Active 2012 – present Strength 10,000+ | Ideology Shia Islamism Area of operations Aleppo Governorate | |
 | ||
Leaders Abu Ajeeb (Secretary General)
Abu Hajar (Brigade Commander) (WIA) Allies Hezbollah, Kata'ib Hezbollah, Syrian Armed Forces Battles and wars Iraqi insurgency, Syrian civil war Opponents Free Syrian Army, Islamic Front, Al-Nusra Front, Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant Similar Free Syrian Army, Syrian Armed Forces, Peace Companies, Iraqi Armed Forces, Popular Mobilization Forces | ||
The Brigade of Abu al-Fadl al-Abbas(Arabic:لواء أبو الفضل العباس, Liwa Abu al-Fadl al-Abbas), also known as the al-Abbas brigade (Arabic:كتائب العباس, Kata'ib al-Abbas), is a pro-government Twelver Shia Muslim militant group operating throughout Syria. It is named after the nickname of Al-Abbas ibn Ali, son of Imam Ali.
The group was formed in late 2012 to defend the Sayyidah Zaynab Mosque and other Shia holy sites in Syria. It rose in prominence in reaction to the desecration of various shrines, heritage sites, and places of worship by rebels during the Syrian civil war and subsequently collaborated with the Syrian Army. Its fighters include native Shia Damascenes, Damascus-based Iraqi Shia refugees, Iraqi Shia volunteers, and other foreign Shia volunteers. Iraqis form its primary constituent. It fights primarily around Damascus, but has fought in Aleppo as well.
In May and June 2013, Reuters reported a split had developed within the brigade over finances and leadership which erupted into a gunbattle. Many non-Syrian members subsequently formed a different brigade.
On 19 May 2014, fighters from the Nour al-Din al-Zanki Brigade claimed to have taken over the al-Abbas Brigade's regional headquarters in Aleppo.
As ISIS made significant gains in Iraq in mid 2014, its Iraqi members were forced to return home to defend the faltering Shi'ite led government in Baghdad.