![]() | This article includes a list of general references, but it lacks sufficient corresponding inline citations .(January 2019) |
6th Infantry Brigade | |
---|---|
Active | 1983 – present |
Country | Lebanon |
Allegiance | ![]() |
Branch | Lebanese Ground Forces |
Type | Mechanized infantry |
Role | Armoured warfare Combined arms Counter-battery fire Desert warfare Forward observer Maneuver warfare Raiding Reconnaissance Urban warfare |
Size | Brigade |
Engagements | Lebanese Civil War |
Commanders | |
Colonel | Michel Aoun |
Colonel | Lufti Jabar |
Major general | Abd al-Halim Kanj |
General | Fadi Daoud |
General | Johnny Akl |
The 6th Infantry Brigade is a Lebanese Army unit that fought in the Lebanese Civil War, being active since its creation in January 1983.
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. [1] In late 1982, the 6th Infantry Regiment was therefore re-organized and expanded to a brigade group numbering 1,600–2,000 men, mostly Shia Muslims, though this total originally also included a number of Maronite Christians, [2] which became on January 18, 1983, the 6th Defence Brigade (Arabic: لواء الدفاع السادس | Liwa' al-Difa'a al-Sa'adis), [3] later changed on February 6, 1983, to 6th Infantry Brigade. [4]
The Brigade's emblem is composed of a two-color background setting, blue on top and red below. A charging golden ram head with a fire tail prodding from the neck is set at the middle, symbolizing the will to attack and assail with determination and resolution; a golden Arabic numeral (6) inserted on a white ring is placed below. [5]
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 (64th) equipped with Alvis Saladin armoured cars, [6] [7] AMX-13 light tanks, M48A5 main battle tanks, [8] three mechanized infantry battalions (61st, 62nd and 63rd) issued with M113, [9] [10] Alvis Saracen and VAB [11] [12] [13] armored personnel carriers (APC), plus an artillery battalion (65th) fielding US M114 155 mm howitzers. The Brigade also fielded a logistics battalion, equipped with US M151A2 jeeps, [14] Land-Rover long wheelbase series III, Chevrolet C20 and Dodge Ram (1st generation) pickups and US M35A2 2½-ton military trucks. [15] [16] Later in the war, the brigade received from Syria a consignment of 30 or 50 Soviet T-55A main battle tanks [17] [18] [19] [20] [21] [22] (which replaced in the late 1980s the Brigade's own AMX-13 light tanks) and a number of Chinese Type 63 107mm multiple rocket launchers. [23]
Headquartered at the Henri Chihab Barracks at Jnah, in the south-western Chyah suburb of West Beirut, the formation was subsequently enlarged to 6,000 men by absorbing Shia deserters from other Army units – which included the 97th Battalion from the Seventh Brigade – after they went over to their coreligionists of the Amal Movement following the collapse of the government forces in February 1984. [24] [25] Thus by 1985 the reinforced Brigade, now under the operational control of the Amal militia, aligned a tank battalion, three to four mechanized infantry battalions on tracked and wheeled APCs, and an artillery battalion. [26]
Between 2 and 15 October 1982, while it was still being formed, the new 6th Defence Brigade under the command of Colonel Michel Aoun re-entered West Beirut alongside other Lebanese Army units and the Internal Security Forces (ISF), ostensibly to carry out the pacification of the Muslim-populated districts of the Capital city. Acting in collusion with the Christian Lebanese Forces militia, they arrested 1,441 Muslims (other sources indicate a higher number, some 2,000) who were either members or supporters of Leftist political groups and subsequently disappeared; none was heard of again. [27] [28] [29]
Commanded by the Shiite Colonel Lutfi Jabar, who was formerly attached to the Syrian-dominated Arab Deterrent Force, the Sixth Brigade's primary mission during the Mountain War had been to maintain order and security in West Beirut. [30] [31] After the Brigade split off from the Army command structure on February 6, 1984, it was taken over by a new officer, the Shi'ite Colonel (later, Major general) Abd al-Halim Kanj; [32] [33] those Christian officers and enlisted men who remained loyal to the Lebanese Government left the Brigade and were evacuated under Amal fighters' escort to East Beirut, where they enrolled in other Christian-controlled Army units. [2] On July 24, 1984, the Sixth Brigade intervened to curb fighting in West Beirut between the Sunni Al-Mourabitoun and Druze People's Liberation Army (PLA) militias. [34]
During the War of the Camps in May 1985, the Sixth Brigade supported the Amal militia against the pro-Arafat Palestinian camp militias in the battle for the control of the Sabra and Shatila and Bourj el-Barajneh refugee camps in West Beirut. [35] [36] However, it refused to participate in the February 1986 clashes between the Amal militia and the Lebanese Army, and as a result, the Fifth Brigade was expelled from West Beirut. [26] In 1987 the Sixth brigade deserted again to join their coreligionists. [26]
Upon the end of the war in October 1990, the Sixth Brigade was re-integrated into the structure of the Lebanese Armed Forces (LAF), with the 97th Battalion being returned to the Seventh Brigade.
{{cite book}}
: CS1 maint: location missing publisher (link)The Hundred Days War was a subconflict within the 1977–82 phase of the Lebanese Civil War which occurred in the Lebanese capital Beirut. It was fought between the allied Christian Lebanese Front militias, under the command of the Kataeb Party's President Bachir Gemayel, and the Syrian troops of the Arab Deterrent Force (ADF).
The Tigers militia, also known as NLP Tigers, Tigers of the Liberals or PNL "Lionceaux" in French, was the military wing of the National Liberal Party (NLP) during the Lebanese Civil War between 1975 and 1990.
The AMX-VCI is one of the many variants of the French AMX-13 light tank. It was the front line APC of the French Army until replaced by the AMX-10P. It is still used by some countries, for example Mexico, where it goes under the name of DNC-1 and is armed with a 20mm cannon.
The 4th Infantry Brigade (Lebanon) was a Lebanese Army unit that fought in the Lebanese Civil War, being active from its creation in January 1983 until its destruction in September that year, in the wake of the Mountain War.
The Zgharta Liberation Army – ZLA, also known as Zghartawi Liberation Army, was the paramilitary branch of the Lebanese Marada Movement during the Lebanese Civil War. The militia was formed in 1967 by the future President of Lebanon and za'im Suleiman Frangieh as the Marada Brigade seven years before the war began. The force was initially commanded by Suleiman Franjieh's son, Tony Frangieh. It operated mainly out of Tripoli and Zgharta, but it also fought in Beirut. The ZLA fought against various Palestinian and Lebanese Muslim militias as well as the Lebanese Forces in Bsharri and Ehden.
The 7th Infantry Brigade (Lebanon) is a Lebanese Army unit that fought in the Lebanese Civil War, being active since its creation in June 1983.
The 8th Infantry Brigade (Lebanon) is a Lebanese Army unit that fought in the Lebanese Civil War, being active since its creation in January 1983.
The Kataeb Regulatory Forces – KRF or Forces Régulatoires des Kataeb (FRK) in French, were the military wing of the right-wing Lebanese Christian Kataeb Party, otherwise known as the 'Phalange', from 1961 to 1977. The Kataeb militia, which fought in the early years of the Lebanese Civil War, was the predecessor of the Lebanese Forces.
The Army of Free Lebanon – AFL, also known variously as the Colonel Barakat's Army or Armée du Liban Libre (ALL) and Armée du Colonel Barakat in French, was a predominantly Christian splinter faction of the Lebanese Army that came to play a major role in the 1975–77 phase of the Lebanese Civil War.
The Mountain War, also known as the War of the Mountain, was a subconflict between the 1982–83 phase of the Lebanese Civil War and the 1984–89 phase of the Lebanese Civil War, which occurred at the mountainous Chouf District located south-east of the Lebanese Capital Beirut. It pitted the Lebanese Forces Militia (LF) and the official Lebanese Armed Forces (LAF) against a coalition of the Lebanese National Resistance Front (LNRF) led by the Progressive Socialist Party (PSP), allied with the Palestinian National Salvation Front (PNSF) and backed by Syria. Hostilities began when the LF and the LAF entered the predominantly Druze Chouf District to bring back the region under government control, only to be met with fierce resistance from local Druze militias and their allies. The PSP leader Walid Jumblatt's persistence to refuse join the central government and his instigation of a wider opposition faction led to disintegration of the already fragile LAF and the eventual collapse of the government under President Amine Gemayel.
The Lebanese Forces was one of the main Lebanese Christian factions of the Lebanese Civil War. Originally an umbrella organization for different parties, the Lebanese Forces later became a separate organization. The Lebanese Forces replaced the previous Kataeb Regulatory Forces as the military arm of the Christian Kataeb Party. It was mainly staffed by Maronite Christians loyal to Bachir Gemayel, and fought against the Lebanese National Movement, the Palestine Liberation Organization and the Syrian Army among other enemies. The group gained infamy for their perpetration of the 1982 Sabra and Shatila massacre, which primarily targeted Palestinian refugees following Gemayel's assassination.
The Lebanese Resistance Regiments (Arabic: أفواج المقاومة اللبنانية, romanized: ʾAfwāj al-Muqāwama al-Lubnāniyya, or أَمَل AMAL), also designated Lebanese Resistance Battalions, Lebanese Resistance Detachments, Lebanese Resistance Legions and Battalions de la Resistance Libanaise (BRL), but simply known by its Arabic acronym أَمَل ʾAmal which means "Hope", were the military wing of the Amal Movement, a political organization representing the Muslim Shia community of Lebanon. The movement's political wing was officially founded in February 1973 from a previous organization bearing the same name and its military wing was formed in January 1975. The Amal militia was a major player in the Lebanese Civil War from 1975 to 1991. The militia has now been disarmed, though the movement itself, now known as the Amal Movement (Arabic: Harakat Amal), is a notable Shia political party in Lebanon.
The Lebanese Arab Army – LAA (Arabic: جيش لبنان العربي transliteration Jayish Lubnan al-Arabi), also known variously as the Arab Army of Lebanon (AAL) and Arab Lebanese Army or Armée arabe du Liban (AAL) in French, was a predominantly Muslim splinter faction of the Lebanese Army that came to play a key role in the 1975–77 phase of the Lebanese Civil War.
The 5th Infantry Brigade (Lebanon) is a Lebanese Army unit that fought in the Lebanese Civil War, being active since its creation in January 1983.
The People's Liberation Army – PLA, also known as the Armée populaire de libération (APL) in French or Forces of the Martyr Kamal Jumblatt, was the military wing of the left-wing Druze Progressive Socialist Party (PSP), which fought in the Lebanese Civil War. The PSP and its militia were members of the Lebanese National Movement (LNM) from 1975 to 1982.
The 9th Infantry Brigade (Lebanon) is a Lebanese Army unit that fought in the Lebanese Civil War, being active since its creation in January 1984.
The 3rd Infantry Brigade (Lebanon) is a Lebanese Army unit that fought in the Lebanese Civil War, being active since its creation in January 1983 until its disbandment in December 1984, being subsequently re-formed in June 1991.
The 2nd Infantry Brigade (Lebanon) is a Lebanese Army unit that fought in the Lebanese Civil War, being active since its creation in January 1983 until its self-disbandment in 1987, being subsequently re-formed in June 1991.
The 10th Infantry Brigade (Lebanon) is a Lebanese Army unit that fought in the Lebanese Civil War, being active from its creation in January 1984.