Syrian Army

The Syrian Army is the <a href="/facts/Army/wAoIlRyN">land force</a> branch of the <a href="/facts/Syrian_Armed_Forces/a5lKFDt4">Syrian Armed Forces</a>. Up until the <a href="/facts/Fall_of_the_Assad_regime/f9ov5ycf">fall of the Assad regime</a>, the Syrian Arab Army existed as a land force branch of the <a href="/facts/Syrian_Arab_Armed_Forces/a5lKFDt4">Syrian Arab Armed Forces</a>, which dominanted the military service of the four uniformed services, controlling the most senior posts in the armed forces, and had the greatest manpower, approximately 80 percent of the combined services.. The Syrian Army originated in <a href="/facts/Army_of_the_Levant/MpFHEX1b">local military forces</a> formed by the French after <a href="/facts/World_War_I/vITTUanQ">World War I</a>, after France obtained a <a href="/facts/French_Mandate_for_Syria_and_the_Lebanon/cgLelKNn">mandate</a> over the region. It officially came into being in 1945, before Syria obtained full independence the following year and 2 years after official independance.
After 1946, it played a major role in Syria's governance, mounting six military coups: two in 1949, including the <a href="/facts/March_1949_Syrian_coup_d%2527%25C3%25A9tat/0cGRWGHE">March 1949 Syrian coup d'état</a> and the August 1949 coup by Colonel <a href="/facts/Sami_al-Hinnawi/yNjJGa7I">Sami al-Hinnawi</a>, and one each in 1951, <a href="/facts/1954_Syrian_coup_d%2527%25C3%25A9tat/R7WLU6kF">1954</a>, <a href="/facts/1963_Syrian_coup_d%2527%25C3%25A9tat/6EGNesnX">1963</a>, <a href="/facts/1966_Syrian_coup_d%2527%25C3%25A9tat/MovLcVxk">1966</a>, and <a href="/facts/Corrective_Movement_(Syria)/7cgGKKYE">1970</a>. It fought four wars with <a href="/facts/Israel/dEe3IcaY">Israel</a> (<a href="/facts/1948_Arab%25E2%2580%2593Israeli_War/X3GSudUm">1948</a>, the <a href="/facts/Six-Day_War/xM8d0Wy1">Six-Day War</a> in 1967, the <a href="/facts/Yom_Kippur_War/tTNe7UlK">Yom Kippur War</a> of 1973, and <a href="/facts/1982_Lebanon_War/72BQ3nuC">1982 Lebanon War</a>) and one with Jordan ("<a href="/facts/Black_September/ga7jYcgt">Black September</a>" in <a href="/facts/Jordan/JC5sS1oJ">Jordan</a>, 1970). An armored division was also deployed to Saudi Arabia in 1990–91 during the <a href="/facts/Gulf_War/6LdLnGdo">Gulf War</a>, but saw little action. From 1976 to 2005 it was the major pillar of the <a href="/facts/Syrian_occupation_of_Lebanon/L0RGw1de">Syrian occupation of Lebanon</a>. Internally, it played a major part in suppressing the 1979–82 <a href="/facts/Islamist_uprising_in_Syria/UWEGDJD2">Islamist uprising in Syria</a>, and from 2011 to 2024 was heavily engaged in fighting the <a href="/facts/Syrian_Civil_War/UD2gymjC">Syrian Civil War</a>, the most violent and prolonged war the Syrian Army had taken part in since its establishment in the 1940s.
The Syrian Army Command told soldiers and officers they were no longer in service as of 8 December 2024, with the <a href="/facts/Fall_of_the_Assad_regime/f9ov5ycf">fall of the Assad regime</a>. A new Syrian Army led by <a href="/facts/Hay%2527at_Tahrir_al-Sham/Hvpju8FC">Hay'at Tahrir al-Sham</a> is in the process of reconstruction.

Syrian Army open-in-new

Syrian Army