10th Mechanized Division (Syria) explained

Unit Name:10th Mechanized Division
Native Name:الفرقة الميكانيكية العاشرة
Dates:1973 – present
Allegiance: Syrian Armed Forces
Branch: Syrian Arab Army
Type:Mechanized Infantry
Specialization:Conventional warfare
Size:up to 10,000 soldiers (2019)
Garrison:Qatana
Commander1 Label:Current Commander
Commander1:Maj. Gen. Hossem Salah[1]
Commander2 Label:Deputy Commander
Battles:
Notable Commanders:Maj. Gen. Mohammed Dib Zaitoun
Maj. Gen. Hassan Saado
Maj. Gen. Muhammad Ibrahim Issa[6]

The 10th Mechanized Division (Arabic: الفرقة الآلية العاشر) is a division of the Syrian Arab Army and part of the 2nd Corps. This is one of the smallest divisions in the SAA and its origins date back to 1973.[7]

Command structure

10th Mechanized Division (2022)[8]

Combat history

1982 Lebanon War

In the 1982 Lebanon War, the 10th Armoured Division was deployed south of the Beirut-Damascus road, and inside Beirut, and consisted of the 76th and 91st Tank Brigades – equipped with T-62s and BMP-1s – and the 85th Mechanized Brigade, equipped with T-55s and BTR-60s.[10] The division was also assigned control of the 20th Commando Battalion as well.

In the same year, the division was returned to Syria, and participated in the suppression of the Muslim Brotherhood Rebellion. The division was also reported to have taken place in the 1982 Hama massacre. After that, the division was returned to Lebanon, and remained there until the withdrawal of the Syrian army from the country in 2005.

In 2001 Richard Bennett's estimate of the Army order of battle reported that the 10th Mechanized Division was headquartered in Shtoura, Lebanon, part of the 2nd Corps.[11] Its main units were in 2001 deployed to control the strategic Beirut-Damascus highway with the 123rd Mechanized Brigade near Yanta, the 51st Armored Brigade near Zahlé in the Beqaa Valley and the 85th Armored Brigade, deployed around the complex of positions at Dahr al-Baidar.

Syrian Civil War

In Syria, the division was reported to have become involved in the two battles in al-Qusayr starting on 19 May 2013, as part of the larger al-Qusayr offensive, launched in early April 2013 by the Syrian Army and the Lebanese militia Hezbollah,[12] with the aim of capturing the villages around the rebel-held town of al-Qusayr and ultimately launching an attack on the town itself.[13] al-Qusayr is in Homs Governorate, near the border with Lebanon. The region was strategically important as a supply route for rebels fighting Syrian government forces in Homs,[14] and for its proximity to government-supporting areas along the coast. In course of the Ithriyah-Raqqa offensive in 2016, the division's chief-of-staff, Major General Hassan Saado, was killed. Since 2019, elements of the division are being trained by Russian officers in Safita, Tartous.

The 58th Brigade has not existed in any meaningful way since at least late 2016 and the 85th Brigade was moved to the newly formed 6th Division in 2015. The 51st Armored Brigade was formed after 2011 as a new armored unit under the command of the 10th Division. The 18th Brigade had moved to the Republican Guard by late 2018.[15] In 2021, the 18th Brigade, formerly part of the 30th Division, was brought back to the late unit.[16]

References

  1. Web site: M.G. Hossem Salah from head of 106th SRG Brig to 10th Div. 30 April 2023. 1 March 2024. Twitter. Gregory Waters.
  2. Web site: High-ranking Syria army officer killed fighting ISIS. Now. 23 June 2016. 23 June 2016. 19 October 2017. https://web.archive.org/web/20171019130014/https://now.mmedia.me/lb/en/NewsReports/567128-high-ranking-syria-army-officer-killed-fighting-isis. dead.
  3. Web site: The Fifth Legion: A New Auxiliary Force. Aymenn Jawad Al-Tamimi. Syria Comment. 24 December 2016. 25 December 2016.
  4. Web site: Syrian Army’s order of battle for Harasta operation in east Damascus revealed. AMN News . Andrew . Illingworth . 2018-01-08 . https://web.archive.org/web/20210301160532/https://www.almasdarnews.com/article/syrian-armys-order-battle-harasta-operation-east-damascus-revealed/ . 1 March 2021 . dead .
  5. Web site: Understanding Syria's Military Deployments in Idlib. 12 March 2019. 22 March 2023. Gregory Waters. International Review.
  6. https://twitter.com/AymanDas1/status/1336387421227847680?t=Ay3LuulE9wTLvlGdh86NTQ&s=19 Brigadier General Muhammad Ibrahim Issa has appointed as deputy commander of 10th Division
  7. Web site: The Lion and The Eagle: The Syrian Arab Army’s Destruction and Rebirth. Middle East Institute. Gregory Waters. 18 July 2019. 20 September 2022.
  8. Web site: Video: New Syrian Army armored division heads towards east Damascus with over 100 tanks, armored fighting vehicles. Andrew Illingworth. Al-Masdar News. 24 February 2018. 25 February 2018. 13 May 2019. https://web.archive.org/web/20190513115010/https://www.almasdarnews.com/article/video-new-syrian-army-armored-division-heads-towards-east-damascus-100-tanks-armored-fighting-vehicles/. dead.
  9. Web site: 122nd Artillery regiment belongs to the 10th Division. Gregory Waters. Twitter. 27 July 2019. 12 February 2024.
  10. Tom Cooper, Syrian Tank-Hunters in Lebanon, 1982, Air Combat Information Group
  11. Richard M. Bennett, The Syrian Military: A Primer, Middle East Intelligence Bulletin, August/September 2001.
  12. News: Syrian opposition calls on Hezbollah to stay out of Syria's civil war . . 22 August 2017 . 5 December 2019 . https://web.archive.org/web/20191205060928/https://www.washingtonpost.com/world/middle_east/jordan-arrests-8-syrian-refugees-suspected-of-inciting-camp-riots-in-troubled-camp/2013/04/21/7a06a3c0-aa5a-11e2-9e1c-bb0fb0c2edd9_story.html . dead .
  13. Web site: Activists: Syrian regime provides Hezbollah aerial shield in Qusayr. 21 April 2013 . 25 October 2014.
  14. News: Syria fighting flares both sides of Lebanese border. Reuters. 25 October 2014. 21 April 2013.
  15. Web site: The Lion and The Eagle: The Syrian Arab Army’s Destruction and Rebirth. Middle East Institute. Gregory Waters. 18 July 2019. 20 September 2022.
  16. https://www.zamanalwsl.net/news/article/137433/ الحرس الجمهوري".. تشكيلات جديدة لتعزيز حماية الأسد منها "اقتحام نسائى" (صور وأسماء)