The Ba'ath Brigades, also known as the Ba'ath Battalions, were a volunteer militia made up of Syrian Ba'ath Party members, almost entirely of Sunni Muslims from Syria and many Arab countries, loyal to the Syrian Government of Bashar al-Assad. It was set up in Aleppo under the command of Hilal Hilal, the current Assistant Regional Secretary, after rebels took most of the eastern half of Aleppo in summer 2012. Initially, the Ba'ath Brigades were used to guard government buildings and other key installations in the city, but their role has expanded as their strength has grown from 5,000 members in November 2012 to 7,000 in December 2013. Units have since also formed in Latakia and Tartus. At the end of 2013, the Brigades began deploying in Damascus, tasked with manning checkpoints and conducting "light logistical operations". They spearheaded the assault on the Old City of Aleppo in early 2014. The Ba'ath Battalions participated in lifting the three-year siege at Kuweires military airbase alongside the eliteCheetah Forces, and National Defence Forces. The Baath Brigades were previously led by Ra’ed bin ‘Ali al-Ghadban - a high-ranking member of the Ba'ath Party's Deir ez-Zor branch. He resigned as the brigades' commander in 2017 to become a member of the central committee of the party, as well as a member of the Syrian government's delegation to the Sochi peace talks in the context of the Syrian peace process. On 27 February 2017, Col. Salama Mohammed, a high-ranking Ba'ath Brigades commander and leader of the group's Tartus Governorate branch, was reportedly killed in action while fighting in the area around Hama. Some claimed, however, that Mohammed had instead died of a heart attack. The Ba'ath Legion of the Syrian Army's 5th Corps was formed from Ba'ath Brigades volunteers. By mid 2018, the Syrian government began to disband the Ba'ath brigades, as well as other pro-government militias, integrating parts of them into the Syrian Army. Following the Idlib demilitarization agreementin September of 2018, the Ba'ath Brigades were dissolved. The group's then leader, Jihad Barakat, announced on his facebook page that “The military operations conducted by Baath forces have completely ended”.
