Foreign fighters in the Syrian civil war
Foreign fighters in the Syrian civil war have come to Syria and joined all four sides in the war. In addition to Sunni foreign fighters arriving to defend the Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant or join the Syrian rebels, Shia fighters from several countries have joined pro-government militias in Syria (assisted by private military contractors), and leftists have become foreign fighters in the Syrian Democratic Forces.[1]
Estimates of the total number of foreign Sunnis who have fought for the Syrian rebels over the course of the conflict range from 5,000 to over 10,000, while foreign Shia fighters numbered around 10,000 or less in 2013[2] rising to between 15,000 and 25,000 in 2017.[3] While more than 30,000 foreign fighters heeded the call to come to the Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant, not all of these were deployed in Syria, as the Islamic State also held a large part of Iraq for some years.[4]
Support for rebels and Islamic State[edit]
Sunni Jihadists[edit]
Throughout 2014, with the rise of the Islamic State, the Al-Nusra Front, and other groups, their numbers drastically increased and they partnered with and absorbed Syrian rebel groups, both jihadist and non-jihadist. By 2015, foreign jihadists outnumbered Syrian jihadists and other rebels in casualty rolls (16,212 anti-government foreign jihadists were killed in 2015 compared to 7,798 Syrian anti-government rebels killed that same year), a trend that carried over into 2016 (13,297 foreign jihadists and 8,170 Syrian rebels), and 2017 (7,494 foreign jihadists and 6,452 Syrian rebels). However, although the numbers of casualties remained high in this phase, arrivals slowed: according to the United States military, foreign fighters coming to Syria and Iraq in 2013-2015 averaged 2,000 fighters per month, but by 2016, this figure had dropped to less than 500 fighters per month and decreasing.[5] By 2018, the proportion of foreign fighters had seriously decreased (following heavy losses in the bloody battles of 2015-2017 and an increase in interventions by foreign military forces), and Syrian rebels were once again the majority of anti-government casualties (2,746 foreign jihadists killed compared to 5,852 Syrian rebels).[6][7][8][9]
Most of the foreign fighters in Syria are drawn to the jihadist ideology, although experts note that religion is not the only motivation:
Support for Syrian government[edit]
Shia jihadists[edit]
Thousands of Shia jihadist militants have travelled to Syria from Iraq, Lebanon, Iran, Pakistan, Afghanistan, and Bahrain, fighting under various Iranian-backed militant groups like Liwa Fatemiyoun, Liwa Zainebiyoun, Hezbollah, etc. These groups fight in support of the Assad government, which is dominated by minority Alawites.[20][21][22][23][24][25]
Far-right militants[edit]
Several far right extremist groups in the Balkans, such as Black Lily, Golden Dawn, are supportive of the Assad government in Syria. Serbian nationalist militants have travelled to Syria and joined pro-Assad militias.[26][27] Black Lily stated in 2013 that many of its members were fighting alongside the Syrian Arab Army.[28] Neo-nazi groups like Golden Dawn and Black Lily have also perpetrated several violent attacks against Syrian refugees in Greece.[29][30]
Mercenaries and private contractors[edit]
There are several private military companies operating in Syria, such as the Wagner Group and the Slavonic Corps.[31][32][33][34][35]
Passage[edit]
Most fighters travel to Turkey first before crossing the border, with somewhat lesser contingents coming from Lebanon and even fewer from Jordan and Iraq;[38] some use forged passports to avoid the attention of the authorities. The Islamist government of Turkey, which is occupying part of northern Syria and has been accused of collaboration with ISIL, has been repeatedly criticised for facilitating the transit of jihadists.[39][40] In 2013, around 30,000 militants entered Syria via Turkey.[41][42]
Fighters arriving in Syria to support the government enter at the government-controlled crossings on the Lebanese, Jordanian, and (after the Syrian Desert campaign) Iraqi borders, or take a flight to any of the international airports (only government-controlled airports have been authorised for international flights by the International Civil Aviation Organization).
SDF foreign fighters usually cross into the AANES from Iraqi Kurdistan, over the relatively porous Iraq-Syria border.[43]
Casualties[edit]
According to the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights, at least 65,726 anti-government foreign fighters (almost entirely jihadists) were killed in Syria up to May 2020, constituting nearly half of the 138,202 anti-government fighters killed by that point. Additionally, 10,045 foreign fighters on the side of the Syrian government were killed by then (1,700 Lebanese Hezbollah and 8,345 others, including 2,000+ militiamen of Liwa Fatemiyoun and 264 Russian soldiers and mercenaries), about 7% of the total casualties for the government side.[44] 76 foreigners have died fighting for the Syrian Democratic Forces, less than 1% of the total SDF dead (although many Kurds from non-Syrian parts of Kurdistan have also died, they aren't counted as foreigners by the SDF).[44]
Blowback[edit]
Amidst concern of blowback, the first reported case of a former fighter in the conflict to attack those outside Syria occurred in May 2014 at the Jewish Museum of Belgium shooting.[87] Though unconfirmed, ISIS reportedly claimed responsibility for the 2014 shootings at Parliament Hill, Ottawa.[88]