# Liwa Zainebiyoun

The Followers of Zainab Brigade (Arabic: لِوَاء الزَّيْنَبِيُون, romanized: Liwā' az-Zaynabīyūn; Persian: لواء زينبیون or لشکر زينبیون, Liwa Zeinabiyoun or Lashkare Zeinabiyoun; Urdu: لواء زینبیون), also known as the Zainebiyoun Brigade or Zainebiyoun Division, is a Pakistani Shia Khomeinist militant group it was actively engaged in the Syrian Civil War against ISIL. It draws recruits mainly from Shia Pakistanis living in Iran, with some also Shia Muslim communities living in various regions of Pakistan.
It was formed and trained by the Iranian Revolutionary Guards and operates under their command. Initially tasked with defending the Sayyidah Zaynab Mosque, it has since entered frontlines across Syria. Its dead are buried primarily in Iran. A minimum of 158 of their fighters had died in Syria as of March 2019 (based on publicly announced funeral services), excluding those killed in Israeli airstrikes. According to 2019 estimates, the total number of Pakistani fighters in the brigade barely exceeded 800.

## Overview
### Background

The core of Liwa Zainebiyoun is constituted of former members and fighters of the Sipah-e-Muhammad Pakistan, the former Shia Islamist armed organisation in Pakistan which fought against the Anti-Shia sectarian leadership of the banned terrorist groups Sipah-e-Sahaba and Lashkar-e-Jhangvi, It had strong presence in Shia communities in Pakistan and it was headquartered in Thokar Niaz Beg the Shia majority town of Lahore, ran a "virtual state within a state" in the 1990s until its collapse in 2007 or 2010. Later around 2012 or 2013 its former members formed the Zainebiyoun Brigade as a Pakistani Shiite volunteer group after the formation of Liwa Fatemiyoun Brigade, the Afghan Shiite volunteer group under the orders of IRGC, According to news sources affiliated with the IRGC, the group was founded in Syria and Iraq during the rise of Anti-Shia sectarian attacks by Salafi Jihadist organisations al-Qaeda and ISIL in Arab spring unrest and it officially started the armed operations late in 2014 especially in Syrian civil war to support Syrian government forces against the ISIL for targeting holy sites of Shia muslims in Syria. Its fighters also were involved limitedly in War in Iraq (2013–2017) and Yemeni civil war under the support of IRGC as Brigade is the part of Iran's Axis of Resistance. The sources affiliated with the IRGC, Its official purpose is to defend the Sayyidah Zaynab Mosque (the shrine of Zaynab bint Ali, sister of Imam Hussain and granddaughter of the prophet Muhammad) and other Shia holy sites in Syria and Iraq and to protect IRGC interests in Iran–Saudi Arabia proxy conflict also in Iran–Israel proxy conflict. It had operated primarily in Damascus, Aleppo and other regions of Syria defending holy sites from ISIL until 2024 following the Fall of the Assad regime its fighters have moved to Iraq after Syria withdrawal of Iran and Russia.

### Recruitment and training

The Pakistani Shiite volunteers have been fighting in various conflicts since 2012 especially in Syrian civil war on pro-government side under the orders of IRGC against ISIL and its subgroups. In addition, large numbers of Pakistani Shia fighters have fought on the pro-government side, mainly in the Zeinabiyoun Brigade, which has up to 1,000 fighters in Syria. They originally fought in the Afghan Liwa Fatemiyoun, and only became numerous enough to warrant a distinct brigade in early 2015. Some of the fighters are Hazara and Baloch while others are Pashtun (mainly from Parachinar), Punjabi or Balti from Gilgit-Baltistan and Karachi including Kashmiris from the Kashmir. Like other Shiite foreign brigades in Syria, it is funded, trained, and overseen by the IRGC.

### Losses of volunteer fighters

In 2019, the U.S. State Department claimed that the over 158 Pakistani national fighters of Iranian-backed Zainebiyoun Brigade were killed in Syria between January 2012 and August 2018.
On 9 April 2015, seven fighters were killed defending the Imam Hasan Mosque in Damascus and were buried in Qom, Iran. In March 2016, six fighters were killed defending the Imam Reza shrine, also buried in Qom. On 23 April, five more fighters were killed. An estimated 69 fighters were killed between November 2014 and March 2016.
In February 2018, the brigade was involved in the Battle of Khasham along with Russian Wagner Group and Interbrigades against the US special forces and the US-backed Syrian Democratic Forces and lost many fighters.

## Presence outside Syria
### Iraq

The brigade fought in Iraq against ISIL during the War in Iraq (2013–17) with other foreign Shia fighters to defend and protect holy sites and Iraqi peoples from the ISIL.

### Yemen

In 2019, Some media sources claim that the brigade is allegedly involved in Yemeni Civil War along with other foreign Shia fighters to fought against the Saudi Arabian-led intervention in Yemen and to support Houthis.

### Pakistan

In Pakistan the Zainebiyoun brigade has actively involved in Parachinar's sectarian clashes along with local Shia militas based in Parachinar region for the Protection of Shia Muslim community and to fight against the Anti-Shia banned sectarian terrorist groups Sipah-e-Sahaba, Pakistani Taliban, Islamic State – Khorasan Province and Lashkar-e-Jhangvi for targeting Shia minority of Parachinar in sectarian attacks, however the Zainebiyoun brigade reportedly has strong presence and support base in Parachinar's Shia muslim community also have sent hundreds of fighters to Syria and Iraq from Parachinar region against ISIL under the support of IRGC.

## Reaction in Pakistan
### Reaction

In December 2015, a bomb killed 25 and injured over 30 in Parachinar, Khyber Pakhtunkhwa. Terrorist group Lashkar-e-Jhangvi claimed responsibility, and said that it was "revenge for the crimes against Syrian Muslims by Iran and Bashar al-Assad" and threatened to continue terror attacks if Parachinar citizens did not "stop sending people to take part in Syrian war".
The government of Pakistan officially denies the presence of Pakistani fighters in Syria, and has been reluctant to take back members of the brigade caught in Syria.
After the reports of presence of Pakistani fighters of Zainebiyoun brigade in Syria, The Pakistani Taliban claimed they have set up camps and sent hundreds of fighters to Syria to fight alongside Islamist jihadist groups opposed to Bashar al-Assad such as al-Nusra Front, Ahrar al-Sham and Ansar al-Tawhid in an effort to strengthen ties with al Qaeda against the government of Pakistan in the Khyber Pakhtunkhwa Insurgency.

## Disappearance and death of the brigade commander

The brigade's former commander Saqib Haider karbalai, Muhammad Jannati, also known by the Arabic-language nickname Haj Haider (Iranian nickname) in Syria he was a Pakistani religious Shia muslim from Parachinar had been a senior member and militant of Tehreek-e-Jafaria Pakistan, Sipah-e-Muhammad Pakistan the Shia Islamist religio-political organizations in Pakistan, he was well known for his Anti-America and Anti-Zionist views and speeches in his hometown, he had strong ties with Iran's Ayatollah regime and was a strong supporter of Wilayat al Faqih concept including Khomeinism ideology. The IRGC-affiliated source's claimed that the Haj Haider went Iran, Iraq and Syria multiple times for Ziyarah of Shia holy sites in 2000s where he meet many IRGC officers and had established close ties with them at the beginning of the Syrian civil war the IRGC appointed him and Afghan Shia militant Ali Reza Tavassoli as an Chief Commanders of Zainebiyoun and Fatemiyoun Brigade mainly appointed by Qasem Soleimani, the erstwhile Iranian commander of the Quds Force, as an commanders of Shia volunteer fighters from Afghanistan, Iraq, Pakistan, Lebanon, Bahrain, and Yemen with training and funding from Iran to defend the Shia holy shrines from ISIL and it's subgroups they served as the commander of brigade until their death.
In 2017, Saqib Haider Karbalai went missing while fighting alongside Syrian government forces during the Hama offensive (March–April 2017). The IRGC-affiliated Tasnim News Agency reported his death in 2019, claiming that the body of Haider was transferred to Tehran two years after he was killed in the Syrian city of Hama by ISIS terrorists. According to Tasnim News Agency, the identity of the commander of the Zainabiyoun Brigade was identified after a DNA test, and he was transferred to Tehran where he was to be buried. The news agency also reported that "his body has no head and no arms" and that he was killed in action in April 2017 in the Tal Turabi area in the Hama Governorate, during the offensive.

## Relationship with Liwa Fatemiyoun & Hezbollah Afghanistan

According to researcher Phillip Smyth, Liwa Fatemiyoun, Liwa Zainebiyoun and Hezbollah Afghanistan were originally different groups, but showed such great overlap in ideology and membership by 2014 that they had become "incorporated". In contrast, researcher Oved Lobel continued to regard Liwa Fatemiyoun and Hezbollah Afghanistan as separate organizations in 2018, though groups were part of Iran's "regional proxy network". Other sources such as Jihad Intel and Arab News have treated the militas as the same organization. Researcher Michael Robillard called Liwa Fatemiyoun a "branch of Hezbollah Afghanistan". Iran is also known to have established branches of Hezbollah in Afghanistan and Pakistan, with several pro-Iranian groups operating in both countries by the Soviet–Afghan War.$^{:175}$

## Designation as a terrorist organization and ban

Liwa Zainebiyoun is designated as a terrorist organization by the U.S. State Department in 2019, saying it is composed of Pakistani nationals and provides "materiel support" to Iran's Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC). In 2024, the Interior Ministry of Pakistan banned the Zainebiyoun Brigade, saying it "is engaged in certain activities which are prejudicial to the peace and security" of Pakistan. It did not elaborate, A ministry official confirmed the authenticity of the March 29 order and placement of the Zaynabiyoun Brigade on a government list of 79 proscribed organizations.