Proxy wars: Iran recruiting Pakistanis for Syria combat

Recruitment of Shia youth adds another international dimension to conflict

BEIRUT: For years, websites linked to Iran’s Revolutionary Guard have posted articles eulogising Shia fighters killed in Syria. But two men killed last month while defending a shrine near Damascus were different from most martyrs: they were Pakistanis.

The men were part of the Zainabiyoun, a unit of Pakistani fighters named for a granddaughter of Prophet Mohammad (PBUH) buried in the shrine.

The increase in the number of "martyrdom" notices of fighters from the group this year indicates they are taking a more active role in the conflict. A posting in mid-November on a Twitter account bearing the group's name displayed the pictures of 53 men, described as fighters killed in battle. While there has been no official announcement of their total numbers, a regional source familiar with the issue said hundreds of Pakistanis were fighting in Syria.

Iran's recruitment of the Pakistani fighters adds yet another international dimension to Syria’s four-year-old civil war.

A Facebook page bearing the name of the Zainabiyoun showed pictures of what was described as a funeral in Iran in late November, with members of Iran's Revolutionary Guard standing next to men in shalwar kameez.

“The Zainabiyoun are a Pakistani Shia outfit that is run by the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC),” says Phillip Smyth, a researcher at the University of Maryland and adjunct fellow at the Washington Institute for Near East Policy who has done extensive research on Shia groups fighting in Syria.

Sectarian identity

Although the majority of Pakistanis practice Sunni Islam, about 20% of the population comprises Shia Muslims. “There is a large pool to draw from,” says Alex Vatanka, a senior fellow at the Middle East Institute in Washington and the author of a book on relations between Pakistan and Iran. "There are pockets within that Shia community that have been willing to pick up arms to fight for their identity. And that’s what the IRGC is tapping into.”

Based on material posted online, the Zainabiyoun could have up to 1,000 fighters, estimates Smyth. Attempts to get comment from a public relations news office of the Revolutionary Guard were unsuccessful.

The Zainabiyoun have drawn on the symbols of their fellow Shia fighters to brand themselves: their logo, a fist holding a machine gun set in green and yellow, is an almost identical copy of that of Lebanon's Hezbollah. They are occasionally referred to as Hezbollah Pakistan online.

According to the group’s postings on the internet, some of the Pakistanis fighting in Syria were already residing in Iran while the others come from a community of Pakhtun Shias from Parachinar. The Zainbayioun started out as part of a unit of Afghan fighters called the Fatemiyoun, Smyth said. The Fatemiyoun have suffered heavy losses in Syria as evident from regular postings about casualties on hardliner Iranian sites. At least some of the Afghan fighters were lured to fight on promises of Iranian citizenship or steady monthly income.

Advertisements aimed at Pakistanis online suggest similar inducements. One recruitment ad posted on Facebook last week said any physically fit man between 18 and 35 should apply to fight in Syria. It offered 45 days of initial military training along with six months of further training in Syria, a salary of Rs120,000 per month and 15 days of holiday every three months.

If the recruit is killed in action, his children’s education will be paid for and the family will be given pilgrimage trips to Iran, Iraq and Syria every year. Any willing recruits should make their way to Iran's holy city of Qom, the ad stated. A phone number was also given. But nobody answered when Reuters called.

Published in The Express Tribune, December 12^th,  2015.