Assad Disbands Makhlouf Militias, Renames 'Tiger Forces'

 Syrian regime force (AFP)
Syrian regime force (AFP)
TT

Assad Disbands Makhlouf Militias, Renames 'Tiger Forces'

 Syrian regime force (AFP)
Syrian regime force (AFP)

Various sources confirmed on Thursday that the latest series of measures taken by head of the Syrian regime, Bashar Assad, against companies owned by his cousin, Rami Makhlouf, in Syria, involved Al-Bustan Association and its linked armed organizations.

This week, reports said that Assad took measures against Makhlouf’s shares in the state-owned Syrian Telecom Company (Syriatel), the country’s biggest mobile phone company. Makhlouf, Assad’s first cousin and the son of Mohammed Makhlouf, is considered a top businessman in Syria.

The Syrian Observatory for Human Rights quoted sources as saying that Assad decided to end and disband the military wing of “Al-Bustan” after Russia gave its orders to limit the expansion of continuous recruitment by the association in return for attractive financial salaries, particularly in the Syrian South.

The Observatory said the association would continue its work in the charitable side, maintaining its cadres and management under the supervision of the Syrian “Presidency” and the Social Affairs Ministry.

In late 2018, the SOHR said it found that Al-Bustan Association worked on recruiting youths and men with attractive financial salaries of up to $350 per month.

Meanwhile, members of the Syrian Social Nationalist Party were informed about the lessening of some of their privileges due to Makhlouf’s known support of the SSNP ideology.

Makhlouf founded several companies, including Cham Holding. He was later linked to financing pro-regime forces and their linked militias, mainly through Al-Bustan Association.

Separately, in Damascus the Tiger Forces have been renamed and placed under the command of the army’s central command.

The Tiger Forces have been renamed Division 25 Special Mission Forces and will remain under the command of Major General Suheil Al-Hassan.

The Tiger Forces surfaced in the Syrian war during the Hama, Aleppo and eastern Homs battles.



Israel Says it Killed a Hezbollah Member in Drone Strike in South Lebanon

A picture taken from the southern Lebanese region of Marjayoun, shows the destruction in Khiam on November 28, 2024, a day after a ceasefire between Israel and Hezbollah took effect. (AFP)
A picture taken from the southern Lebanese region of Marjayoun, shows the destruction in Khiam on November 28, 2024, a day after a ceasefire between Israel and Hezbollah took effect. (AFP)
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Israel Says it Killed a Hezbollah Member in Drone Strike in South Lebanon

A picture taken from the southern Lebanese region of Marjayoun, shows the destruction in Khiam on November 28, 2024, a day after a ceasefire between Israel and Hezbollah took effect. (AFP)
A picture taken from the southern Lebanese region of Marjayoun, shows the destruction in Khiam on November 28, 2024, a day after a ceasefire between Israel and Hezbollah took effect. (AFP)

An Israeli drone strike hit a car in south Lebanon on Saturday, killing one person who the Israeli military said was a member of Hezbollah.

State-run National News Agency did not give further details about the strike in the village of Bourj el-Mlouk.

The airstrike was the latest in a wave of such attacks since a US-brokered ceasefire went into effect in late November ending the 14-month Israel-Hezbollah war.

The Israeli military said the Hezbollah member who was killed was active in the border village of Kfar Kila.

The strike came a day after Lebanon’s military court sentenced two people to prison terms for giving digital information to Israel.

Four judicial officials told The Associated Press Saturday that one of those sentenced received a 15-year prison term while the other was sentenced to 10 years in jail. A third was set free for lack of evidence against him, the officials said on condition of anonymity because they were not authorized to share information with the media.

The officials said the two scanned the cellular telephones network in wide areas of Beirut and its southern suburbs that is home to Hezbollah’s headquarters using sophisticated equipment.

The officials said the two, who were detained last year, also supplied Israel with about 1,500 photographs from Beirut’s southern suburbs.