Liwa Al-Imam Al-Mahdi was a sub group of Hezbollah's Syria branch which was active until 2024. This group had at least 2 sub-groups namely the Imam Ali Battalion and the Special Operations Al-Hadi Battalion. The Al-Hadi Battalion claimed to have 2 squadrons with each respectively being led by its own commanders. The first led by “al-Saffah” and the second led by “Abu Ali Karar”.[13]
During the 2024 Homs offensive of the Syrian opposition offensives, Hezbollah had sent 2,000 fighters to Homs. Most were Quwat Al-Ridha fighters which were stationed in Al-Qusayr and the countryside of Damascus. The rest belonged to the Soldiers of Imam Al-Mahdi brigade and had withdrawn from Aleppo its nearby mostly Shia towns of Nubl and Al-Zahraa.[12] Remnants of the Imam Hujja Regiment were also stated to be present at the battle.[21]
As per the states of a pro-Iran Iraqi militia leader, during the Battle of Homs (2024), before the rebels had reached, Syrian soldiers in the rear lines had suddenly begun to shoot at the Hezbollah fighters in front of them, killing eight and wounding dozens. The IRGCBrigadier-General Javad Ghaffari, who was sent to Syria to be put in-charge of its last defences to stop the rebel offensive, ordered all forces affiliated with him to immediately withdraw from Homs and all of Syria.[12]
Hezbollah fighters withdrew to Al-Qusayr, while the fighters of the local Syrian factions withdrew South of Damascus to Sayyida Zainab.[12] Some of them later fled across the Lebanese border to Beirut.[11][12]
↑Schenker, David (7 October 2015). "Putin and the Shiite 'Axis of Resistance'". The Hill. Archived from the original on 31 October 2023. Retrieved 25 May 2016. Assad, backed by Hezbollah and Iran, began his campaign to eradicate Sunni regime opponents...this new axis — which targets Syrian Sunnis instead of Israel — is deeply polarizing.
