army<br />{{flagicon image|Jaysh Al Islam white flag.svg}} Liwa al-Islam<br />{{flagicon image|Flag of Ahrar ash-Sham.svg}} Ahrar al-Sham<br />{{Flagicon image|Flag of the Al-Nusra Front.svg}} Al-Nusra Front | url = | motives = | allegiance = Ba'athist Syria<br>Assad family }}

'''''Shabiha''''' (Levantine Arabic: {{lang|apc|شَبِّيحَة}} ''{{Transliteration|apc|Šabbīḥa}}'', {{IPA|ar|ʃabˈbiːħa|pron}}; also romanized '''''Shabeeha''''' or '''''Shabbiha'''''; {{literal translation|thugs}}) is a colloquial and generally derogatory term for various loosely-organised Syrian militias loyal to the Ba'athist government and the Assad family prior to the regime's collapse in 2024, used particularly during the initial phase of the Syrian civil war. As the war evolved, many groups that had previously been considered ''shabiha'' were amalgamated into the National Defence Force (NDF) and other paramilitary groups.<ref>{{Cite news | url=https://www.reuters.com/article/world/battered-by-war-syrian-army-creates-its-own-replacement-idUSBRE93K02R/ | title=Battered by war, Syrian army creates its own replacement | publisher=Reuters | date=2013-04-21}}</ref>

The mercenaries consisted of mostly Alawite men paid by the regime to eliminate figures of its domestic opposition and alleged fifth-columnists. The Shabiha were established in the 1980s to smuggle weapons to the Syrian soldiers stationed in Lebanon during the Lebanese Civil War and Syrian occupation of Lebanon.<ref>{{cite news |author=Kellier |first=Peter |date=31 May 2012 |title=Ghosts of Syria:diehard militias who kill in the name of Assad |work=Guardian |location=London |url=https://www.theguardian.com/world/2012/may/31/ghosts-syria-regime-shabiha-militias |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20130905064837/https://www.theguardian.com/world/2012/may/31/ghosts-syria-regime-shabiha-militias |archive-date=5 September 2013}}</ref> While most Shabiha were members of the Alawite minority, the main common denominator of the groups was loyalty to the Assad family rather than religion, and in areas such as Aleppo they were primarily Sunni.<ref>{{cite web | url=https://www.aljazeera.com/features/2012/8/1/syrian-mp-killed-publicly-by-fsa-firing-squad | title=Syrian MP killed publicly by FSA firing squad }}</ref>

The Shabiha were founded in the 1980s by Nimir al-Assad (President Hafez al-Assad's cousin) and Rifaat al-Assad (Hafez al-Assad's brother). They were originally concentrated in the Syrian coastal region around Latakia, Baniyas, and Tartous, where they profited from smuggling through the region's ports.

Known by Alawites in Syria as an Alawite gang, during the late 1980s and early 1990s they smuggled food, cigarettes, and other goods, with government support, from Syria to Lebanon and sold them for considerable profit. Luxury cars, weapons, and drugs were smuggled in the opposite direction, from Lebanon to Syria. The Shabiha are loyal to various members of Syria's ruling Assad family. They remain untouchable and unarrested, operating with impunity from the Syrian authorities. The Shabiha gained notoriety in the 1990s for the brutality they imposed on the Syrian coast.<ref name="telegraph.co.uk">{{Cite web |date=2012-06-02 |title=The Shabiha: Inside Assad's death squads |url=https://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/worldnews/middleeast/syria/9307411/The-Shabiha-Inside-Assads-death-squads.html |access-date=2025-04-06 |website=The Telegraph |language=en}}</ref>

The word became common in the 1990s, when it was being used to refer to "thugs" who worked with the government and often drove Mercedes-Benz S-Class and gave their guards the same car; that specific car model was nicknamed Shabah (Ghost) in many Arabic countries which led to its drivers being called Shabeeh.<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://soshals.com/social/36734/|title=word origin}}</ref> The Syrian opposition stated that the ''shabiha'' are a tool of the government for cracking down on dissent.<ref name="Bloomberg" /> The Syrian Observatory for Human Rights has stated that some of the ''shabiha'' are mercenaries.<ref name="Bloomberg" /> Strongly loyal to the Assad regime and containing anti-Sunni factions, ''shabiha'' militias are discreetly financed by powerful Syrian businessmen, and have often been responsible for the more brutal actions against the opposition, including possible massacres. Psychological warfare against Syria's Sunni population is also known to have been employed by Alawi ''Shabiha'', which includes demonising Sunni religious beliefs and usage of deriding slogans such as "''There is no God but Bashar''".<ref>{{Cite book |last=Phillips |first=Christopher |title=The Battle for Syria: International Rivalry in the New Middle East |publisher=Yale University Press |year=2015 |isbn=9780300217179 |location=London, UK |pages=2, 53–54, 66, 83–84, 86, 131, 199–200}}</ref>

Shabiha, thugs, and other such terms are not a new phenomenon. During the Arab Spring revolutions, they were used politically by some governments and influential individuals to disrupt the revolutions and intimidate the rebels and demonstrators. Enemies of the revolutions also attempted to use gangs to further their political and religious goals.<ref name="telegraph.co.uk"/>

== Before the Syrian civil war == According to defectors privately interviewed by ''The Star'' in 2012, 'Shabiha mercenaries' were established in the 1980s by Rifaat al-Assad and Namir al-Assad, President Hafez al-Assad's brother and cousin.<ref name="thestar.com">{{cite news|url=https://www.thestar.com/news/world/article/1212059--inside-syria-s-shabiha-death-squads?bn=1 |title=Inside Syria's shabiha death squads|date=15 June 2012|work=Global Star|publisher=Toronto Star Newspapers Ltd|author=Hugh Macleod and Annasofie Flamand}}</ref> 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.<ref name=Bloomberg>{{cite news|last1=Razzouk |first1=Nayla |last2=Alexander |first2=Caroline |title=Syrian Thugs Are Assad's Tool in Protest Crackdown, Groups Say |url=http://www.businessweek.com/news/2011-06-01/syrian-thugs-are-assad-s-tool-in-protest-crackdown-groups-say.html |work=Bloomberg Businessweek |date=1 June 2011 |access-date=29 May 2012 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20131022211913/http://www.businessweek.com/news/2011-06-01/syrian-thugs-are-assad-s-tool-in-protest-crackdown-groups-say.html |archive-date=October 22, 2013}}</ref> The shabiha, who were named for the Arabic word for ghost or for the Mercedes-Benz W140 that was popular for its smuggling sized trunk and was called the Shabah,<ref name="thestar.com" /> were known by the Alawites in Syria as Alawi ganglords.<ref name=tele>{{cite news|author1=Harriet Alexander, and Ruth Sherlock|title=The Shabiha: Inside Assad's death squads|url=https://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/worldnews/middleeast/syria/9307411/The-Shabiha-Inside-Assads-death-squads.html|access-date=14 December 2014|work=The Telegraph|date=2 June 2012}}</ref><ref name=FT26>{{cite web |url=https://www.ft.com/content/4df6d898-aa6c-11e1-9331-00144feabdc0 |title=Shoes Give Clue to Houla Assailants |author=Michael Peel and Abigail Fielding-Smith |date=2 June 2012 |work=The Financial Times |access-date=2 June 2012}}</ref> 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.<ref name="thestar.com" />

The shabiha guards, who each had loyalty to different members of the extended Assad family, were untouchable and operated with impunity from the local authorities.<ref name="thestar.com" /> They gained notoriety in the 1990s for the brutal way they enforced their protection rackets in Latakia and were noted for their cruelty and blind devotion to their leaders.<ref name=Blomfield>{{cite journal |url=https://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/worldnews/middleeast/syria/8409870/Syria-feared-militia-kills-up-to-21-people-as-protests-continue.html |title=Syria: feared militia kills up to 21 people as protests continue |journal=The Daily Telegraph |date=27 March 2011|author=Adrian Blomfield |access-date=30 May 2012}}</ref> By the mid-1990s, they had gotten out of hand, and President Hafez al-Assad had his son Bassel al-Assad clamp down on them, which he did successfully.<ref name="thestar.com" /> In 2000, when Bashar al-Assad came to power, they were apparently disbanded,<ref name="Blomfield" /> but following the uprising that began in March 2011, the shabiha gangs, which evolved into the shabiha militias, were again approved by Assad's government.<ref name=FT26 />

== Syrian Civil War == {{Main|Syrian Civil War}} [[File:Berri clan militiamen captured by FSA.png|right|thumb|Berri clan militiamen, considered to be "''Shabiha''", after their capture by the al-Tawhid Brigade in Aleppo, July 2012]] Upon the outbreak of the Syrian Revolution in 2011, the regime deployed the ''Shabiha'' death squads upon the demonstrators, ordering them to execute sectarian attacks on the protestors, torture Sunni demonstrators and engage in anti-Sunni rhetoric. This policy led to large-scale desertions within the army ranks and further defections of officers who began forming a resistance movement.<ref>{{Cite book |last=Glynn Williams |first=Brian |title=Counter Jihad: America's Military Experience in Afghanistan, Iraq, and Syria |publisher=University of Pennsylvania Press |year=2017 |isbn=978-0-8122-4867-8 |location=Philadelphia, Pennsylvania 19104-4112, USA |pages=270 |chapter=6: The New War on ISIS}}</ref><ref>{{Cite book |last=Lefevre |first=Raphael |title=Ashes of Hama: The Muslim Brotherhood in Syria |publisher=Oxford University Press |year=2013 |isbn=978-0-19-933062-1 |location=198 Madison Avenue, New York, New York 10016, USA |pages=185 |chapter=9: Uprisings in Syria: Revenge on History}}</ref><ref>{{Cite book |last=A. Shoup |first=John |title=The History of Syria |publisher=ABC-CLIO, LLC |year=2018 |isbn=978-1-4408-5834-5 |location=Santa Barbara, California 93116-1911, USA |pages=144 |chapter=10: Bashar al-Asad’s Syria: 2000–Present}}</ref> In March 2011, activists reported that Shabiha drove through Latakia in cars armed with machine guns firing at protesters, and then later of taking up sniper position on rooftops and killing up to 21 people.<ref name=Blomfield /> It was reported by local activists that on 18 and 19 April that the shabiha and security forces killed 21 protesters in Homs.<ref>{{cite news |url=http://www.buenosairesherald.com/article/65073/syrias-president-ends-state-of-emergency%20Syria's%20President%20ends%20state%20of%20emergency |title=Syria's President ends state of emergency |date=21 April 2011 |work=Buenos Aires Herald |agency=Reuters |access-date=30 May 2012}}</ref>

The Syrian opposition, foreign governments, and human rights organizations accuse the shabiha militia of being a tool of the Syrian regime, operating as mercenaries to track down political opponents.The shabiha are accused of committing several atrocities and massacres in Syria after the revolution, including the Houla massacre and the Qubeir massacre in 2012.<ref name="telegraph.co.uk"/>

In May, ''Foreign Affairs'' reported that the ''shabiha'' joined the 4th Armoured Division, led by Maher al-Assad, and attacked civilians in the cities of Banias, Jableh, and Latakia."<ref name=alHendi>{{cite journal |url=http://www.foreignaffairs.com/articles/67823/ahed-al-hendi/the-structure-of-syrias-repression |title=The Structure of Syria's Repression |author=Ahed Al Hendi |date=3 May 2011 |journal=Foreign Affairs |access-date=30 May 2012}}</ref> A month later in June, witnesses and refugees from the northwestern region said that the shabiha have reemerged during the uprising and were being used by the Assad regime to carry out "a scorched earth campaign […] burning crops, ransacking houses and shooting randomly."<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.euronews.com/2011/06/19/syria-forces-storm-border-town-witnesses/ |title=Syria forces storm border town – witnesses |date=19 June 2011 |publisher=Euronews |access-date=30 May 2012 |archive-date=8 December 2012 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20121208180510/http://www.euronews.com/2011/06/19/syria-forces-storm-border-town-witnesses/ |url-status=dead}}</ref> ''The Washington Post'' reported a case in which four sisters were raped by shabiha members.<ref>{{cite news|author=Gul Tuysuz|title=Syrian men promise to marry women who were raped|url=https://www.washingtonpost.com/world/middle-east/syrian-men-promise-to-marry-women-who-were-raped/2011/06/20/AG6sO1cH_story.html|newspaper=The Washington Post|date=21 June 2011|access-date=30 May 2012}}</ref>

The ''shabiha'' are described to wear civilian clothes, trainers and white running shoes and often are taking steroids. A physician explained that "many of the men were recruited from bodybuilding clubs and encouraged to take steroids. They are treated like animals, and manipulated by their bosses to carry out these murders".<ref name=tele /> Many ''shabiha'' were described by locals as having shaved heads, thin beards and white trainers. It was also reported by Syrian locals that some elements in the ''Shabiha'' were contemplating plans to clear Sunni Muslim villages from the Alawi northwest in the hopes of creating an easily defendable rump state.<ref>{{cite news| url=https://www.economist.com/middle-east-and-africa/2012/06/16/with-both-barrels |newspaper=The Economist |title=With both barrels |date=16 June 2012}}</ref> One militiaman said he was ready to kill women and children to defend his friends, family and president: "Sunni women are giving birth to babies who will fight us in years to come, so we have the right to fight anyone who can hurt us in the future".<ref name=PBS>{{cite web|last1=Macleod |first1=Hugh |last2=Flamand |first2=Annasofie |date=15 June 2012 |title=Syria: Shabiha Militia Member Tells It Like It Is |url=https://www.pbs.org/newshour/updates/world/jan-june12/syria_06-15.html |work=NewsHour |publisher=PBS |access-date=6 July 2012 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120706071627/http://www.pbs.org/newshour/updates/world/jan-june12/syria_06-15.html |archive-date=July 6, 2012}}</ref>

In July 2012, a captured alleged shabiha member admitted looting and murder, stating that it was for "money and power".<ref>{{Cite web |url=http://worldobserveronline.com/2012/07/17/confessions-assad-shabiha-loyalist-i-raped-killed-300-month/ |title=Confessions of an Assad 'Shabiha' loyalist: how I raped and killed for £300 a month |access-date=2012-08-10 |archive-date=2012-07-20 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120720221220/http://worldobserveronline.com/2012/07/17/confessions-assad-shabiha-loyalist-i-raped-killed-300-month/ |url-status=usurped}}</ref> The newspaper ''Toronto Star'' describes Shabiha as "mafia militia […] smuggling commodities, appliances, drugs and guns between Syria and Lebanon at the behest of Assad’s extended family" and the Telegraph as "a group that suffers from a dangerous cocktail of religious indoctrination, minority paranoia and smuggler roots".<ref name=thestar.com /> The United Nations report published in August 2012 condemned the ''shabiha'' for sectarian attacks against Sunni civilians, murdering protesters, detaining army members of Sunni background and for carrying out the Houla massacre which killed at least 108 Sunni civilians, including 41 children.<ref>{{cite news |author=Luke Harding, Julian Borger and agencies in Damascus |date=15 August 2012 |title=Houla killings: UN blames Syria troops and militia |work=The Guardian |location=London |url=https://www.theguardian.com/world/2012/aug/15/houla-killings-un-blames-syria-troops |access-date=2013-09-03 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20221029202447/https://www.theguardian.com/world/2012/aug/15/houla-killings-un-blames-syria-troops |archive-date=29 October 2022}}</ref><ref>{{Cite journal |date=16 August 2012 |title=Report of the independent international commission of inquiry on the Syrian Arab Republic |url=https://documents-dds-ny.un.org/doc/UNDOC/GEN/G12/160/66/PDF/G1216066.pdf?OpenElement |journal=Human Rights Council: Twenty-first Session |publisher=United Nations Human Rights Council |pages=1–102 |via=OHCHR.org}}</ref><ref>{{Cite news |date=15 August 2012 |title=Houla massacre: UN blames Syria and militia |work=The Guardian |url=https://www.theguardian.com/world/interactive/2012/aug/15/un-inquiry-syrian-arab-republic |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220525230950/https://www.theguardian.com/world/interactive/2012/aug/15/un-inquiry-syrian-arab-republic |archive-date=25 May 2022}}</ref>

In December 2012, NBC News reporter Richard Engel and his five crew members were abducted in Latakia. Having escaped after five days in captivity, Engel held a Shabiha group responsible for the abduction.<ref>{{citation |author1=Brian Stelter |author-link=Brian Stelter |author2=Sebnem Arsu |title=Richard Engel of NBC Is Freed in Syria |work=The New York Times |url=https://www.nytimes.com/2012/12/19/business/media/richard-engel-of-nbc-is-released-in-syria.html |date=18 December 2012 |access-date=8 December 2015}}</ref> Engel's account was however challenged from early on.<ref>{{cite web |author=Jamie Dettmer |title=Richard Engel's Kidnapping: A Behind the Scenes Look |work=The Daily Beast |url=http://www.thedailybeast.com/articles/2012/12/22/richard-engel-s-kidnapping-a-behind-the-scenes-look.html |date=22 December 2012 |access-date=8 December 2015}}</ref> More than two years later, following further investigation by ''The New York Times'', it however came out that the NBC team "was almost certainly taken by a Sunni criminal element affiliated with the Free Syrian Army," rather than by a loyalist Shia group.<ref>{{cite news |author1=Ravi Somaiya |author2=C. J. Chivers |author2-link=C. J. Chivers |author3=Karam Shoumali |title=NBC News Alters Account of Correspondent's Kidnapping in Syria |work=The New York Times |url=https://www.nytimes.com/2015/04/16/business/media/nbc-news-alters-account-of-correspondents-kidnapping-in-syria.html |date=15 April 2015 |access-date=8 December 2015}}</ref>

The Syrian opposition, foreign governments, and human rights organizations accuse the Shabiha militia of being a tool of the Syrian regime, operating as mercenaries to track down political opponents. The Shabiha are accused of committing several atrocities and massacres in post-revolution Syria, including the Houla massacre and the 2012 al-Qubeir massacre.<ref>{{Cite web |title='Massacre' reported in Syria – DW – 06/07/2012 |url=https://www.dw.com/en/opposition-claims-syrian-government-massacre/a-16005794 |access-date=2025-05-05 |website=dw.com |language=en}}</ref>

=== Houla massacre === {{Main|Houla massacre}}

On May 25, 2012, 78 people, including 49 children, were killed in two opposition-controlled villages in the Houla Region of Syria, a cluster of villages north of Homs.<ref name=Reuters529 /> While a small proportion of the deaths appeared to have resulted from artillery and tank rounds used against the villages, the foreign press later announced that most of the massacre's victims had been "summarily executed in two separate incidents",<ref name=BBC529>{{cite news |url=https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-middle-east-18249413 |title=Syria crisis: Most Houla victims 'were executed' |date=May 29, 2012 |publisher=BBC News |access-date=May 29, 2012 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120530203935/http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-middle-east-18249413 |archive-date=May 30, 2012 |url-status=live}}</ref> and that witnesses affirmed that the Shabiha were the most likely perpetrators.<ref name=Reuters529>{{cite news |url=https://www.reuters.com/article/us-syria-un-idUSBRE84S10020120529 |title=Most Houla victims killed in summary executions: U.N. |author=Nebehay, Stephanie |date=May 29, 2012 |work=Reuters |access-date=May 29, 2012 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120530210559/http://www.reuters.com/article/2012/05/29/us-syria-un-idUSBRE84S10020120529 |archive-date=May 30, 2012 |url-status=live}}</ref> Townspeople described how Shabiha, from Shia/Alawite villages to the south and west of Houla (Kabu and Felleh were named repeatedly), entered the town after shelling of the ground for several hours. According to one eyewitness, the killers had written Shia slogans on their foreheads.<ref>{{cite news |url=http://blogs.channel4.com/alex-thomsons-view/searing-grief-houlas-survivors/1739 |title=The searing grief of Houla's Survivors |author=Thomson, Alex |date=May 30, 2012 |publisher=Channel 4 News |access-date=May 30, 2012 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120531005300/http://blogs.channel4.com/alex-thomsons-view/searing-grief-houlas-survivors/1739 |archive-date=May 31, 2012 |url-status=live}}</ref> The U.N. reported that "entire families were shot in their houses",<ref name=Reuters529 /> and video emerged of children with their skulls split open.<ref name=AA526>{{cite news |url=http://english.alarabiya.net/articles/2012/05/26/216538.html |title=U.N. observers in Syria visit scene of Houla 'massacre:' state media |date=May 26, 2012 |publisher=Al Arabiya |access-date=May 26, 2012 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120527024732/http://english.alarabiya.net/articles/2012/05/26/216538.html |archive-date=May 27, 2012 |url-status=live}}</ref> Others had been shot or knifed to death, some with their throats cut.<ref name="I 27 May 2012">{{cite news |title=Exclusive dispatch: Assad blamed for massacre of the innocents|author=Cockburn, Patrick |url=https://www.independent.co.uk/news/world/middle-east/exclusive-dispatch-assad-blamed-for-massacre-of-the-innocents-7791507.html|newspaper=The Independent |date=May 27, 2012 |access-date=May 27, 2012 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120526235301/http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-middle-east-18221461 |archive-date=May 26, 2012 |url-status=live |location=London}}</ref>

The fifteen nations of the U.N. Security Council unanimously condemned the massacre,<ref name="UN">{{cite news |url=http://www.aljazeera.com/news/middleeast/2012/05/2012527213720286129.html |title=UN condemns Syria over Houla massacre |date=May 27, 2012 |publisher=Al Jazeera |access-date=May 27, 2012 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120529002901/http://www.aljazeera.com/news/middleeast/2012/05/2012527213720286129.html |archive-date=May 29, 2012 |url-status=live}}</ref><ref name=NYT275>{{cite news |url=https://www.nytimes.com/2012/05/28/world/middleeast/syria-denies-responsibility-in-brutal-attack.html?_r=1&hp |title=U.N. Security Council Issues Condemnation of Syria Attack |author=MacFarquhar, Neil |date=May 27, 2012 |work=The New York Times |at=(part 1 of article) |access-date=May 27, 2012 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20130524051648/http://www.nytimes.com/2012/05/28/world/middleeast/syria-denies-responsibility-in-brutal-attack.html?_r=2&hp |archive-date=May 24, 2013 |url-status=live}}</ref> with Russia and China agreeing to a resolution on the Syrian Civil War for the first time.<ref name="AFP529">{{cite news |url=https://www.google.com/hostednews/afp/article/ALeqM5jfihYaR53KQwQxaqR49ebzIpXVXw?docId=CNG.7f0c5ba0cb66f3aa93cbda971b24c6a1.a1 |title=US hopes Syria massacre sparks change in Russia |date=May 29, 2012 |agency=Agence France-Presse |access-date=May 29, 2012 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20121029021421/http://www.google.com/hostednews/afp/article/ALeqM5jfihYaR53KQwQxaqR49ebzIpXVXw?docId=CNG.7f0c5ba0cb66f3aa93cbda971b24c6a1.a1 |archive-date=October 29, 2012 |url-status=dead}}</ref> The U.S., U.K., and eleven other nations–the Netherlands, Australia, France, Germany, Italy, Japan, Spain, Bulgaria, Canada and Turkey–jointly expelled Syrian ambassadors and diplomats already 4 days after the massacre took place.<ref name="expulsion">{{cite news |url=http://english.alarabiya.net/articles/2012/05/29/217206.html |title=Several countries expel Syrian diplomats as EU mulls joint expulsion |date=May 29, 2012 |publisher=Al Arabiya |access-date=May 29, 2012 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120530221822/http://english.alarabiya.net/articles/2012/05/29/217206.html |archive-date=May 30, 2012 |url-status=live}}</ref><ref name=AJ530>{{cite news |title=Executions reported in Syria |author=agencies |url=http://www.aljazeera.com/news/middleeast/2012/05/2012530105841216556.html |publisher=Al Jazeera |access-date=May 30, 2012 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120531202030/http://www.aljazeera.com/news/middleeast/2012/05/2012530105841216556.html |archive-date=May 31, 2012 |url-status=live}}</ref>

=== Alleged role in Al-Qubair massacre === {{Main|Al-Qubeir massacre}}

Another massacre was reported but not investigated by local villagers and activists to have taken place in the Syrian settlement of Al-Qubair on June 6, 2012, only two weeks after the killings at Houla. According to BBC News, Al-Qubair is a farming settlement inside the village of Maarzaf.<ref name=BBC-18352281>{{cite news|url=https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-middle-east-18352281|title=Syria UN team 'shot at' near Qubair 'massacre site'|publisher=BBC News|quote=Qubair is a small farming settlement inside the Sunni Muslim village of Maarzaf, which lies close to Alawite villages.|date=7 June 2012|access-date=7 June 2012}}</ref>

According to activists, 28 people were killed, many of them women and children. The day after the massacre, UNSMIS observers attempted to enter Al-Qubair to verify the reports, but were fired upon and forced to retreat by Sunni armed militia that had entered the city the day before.<ref name=BBC-18352281 /> Victims were reportedly stabbed and shot by Shabiha forces loyal to the government of Bashar al-Assad, according to the victim's families.<ref name=bbcnews2012-06-07>{{cite news|url=https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-middle-east-18348201|title=New 'massacre' reported in Syria's Hama province|date=7 June 2012|publisher=BBC News|access-date=7 June 2012}}</ref><ref>{{cite web|url=http://news.sky.com/home/world-news/article/16242668 |title=New Syria 'Massacre' Claims Emerge From Hama |publisher=Sky News |date=7 June 2012 |access-date=7 June 2012 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120607234141/http://news.sky.com/home/world-news/article/16242668 |archive-date=June 7, 2012}}</ref><ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.dw.de/dw/article/0,,16005794,00.html|title=Opposition claim Syrian government 'massacre'|work=Deutsche Welle|date=7 June 2012|access-date=7 June 2012}}</ref> Reports published by the German newspaper FAZ in June 2012, claimed that the Houla massacre was instead perpetrated by rebel militias antagonistic to the Syrian government.<ref>{{Cite news |url=https://www.faz.net/aktuell/politik/neue-erkenntnisse-zu-getoeteten-von-hula-abermals-massaker-in-syrien-11776496.html |date=7 June 2012 |title=Neue Erkenntnisse zu Getöteten von Hula; von Rainer Hermann, Damaskus|work=Frankfurter Allgemeine|language=de}}</ref>

== Leadership == In the coastal region, the group is reportedly led by Fawaz al-Assad and Munzer al-Assad, first cousins of President Assad.<ref name=alHendi /> Another source, Mahmoud Merhi, head of the Arab Organization for Human Rights, has been quoted as saying that "most Syrians view" the Shabiha as "operating without any known organization or leadership."<ref name=Bloomberg /> Sunni and Alawite businessmen who are protecting their own interests in the country are alleged to be paying the groups.<ref>{{cite news|title=Ghosts of Syria:diehard militias who kill in the name of Assad|work=Guardian|date=1 June 2012|author=Peter Kellier (pn)|url=https://www.theguardian.com/world/2012/may/31/ghosts-syria-regime-shabiha-militias|location=London}}</ref>

In Aleppo: Abdul Malik Bri, Zeno Bri, and the Bri gang.

In Damascus: Issam Zahreddine, Moataz Shamso.

In Hama: Talal Daqaq, Ali Al-Shala, Salah Al-Asi.

In Latakia: Hilal al-Assad, Muhammad Tawfiq al-Assad, Haroun al-Assad, Fawaz al-Assad, Jaafar Shalish, Muhannad Hatem, Ayman Jaber<ref name="telegraph.co.uk"/>

In Latakia: Hilal al-Assad, Muhammad Tawfiq al-Assad, Haroun al-Assad, Fawaz al-Assad, Jaafar Shalish, Muhannad Hatem, and Ayman Jaber.Muhammad Tawfiq al-Assad is known as the "Sheikh of the Mountain" and is considered one of the most prominent Shabiha leaders, in the full sense of the term. Like many other members of the al-Assad family, such as Haroun, Hilal, and Fawaz, Muhammad is a notorious Shabiha leader and smuggler, having amassed a vast fortune through smuggling, theft, trafficking, and extortion.<ref>{{Cite web |title=قتل في نفس الشهر الذي قضى فيه هلال الأسد.. آل الأسد ينعون شيخ الجبل |url=https://www.zamanalwsl.net/news/article/58947 |access-date=2025-04-07 |website=www.zamanalwsl.net |language=ar}}</ref>

== Accusation of looting and outside analysis == Aron Lund, a Swedish journalist specializing in Middle East issues, says that post-2011 the term "Shabbiha" is generally used as a generalized, insulting description of an Assad supporter.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.eurasiareview.com/30072013-gangs-of-latakia-the-militiafication-of-the-assad-regime-oped/ |title=Gangs Of Latakia: The Militiafication Of The Assad Regime |date=30 July 2013 |work=Eurasia Review |access-date=30 July 2013 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20131013030517/http://www.eurasiareview.com/30072013-gangs-of-latakia-the-militiafication-of-the-assad-regime-oped/ |archive-date=October 13, 2013}}</ref>

British newspaper ''Sunday Times'' and pan-Arab network Al-Arabiya have reported on Shabiha militia stealing Roman antiquities and selling them on the black market in Syria and Lebanon.<ref>[http://www.alarabiya.net/ar/arab-and-world/syria/2013/05/05/الشبيحة-ينهبون-آثار-سوريا-ويبيعونها-في-السوق-السوداء.html الشبيحة ينهبون آثار سوريا ويبيعونها في السوق السوداء] – quoting {{cite news |title=Syrians loot Roman treasures to buy guns |author=Hala Jaber |author2=George Arbuthnott |url=http://thesyriantimes.com/?p=580 |newspaper=The Syrian Times |date=5 May 2013 |access-date=26 June 2013}}</ref> == See also == * National Defence Forces * Popular Committees * Defense Companies * Struggle Companies * List of armed groups in the Syrian Civil War * Basij, Iranian equivalent * Popular Army and Fedayeen Saddam, historical Saddamist Iraqi equivalents * Popular Mobilisation Forces, Current Iraqi equivalent * Colectivos, Venezuelan equivalent * Janjaweed and Rapid Support Forces, Sudanese equivalents * Petrus, historical Indonesian equivalent * Tonton Macoute, historical Haitin equivalent * Kadyrovites, Russian equivalent in Chechnya * Schutzstaffel, historical Nazi equivalent * Extermination battalions, historical Stalinist Soviet equivalent * Red Guards, historical Maoist Chinese equivalent

== References == {{reflist}}

=== Works cited === * {{cite book |last=Cooper |first=Tom |author-link1=Tom Cooper (author) |title=Syrian Conflagration. The Civil War 2011–2013 |date=2015 |publisher=Helion & Company Limited |location=Solihull |isbn=978-1-910294-10-9}}

== External links == * United Nations Human Rights Council: [http://www.ohchr.org/Documents/HRBodies/HRCouncil/RegularSession/Session21/A-HRC-21-50.doc Report of the] Independent International Commission of Inquiry on the Syrian Arab Republic (Word Document, 9.16 MB, 102 pages, advance edited version), 15 August 2012, containing numerous findings relating to shabiha activities {{Ba'athist Syria security forces}} {{Syrian civil war}}

Category:Pro-Assad factions of the Syrian civil war Category:Guerrilla organizations Category:Military units and formations established in the 1980s Category:Military units and formations disestablished in 2012 Category:Paramilitary organizations based in Syria Category:Axis of Resistance Category:War crimes in the Syrian civil war Category:Anti-Sunnism