17th Division (Syria)

17th Reserve Division الفرقة الاحتياطية 17 Syrian-17thDIV-trf.svg 200 Divisional tactical color marking 1970 – 2024 Ba'athist Syria Flag of the Syrian Arab Armed Forces (1980–2024).svg 23px Syrian Arab Armed Forces 3rd Corps Flag of the Syrian Arab Army.svg Syrian Army Mechanized Infantry ~ 8,500 soldiers (2018) Deir ez-ZorAyn Issa (93rd Brigade)Qamishli (54th Regiment)Hasakah (123rd Regiment) Commander Maj. Gen. Jihad Yusufhttps://twitter.com/GregoryPWaters/status/1773871052126376438?t=HFE0AkVgOfONbbg8fZaa6A&s=19 Eastern Syria reshuffle: Jihad Yusuf to command 17th Div & Eastern Region Sec Committee (fmr dep co of Republican Guard). Muhammad Issa to command Hasakah Security Committee (fmr 10th Div commander). Nabil Issa to command 5th Corps' Dez-based 7th Brigade (fmr SRG officer) Gregory Waters 31 March 2024 30 March 2024 Twitter Syrian Civil War Deir ez-Zor clashes Battle of Raqqa Battle of Aleppo Battle of Idlib 2013 Hama offensive Battle of Mork Idlib Governorate clashes (2014) 2014 Eastern Syria offensive Euphrates Crossing offensive (2017)https://www.almasdarnews.com/article/breaking-syrian-army-expands-control-eastern-bank-euphrates-river/ Breaking: Syrian Army expands control over eastern bank of Euphrates River 21 September 2017 Al-Masdar News 24 September 2017 25 February 2019 https://web.archive.org/web/20190225161950/https://www.almasdarnews.com/article/breaking-syrian-army-expands-control-eastern-bank-euphrates-river/ dead Deir ez-Zor offensive (September–November 2017) Syrian Desert campaign (December 2017–present) Maj. Gen. Nidal Saleh Dalilahttps://twitter.com/GregoryPWaters/status/1608185793658630144?t=K7s8iWcdtjTHul2l-U3ppg&s=19 Maj. Gen. Nidal Dalila has been appointed commander of DeZ Sec & Mil Committee & 17th Div. Was military commander of Hasakah governorate Waters Gregory 19 January 2024 Twitter 28 December 2022Maj. Gen. Nizar KhaddourWaters Gregory assignment of Maj Gen Nizar Khaddour https://twitter.com/GregoryPWaters/status/1336387807976230913 9 December 2020 Twitter 8 December 2020Maj. Gen. Hassan MuhammadWaters Gregory Maj Gen Hassan Muhammad has reportedly retired. Born in Ain Shaqaq, he served in the SAA for 42 years. https://twitter.com/GregoryPWaters/status/1342928664703414277?t=uJwr-5eVrX-A9AEQggRsAw&s=19 31 December 2020 Twitter 26 December 2020 Maj. Gen. Mohammad KhaddourThe Regime’s Latest Military Appointments https://syrianobserver.com/security/the-regimes-latest-military-appointments.html The Syrian Observer 23 June 2025 17th Reserve Division February 2013 July 2017 137th Mechanized Brigade 93rd Armoured Brigade + 121st Artillery Regiment (Milbia) + 154th Special Forces Regiment (Qamishlo) The 17th Reserve Division (ar الفرقة الاحتياطية 17) was a formation of the Syrian Army responsible for north-eastern Syria. It was one of two autonomous reserve divisions of the Syrian Arab Army, the other being the 18th Armoured Division. The 17th Division was part of the 3rd Corps. Command structure As of 2019, the Division was an autonomous unit of the Syrian Army. It was one of the Syrian Army's two specialized divisions, which unlike the Army's conventional divisions included both brigades and maneuver regiments.Joseph Halliday, The Syrian Army: Doctrinal Order of Battle https://web.archive.org/web/20131101161447/http://www.understandingwar.org/sites/default/files/SyrianArmy-DocOOB.pdf 2013-11-01 , Institute for the Study of War, February 2013, p.6 The 17th Division was part of the 3rd Corps structure,Joseph Halliday, The Syrian Army: Doctrinal Order of Battle https://web.archive.org/web/20131101161447/http://www.understandingwar.org/sites/default/files/SyrianArmy-DocOOB.pdf 2013-11-01 , Institute for the Study of War, February 2013, p.10https://www.mei.edu/publications/lion-and-eagle-syrian-arab-armys-destruction-and-rebirth#pt9 The Lion and The Eagle: The Syrian Arab Army’s Destruction and Rebirth Middle East Institute Gregory Waters 18 July 2019 20 September 2022 and was composed of 137th Mechanized Brigade, the 93rd Armored Brigade, the 121st and 123rd Artillery Regiments.https://www.mei.edu/publications/return-northeast-syrian-army-deployments-against-turkish-forces Return to the northeast: Syrian Army deployments against Turkish forces Gregory Waters 18 October 2023 20 November 2019 Middle East InstituteJoseph Halliday, The Syrian Army: Doctrinal Order of Battle https://web.archive.org/web/20131101161447/http://www.understandingwar.org/sites/default/files/SyrianArmy-DocOOB.pdf 2013-11-01 , Institute for the Study of War, February 2013, p.12 Later reports stated that two battalions from the 54th Special Forces Regiment served within the 17th Division. Order of Battle 17th Reserve Division (2021) 137th Mechanized Brigade 93rd Armored Brigade 54th Special Forces Regiment 121st Artillery Regiment 123rd Artillery Regiment Combat history Role in the civil war Syrian civil war The 17th Reserve Division was active in Deir ez-Zor province throughout 2012. The division's 93rd Brigade left Idlib to secure Raqqa Governorate in early 2012.Joseph Halliday, The Assad Regime: From Counterinsurgency to Civil War https://web.archive.org/web/20191104025918/http://www.understandingwar.org/sites/default/files/TheAssadRegime-web.pdf 2019-11-04 , Institute for the Study of War, March 2013, p.33, citing '“Clashes between Syrian troops and army defectors kill at least 13,” Washington Post, October 13, 2011; Syrian Revolution Coordinator’s Union Facebook Page <facebook.com/monasiqoon>, November 13, 2012. In November 2012 the Free Syrian Army claimed that elements of the 17th Division were in Rastan, thereby raising the possibility that elements of the Division withdrew from the east as the Syrian Government lost positions there.Joseph Halliday, The Assad Regime: From Counterinsurgency to Civil War https://web.archive.org/web/20191104025918/http://www.understandingwar.org/sites/default/files/TheAssadRegime-web.pdf 2019-11-04 , Institute for the Study of War, March 2013, p.33 Following the reported capture of Raqqa on 3–6 March 2013, elements of the 17th Division remained under siege to the north of the city in March 2013.Alice Martins, Watching Rebels Fight Among Themselves for the City of Raqqa, VICE news, 23 September 2013. Following the fall of the Menagh airbase, the remaining troops of the defeated 17th Division sought refuge with Kurdish forces in Afrin. The Kurds, however, turned over the senior officers to al-Nusra in exchange for Kurdish prisoners held by al-Nusra and the al-Nusra militants promptly killed the handed over officers, including Colonel Naji Abu Shaar.Robert Fisk, Syria civil war: State-of-the-art technology gives President Assad’s army the edge The Independent 26 February 2016 In July 2014, ISIS captured the division's and 93rd's Brigade headquarters in the 2014 Eastern Syria offensive. In February 2016, the 137th Brigade was reported to be controlling airdropped UN aid supplies in Deir ez-Zor city which was under siege by ISIS forces.No One Knows What Just Happened to the UN's First-Ever Humanitarian Airdrop in Syria https://www.vice.com/en/article/no-one-knows-what-just-happened-to-the-uns-first-ever-humanitarian-airdrop-in-syria/ 2021-01-03 Vice.com en On 15 October 2016, the 137th Brigade attacked the southern outskirts of their former HQ that was occupied by ISIS in Deir ez-Zor.https://www.almasdarnews.com/article/syrian-army-strikes-back-isis-southwest-deir-ezzor/ Syrian Army strikes back against ISIS in southwest Deir Ezzor Al-Masdar News 15 October 2016 16 October 2016 2 September 2018 https://web.archive.org/web/20180902085814/https://www.almasdarnews.com/article/syrian-army-strikes-back-isis-southwest-deir-ezzor/ dead They killed several ISIS militants and destroyed three armored vehicles. In June 2017, the Syrian Democratic Forces and other allied forces, aided by US airstrikes, captured the main base/headquarters of the division, located in the outskirts of Raqqa from ISIS after clashes between the two forces occurred as part of the Battle of Raqqa.2017-06-08 SDF takes control of the 17th Division Base north of Raqqa https://anfenglish.com/news/sdf-takes-control-of-the-17th-division-base-north-of-raqqa-20378 2017-06-08 ANF News en As of 2022, Major General Nidal Dalila, who hailed from the Republican Guard, was the commander of the 17th Reserve Division and Deir ez-Zor Security & Military Committee. References Category:Infantry divisions of Syria Category:Raqqa Governorate Category:Military units and formations established in 1970 Category:Military reserve units and formations Category:Military units and formations disestablished in 2024