2nd Infantry Brigade (Lebanon)

2nd Infantry Brigade (Lebanon)
The 2nd Infantry Brigade (Lebanon) is a Lebanese Army unit that fought in the Lebanese Civil War, being active since its creation in January 1983 until its self-disbandment in 1987, being subsequently re-formed in June 1991.
Origins
In the aftermath of the June–September 1982 Israeli invasion of Lebanon, President Amin Gemayel, convinced that a strong and unified national defense force was a prerequisite to rebuilding the nation, announced plans to raise a 60,000-man army organized into twelve brigades (created from existing infantry regiments), trained and equipped by France and the United States. In late 1982, the 2nd Infantry Regiment was therefore re-organized and expanded to a brigade group numbering 2,000 men, most of whom were Sunni Muslims from the Akkar District of northern Lebanon, which became on January 18, 1983, at Scout City – Batroun, the 2nd Infantry Brigade.
Emblem
The Brigade's emblem consists of a gilded shining sun motif on the upper half and a red colour setting on the lower half. The sun motif symbolizes light irradiating hope and sovereignty, whilst the red setting symbolizes blood and sacrifice; at the centre of the sun is set a green map of Lebanon with a national Lebanese flag on top, both forming the Arabic number (2). Superimposed below in the red blood setting is a white V-shaped chevron pointed down bearing "Second Brigade" written in black Arabic script, being flanked on each side by a pair of crossed rifle-and-sword motifs symbolizing the Brigade's readiness to sacrifice itself for Lebanon.
Structure and organization
The new unit grew from an understrength battalion comprising three rifle companies to a fully equipped mechanized infantry brigade, capable of aligning a Headquarters' (HQ) battalion, an armoured battalion (24th) equipped with Panhard AML-90 armoured cars, AMX-13 light tanks (replaced in the late 1980s by T-54A tanks donated by Syria) and M48A5 main battle tanks (MBTs), three mechanized infantry battalions (21st, 22nd and 23rd) issued with M113 armored personnel carriers (APC), plus an artillery battalion (25th) fielding US M114 155 mm howitzers. The Brigade also fielded a logistics battalion, equipped with US M151A2 jeeps, Land-Rover long wheelbase series III, Chevrolet C20 and Dodge Ram (1st generation) pickups, and US M35A2 2½-ton (6x6) military trucks. Initially headquartered at the Nohra Shalouhi Barracks near Batroun in 1983, the Brigade's HQ was later moved to the Bahjat Ghanem Barracks at Tripoli, and placed under the command of Colonel Issam Abu Jamra, replaced in 1984 by Col. Yehiya Raad, a Sunni Muslim.
Combat history
The Lebanese Civil War
Security operations in Tripoli 1984–1987
Commanded by Colonel Issam Abu Jamra, the Second Brigade during the Mountain War was deployed at the northern port city of Tripoli as part of the Lebanese Armed Forces (LAF) Northern Command. As such, the Brigade took no part in the September 1983 battles for the Chouf District nor the February 1984 battle for the control of the western districts of Beirut. Instead, the LAF Northern Command tasked the Second Brigade of internal security operations in Tripoli, where tensions remained high between local Islamist and secular Left-wing militias following the departure of Palestine Liberation Organization (PLO) guerrilla factions in December 1983. On August 1984, violent clashes erupted between the main Sunni Islamic Unification Movement or IUM (a.k.a. Tawheed) and the Shia Alawite Arab Democratic Party or ADP, with the former been supported by the Mosques Committee and the Islamic Committee. The Tawheed's position was strengthened when they gained control of the port area on August 22, after a fierce battle on the streets of Tripoli that left more than 400 dead. Street fighting dragged for some days until September 18, when it was brought to an end by a Syrian-mediated peace agreement between the IUM and the ADP.
In mid-December 1984, the LAF Command issued an operational order which called for the deployment of the Lebanese Army to Tripoli as part of a security plan devised for the port city and the north. On December 20, Second Brigade units under the command of Col. Yehiya Raad were deployed throughout the city's districts from the Military Beach Club (French: Bain Militaire) to Bohsas in the South. Military posts were established at the Tripoli port and adjacent refinery, Maloula, the Abu Ali roundabout, the Mitein road crossing, the municipal stadium, Marana, Al-Hareicha, Baal Mohsen, Kobbeh, Abu Samra, and Bohsas. A command post was set up in the Al-Loukmane School, close to the Military Beach Club. Second Brigade's battalions began to conduct military vehicle patrols on the streets and set up roadblocks and checkpoints in sensitive areas, in order to search civilian automobiles and passers-by. A military source stated on December 21 that the Lebanese Army's deployment in the Tripoli area was accomplished without much difficulty, with only a few minor incidents being reported. Commandeered backhoe loaders began to dismantle the barricades erected at the Bab al-Tabbaneh district (the main IUM/Tawheed stronghold) and the Jabal Mohsen district (the main ADP stronghold) under the protection of Lebanese Army soldiers and Internal Security Forces (ISF) gendarmes. Militiamen from all factions withdrew from the streets, with their heavy and medium weapons being collected and stored in depots placed under the custody of the Lebanese Army and the ISF. Within a few days of the Second Brigade's deployment in the capital of North Lebanon, the situation was almost completely calm. Life returned to a measure of normalcy and economic activities were resumed, allowing the city's residents to concentrate themselves in the repairing of public infrastructures damaged or destroyed during the fighting, such as buildings and roads.
Although the security measures implemented by the Second Brigade in and around Tripoli were a relative success, law and order did not prevail. In the fall of 1985 the Syrian Army entered the city and crushed the Tawheed militia, but intermittent clashes occurred again in the Tripoli area during the Spring and Summer of 1986, this time between the Tawheed and the pro-Syrian faction of the Syrian Social Nationalist Party (SSNP), until Syrian troops finally moved in to enforce a truce at the request of local community leaders. Violence flared up again on December 18, 1986, when the Tawheed commander Samir al-Hassan was arrested by the Syrians and his men responded by killing 15 Syrian soldiers at a checkpoint, which brought the wrath of the Syrians on the Tawheed. Aided by a coalition of ADP, SSNP, Lebanese Communist Party/Popular Guard, and Baath Party militias, the Syrians managed to defeat decisively the Tawheed in another round of brutal fighting on the streets of Tripoli, killing many of its fighters, arresting others and scattered the remainder.
During this conflict, the Second Brigade kept itself neutral and remained confined to their Tripoli barracks. Forced into inactivity, the Brigade self-disbanded in 1987 and its units had dispersed.
The Liberation War 1989–1990
Despite being disbanded, the Second Brigade remained listed in the Lebanese Army's order-of-battle and its "dispersed" battalions were involved in General Michel Aoun's Liberation War in 1989–1990, when they and their colleagues of the Seventh Brigade were the subject of false rumors claiming that some units of both brigades were preparing themselves to defect to Syrian-controlled territory and launch an assault on Government-held positions at Madfoun, Chebtin and Sghar.
The post-civil war years 1990–present
Upon the end of the war in October 1990, the LAF Command proceeded to reorganize and expand the Lebanese Army's battered mechanized infantry brigades structure, with the Second Brigade being officially re-established in Tripoli on June 1, 1991.
See also
Lebanese Armed Forces
Lebanese Civil War
Lebanese Forces
List of weapons of the Lebanese Civil War
Mountain War (Lebanon)
Progressive Socialist Party
People's Liberation Army (Lebanon)
Popular Guard
1st Infantry Brigade (Lebanon)
3rd Infantry Brigade (Lebanon)
4th Infantry Brigade (Lebanon)
5th Infantry Brigade (Lebanon)
6th Infantry Brigade (Lebanon)
7th Infantry Brigade (Lebanon)
8th Infantry Brigade (Lebanon)
9th Infantry Brigade (Lebanon)
10th Infantry Brigade (Lebanon)
11th Infantry Brigade (Lebanon)
12th Infantry Brigade (Lebanon)
Notes
References
Aram Nerguizian, Anthony H. Cordesman & Arleigh A. Burke, The Lebanese Armed Forces: Challenges and Opportunities in Post-Syria Lebanon, Burke Chair in Strategy, Center for Strategic & International Studies (CSIS), First Working Draft: February 10, 2009. –
Are J. Knudsen, Lebanese Armed Forces: A United Army for a Divided Country?, CMI INSIGHT, November 2014 No 9, Chr. Michelsen Institute (CMI), Bergen – Norway. –
Denise Ammoun, Histoire du Liban contemporain: Tome 2 1943–1990, Éditions Fayard, Paris 2005. (in French) – Histoire du Liban contemporain, tome 2: 1943–1990
Edgar O'Ballance, Civil War in Lebanon 1975–92, Palgrave Macmillan, London 1998.
Éric Micheletti and Yves Debay, Liban – dix jours aux cœur des combats, RAIDS magazine No. 41, October 1989, Histoire & Collections, Paris. (in French)
James Kinnear, Stephen Sewell & Andrey Aksenov, Soviet T-54 Main Battle Tank, General Military series, Osprey Publishing Ltd, Oxford 2018.
Joseph Hokayem, L'armée libanaise pendant la guerre: un instrument du pouvoir du président de la République (1975–1985), Lulu.com, Beyrouth 2012. , (in French) – L'armée libanaise pendant la guerre: un instrument du pouvoir du président de la République (1975–1985)
Ken Guest, Lebanon, in Flashpoint! At the Front Line of Today's Wars, Arms and Armour Press, London 1994, pp. 97–111.
Matthew S. Gordon, The Gemayels (World Leaders Past & Present), Chelsea House Publishers, 1988.
Oren Barak, The Lebanese Army: A National institution in a divided society, State University of New York Press, Albany 2009. – The Lebanese Army: A National Institution in a Divided Society
Rex Brynen, Sanctuary and Survival: the PLO in Lebanon, Boulder: Westview Press, Oxford 1990. – Sanctuary and Survival: The PLO in Lebanon
Robert Fisk, Pity the Nation: Lebanon at War, London: Oxford University Press, (3rd ed. 2001). – Pity the Nation: Lebanon at War
Samer Kassis, 30 Years of Military Vehicles in Lebanon, Beirut: Elite Group, 2003.
Samer Kassis, Véhicules Militaires au Liban/Military Vehicles in Lebanon 1975–1981, Trebia Publishing, Chyah 2012.
Samuel M. Katz, Lee E. Russel, and Ron Volstad, Armies in Lebanon 1982–84, Men-at-Arms series 165, Osprey Publishing Ltd, London 1985.
Samuel M. Katz and Ron Volstad, Arab Armies of the Middle East wars 2, Men-at-Arms series 194, Osprey Publishing Ltd, London 1988.
Steven J. Zaloga, Tank battles of the Mid-East Wars (2): The wars of 1973 to the present, Concord Publications, Hong Kong 2003. – Tank Battles of the Mid-East Wars : (2) The Wars of 1973 to the present
Simon Dunstan, Panhard Armoured Car: 1961 Onwards (AML 60, AML 90, Eland), Enthusiasts' Manual, Haynes Publishing UK, Somerset 2019.
Thomas Collelo (ed.), Lebanon: a country study, Library of Congress, Federal Research Division, Headquarters, Department of the Army (DA Pam 550-24), Washington D.C., December 1987 (Third edition 1989). –
External links
Histoire militaire de l'armée libanaise de 1975 à 1990 (in French)
Lebanese Armed Forces (LAF) Official Website
Lebanon Military Guide from GlobalSecurity.org
CIA – The World Factbook – Lebanon
Global Fire Power – Lebanon Military Strength
Lebanon army trying to rearm and modernize itself
Lebanese Military Wish List 2008/2009 – New York Times
Military units and formations of Lebanon
Military units and formations established in 1983
1983 establishments in Lebanon
Military units and formations disestablished in 1987
1991 establishments in Lebanon
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