Active 1982 – present Allegiance Lebanon Role Infantry | Country Lebanon Branch Ground Forces | |
Type Light Mechanized Infantry | ||
The 6th Infantry Brigade (Lebanon) is a Lebanese Army unit that fought in the Lebanese Civil War, being active since its creation in September 1982.
Contents
Origins
In the aftermath of the June–September 1982 Israeli invasion of Lebanon, President Amin Gemayel, convinced that a strong and unified national defense force was a prerequisite to rebuilding the nation, announced plans to raise a 60,000-man army organized into twelve brigades (created from existing infantry regiments), trained and equipped by France and the United States. In late 1982, the 6th Infantry Regiment was therefore re-organized and expanded to a brigade group numbering 2,000 men, mostly Shia Muslims.
Structure and organization
The new unit grew from an understrength battalion comprising three rifle companies to a fully equipped mechanized infantry brigade, capable of aligning a Headquarters' (HQ) battalion, an armoured battalion equipped with Alvis Saladin and Panhard AML-90 armoured cars, AMX-13 light tanks, M48A5 main battle tanks, three mechanized infantry battalions issued with M113, Alvis Saracen and VAB) armored personnel carriers (APC), plus an artillery battalion fielding US M114 155 mm howitzers. The Brigade also fielded a logistics battalion, equipped with US M151 1/4-Ton jeeps, Chevrolet C20 and Dodge Ram (1st generation) pickups and US M35A2 2½-ton military trucks.
Headquartered at the Henri Shihab Barracks in the south-western suburbs of Beirut, under the operational control of the Amal militia, the formation was subsequently enlarged to 6,000 men by absorbing Shia deserters from other Army units after they went over to their co-religionists of the Amal Movement following the collapse of the government forces in February 1984. Thus by 1985 the reinforced Brigade aligned a tank battalion, three to four mechanized infantry battalions on tracked and wheeled APCs, and an artillery battalion.
Combat history
Initially commanded by the Christian Colonel Lufti Jabar, the Brigade's primary mission had been to maintain order in West Beirut. However, it refused to participate in the February 1986 clashes between the Shia Amal militia and the Lebanese Army, and as a result, the Fifth Brigade was expelled from West Beirut. After the Sixth Brigade split off from the Army command structure, it was taken over by a new officer, the Shi'ite Major-General Abd al-Halim Kanj. In 1987 the Sixth brigade deserted again to join their coreligionists.
Upon the end of the war in October 1990, the Sixth Brigade was re-integrated into the structure of the Lebanese Armed Forces (LAF).