Combat history
The special forces unit was formed during the Syrian civil war.
According to Gregory Waters, the Tiger Forces were operated by the Air Force Intelligence Directorate.[2]p. 2[29] After successful operations in Latakia and Hama,[2]p. 2 Colonel Suheil al-Hassan was tasked a special project by the Syrian Armed Forces Central Command in the fall of 2013—to train and lead a Special Forces unit that would work primarily as an offensive unit. Colonel Hassan handpicked many of the soldiers that would later form the Tiger Forces.[30] Initially, the unit was formed by recruiting personnel from the 53rd Regiment (part of Special Forces Command) and the 14th Special Forces Division, on the other hand, heavy equipment was supplied by the 4th and 11th Divisions.[31]
On 25 December 2015, Suheil al-Hassan was promoted to major general after refusing to be brigadier general the year before.[32] He played a key role in commanding Syrian troops during the 2016 Aleppo campaign. The Tiger Forces were tasked with cutting the key rebel supply lines to Aleppo city.
In early spring 2015, following Syrian government's loss of the city of Idlib, the unit was reorganised.[2]p. 3 The Tiger Forces were one of few in the Syrian Army to first deploy Russian T-90 tanks,[33] others being the 4th Armoured Division and Desert Hawks Brigade.[34][35] A Russian-supplied Rys LMV was seen after defeating ISIL in the village of Ayn Al-Hanish in the Dayr Hafir Plains.[36]
The most famous and effective tactic of the Tiger Forces was probing the enemy from multiple axes to find a weak spot, then sending a large mechanized force to that area to capture many villages at once.[37] According to Gregory Waters, they ultimately reported to Major General Jamil Hassan, the director of the country's Air Force Intelligence Directorate.[28]
In September/October 2018, reports indicated that between 6,500 and 8,000 Tiger Forces members would be demobilized.[38][39] It was reported that the unit worked closely with Russian KSSO units, the latter acting as advisors.
