Tigers Militia (Lebanon)
Encyclopedia
The Tigers Militia also known as NLP Tigers or Tigers of the Liberals (Arabic
: Numuru al-Ahrar) and PNL "Lionceaux" in French
, was the military wing of the National Liberal Party
(NLP) during the Lebanese Civil War
.
at his own home town of Es-Sa’adiyat, originally under the title Brigade of the Lebanese Tigers – BLT (Arabic: Katibatun Numur al-Lubnaniyya) or Brigade des Lionceaux Libanais (BLL) in French
, allegedly taken from his middle name, Nimr – meaning “Tiger” in Arabic.
Initially just 500-men strong, the BLT was organized, trained, and led by the ‘defence secretary’ of the NLP Naim Berdkan; after his death in action in January 1976, he was succeeded by Daniel (“Dany”) Chamoun, Camille’s youngest son.
Allocated at first in the NLP party offices’ at the neighborhood of Sodeco in the Beiruti quarter of Achrafieh
, the Tigers’ military HQ was relocated in 1978 to Safra
, a boat marina and tourist beach resort located 25 km north of the Lebanese capital in the Keserwan District
, where it remained until the militia’s dissolution.
, the Tigers had become by 1978 the second largest militia force in the Christian
Lebanese Front
, well-provided with modern small-arms and bolstered since 1976 by an assortment of ex-Lebanese Army M41 Walker Bulldog
and AMX-13
light tanks, Charioteer tank destroyer
s, M42 Duster
SPAAGs, M113 and Panhard M3 VTT
Armoured personnel carrier
s, Staghound armoured cars, Panhard AML-90
armoured cars, and a fleet of gun-trucks (M151
jeeps, Land-Rovers, Toyota Land Cruisers, Peugeot
and Chrysler
light pickups, and GMC
cargo trucks) fitted with heavy machine guns, recoilless rifles, anti-aircraft autocannons and light MBRLs.
Although the Chamouns never achieved with their militia the same level of organizational efficiency displayed by the rival Phalange' Kataeb Regulatory Forces
militia, they were nonetheless capable of aligning 3,500 men and women, though other sources list a total of 4,000.
Its 500 full-time fighters and 3,000 part-time reservists were organized into armoured
, ‘commando
’, infantry
, artillery
, signals, medical, logistics
and military police
branches.
Their chain of command was predominantly Maronite, though the rank-and-file were drawn from the Maronite, Greek-Orthodox, Druze
, and Shi’ite militants of the NLP and trained in-country at clandestine facilities; first set up by the NLP in 1966 these training centres were located at Naas
in the Metn, Es-Saadiyat in the Iqlim al-Kharrub coastal enclave south of Beirut
and in Adma at the northern mountainous Keserwan District
.
The Tigers also received covert support from Jordan
and Egypt
since 1973, followed by Israel
and Syria
in 1976-77, who provided further training as well as additional weapons and heavy equipment, including twenty M50 Super Sherman
Tanks, BTR-152
APCs, field artillery
, BM-12
(Chinese Type 63
) 107mm towed MBRLs, and anti-aircraft autocannons.
NLP militia units operated mainly in East Beirut, Jbeil and Tripoli in the Metn, Mount Lebanon
and Keserwan District
s, but also had a presence at Zahlé
in the Beqaa valley
, at the south in the Iqlim al-Kharrub and the Jabal Amel
, where their local militants later played a key part in the formation of the Israeli-backed 'Free Lebanese Militia/Army', South Lebanon Army
’s predecessor.
and Jordan
, together with Egypt
and Israel
, provided covert funding, weapons, ammunition, training and other non-lethal assistance. Most of it entered towards the illegal port of Dbayeh
, set up in early 1976 and run by Joseph Abbud, former personal chauffer of Camille Chamoun, who carried out drug-smuggling and arms contraband activities at the behalf of the NLP until 1980, when the Lebanese Forces
brought the port under their authority.
Ruthless fighters with a reputation of aggressiveness, aggrieved by lack of discipline and restraint, they were involved in the Karantina
, al-Masklah and Tel al-Zaatar Massacre
s of Palestinian refugee
s in East Beirut and Dbayeh, allied with the Army of Free Lebanon
, Al-Tanzim
, Kataeb Regulatory Forces
and the Guardians of the Cedars
.
Towards the end of the 1970s, however, rivalities within the Lebanese Front
coalition strained the relationship between the NLP Tigers’ militia and their ertswhile Christian allies, leading them to violent confrontation with the Phalangists and the Guardians of the Cedars
(GoC). The Tigers’ even battled these two factions in May 1979 for control of the Fern el-Shebak and Ain el-Rammaneh districts in Beirut, and for the town of Akoura in the Metn.
(LNM) militias and its Palestinian
PLO allies, being heavily committed in several battles in and outside the Beirut area.
At the Battle of the Hotels
in October 1975, they supported their Phalangist allies of the Kataeb Regulatory Forces
(KRF) militia against the Al-Murabitoun and the Nasserite Correctionist Movement (NCM) for the control of the Hotels district in centre Beirut.
In January 1976 the collapse of the Lebanese Armed Forces
(LAF) enabled the Tigers to take over Army barracks and depots located at Ashrafieh, Ain el-Rammaneh, Hadath, Baabda
, and Hazmiyeh
districts of East Beirut, seizing heavy weapons and enrolling defectors into its ranks.
The Tigers later joined the allied Christian Lebanese Front
militias in the defense of the Mount Lebanon
region against
the LNM-PLO ‘Spring Offensive’ in March 1976. Backed by the Tyous Team of Commandos
they later put a spirited defence of the Achrafieh and Fayadieh districts during the Hundred Days War
in February 1978 against the Syrian Army
.
in January 1976, which they failed to defend despite being backed by ISF
units and Lebanese Army ground forces. The fall of this important stronghold was a severe blow to the NLP and the Tigers, depriving them of their main recruiting area along with their local training infrastructure, chiefly the Es-Saadiyat camp, and the port towns of Damour
and Jiyeh.
To further aggrieve matters, relations between the NLP political board and the Tigers’ military command soured after the former, headed by Camille Chamoun
, supported Syria
’s military intervention in June that year whereas the latter, led by its son Dany, strongly opposed to it. Fearing that its own party’ militia was getting out of control, Camille tacitly allowed its Kataeb rivals to absorb the Tigers’ into the Lebanese Forces
(LF) under Bachir Gemayel
. Dany Chamoun
’s adamant refusal of allowing the Tigers’ to be incorporated led the Phalangists to attack its Safra
HQ on July 7, 1980, which resulted in a bloodbath that claimed up to 500 lives, mostly civilians.
While their leader Dany was rushed to exile, first to Syria
and then to Europe
after handling over the command of the Tigers to his elder brother Dory Chamoun
, the militia was officially disbanded on Camille’s orders in late August. Soon afterwards, this was followed by the seizure on the part of the Phalangists of nearly all their positions in and outside East Beirut, including the vital Naas and Adma training camps. The remaining 3,000 or so militiamen founded themselves being consolidated by the end of October of that year into the Damouri Brigade within the Lebanese Forces
.
in June 1982, coupled by the death of the LF supremo Bachir Gemayel
in September that year brought the resurgence of the National Liberals
into the political scene, though the efforts by Camille Chamoun
to revive the Tigers’ militia in 1983-84 proved less successful. The small force of only 100 or so lightly equipped fighters they gathered proved unable to compete with the Lebanese Forces
’ military might, being relegated to the role of a mere bodyguard
for the NLP political leaders for the remainder of the war.
Upon the end of the civilian strife in October 1990 and the subsequent assassination of Dany Chamoun
– who had succeeded his late father at the NLP’s presidency in October 1987 – the last remaining National Liberals
’ paramilitary organization was disarmed on orders of the new Lebanese government. The NLP Tigers are no longer active.
in July 1980.
Backed by Lebanese Army units sent upon request of the NLP president Camille Chamoun
, Hannache and its men tried to resist incorporation by staging an anti-LF armed uprising that rocked the south-east districts of the Lebanese Capital from August to October 1980. Defeated after a four-day street battle and forced out of their last remaining strongholds at Ain el-Rammaneh by the LF, Hannache’s dissident Tigers fled across the Green Line
into the Muslim
-controlled western sector of the Capital. There they placed themselves under the protection of the Palestinian
Fatah
intelligence service before moving to Zahlé
in late October, where they merged with the NLP Tigers’ local cell.
In addition to PLO backing, the Free Tigers also received some support from Syria
in 1981, though Hannache seems to have taken sides with the LF Commando
force sent to defend Zahlé
in that same year, but very little was heard from them afterwards.
Arabic language
Arabic is a name applied to the descendants of the Classical Arabic language of the 6th century AD, used most prominently in the Quran, the Islamic Holy Book...
: Numuru al-Ahrar) and PNL "Lionceaux" in French
French language
French is a Romance language spoken as a first language in France, the Romandy region in Switzerland, Wallonia and Brussels in Belgium, Monaco, the regions of Quebec and Acadia in Canada, and by various communities elsewhere. Second-language speakers of French are distributed throughout many parts...
, was the military wing of the National Liberal Party
National Liberal Party (Lebanon)
The National Liberal Party is a center-right political party in Lebanon, established by President Camille Chamoun in 1958...
(NLP) during the Lebanese Civil War
Lebanese Civil War
The Lebanese Civil War was a multifaceted civil war in Lebanon. The war lasted from 1975 to 1990 and resulted in an estimated 150,000 to 230,000 civilian fatalities. Another one million people were wounded, and today approximately 350,000 people remain displaced. There was also a mass exodus of...
.
Origins
The NLP militia was first raised in October 1968 by Camille ChamounCamille Chamoun
Camille Nimr Chamoun was President of Lebanon from 1952 to 1958, and one of the country's main Christian leaders during most of the Lebanese Civil War ....
at his own home town of Es-Sa’adiyat, originally under the title Brigade of the Lebanese Tigers – BLT (Arabic: Katibatun Numur al-Lubnaniyya) or Brigade des Lionceaux Libanais (BLL) in French
French language
French is a Romance language spoken as a first language in France, the Romandy region in Switzerland, Wallonia and Brussels in Belgium, Monaco, the regions of Quebec and Acadia in Canada, and by various communities elsewhere. Second-language speakers of French are distributed throughout many parts...
, allegedly taken from his middle name, Nimr – meaning “Tiger” in Arabic.
Initially just 500-men strong, the BLT was organized, trained, and led by the ‘defence secretary’ of the NLP Naim Berdkan; after his death in action in January 1976, he was succeeded by Daniel (“Dany”) Chamoun, Camille’s youngest son.
Allocated at first in the NLP party offices’ at the neighborhood of Sodeco in the Beiruti quarter of Achrafieh
Achrafieh
Achrafieh, , is one of the oldest Christian districts of East Beirut, Lebanon.-Overview:It is located on a hill in the eastern part of Beirut alongside the shore. Achrafieh is both a residential and commercial district characterized by narrow winding streets and prestigious large apartment and...
, the Tigers’ military HQ was relocated in 1978 to Safra
Safra
Safra may refer to:*People:**Edmond J. Safra***Lily Safra, chairman of the Edmond J. Safra Philanthropic Foundation**Jacob Safra**Jacqui Safra**Joseph Safra**Safra A...
, a boat marina and tourist beach resort located 25 km north of the Lebanese capital in the Keserwan District
Keserwan District
Keserwan is a district in the Mount Lebanon Governorate , Lebanon, to the northeast of the Lebanon's capital Beirut...
, where it remained until the militia’s dissolution.
Structure and organization
Under the command of Dany ChamounDany Chamoun
Dany Chamoun was a prominent Lebanese politician. A Maronite Christian and the younger son of former President Camille Chamoun, Dany Chamoun was also a politician in his own right, and was known for his opposition to the occupation of Lebanese territory by foreign forces, whether Syrian or...
, the Tigers had become by 1978 the second largest militia force in the Christian
Christian
A Christian is a person who adheres to Christianity, an Abrahamic, monotheistic religion based on the life and teachings of Jesus of Nazareth as recorded in the Canonical gospels and the letters of the New Testament...
Lebanese Front
Lebanese Front
The Lebanese Front or Front libanais in French, also known as the "Kufur Front", was a coalition of mainly Christian parties formed in 1976, during the Lebanese Civil War...
, well-provided with modern small-arms and bolstered since 1976 by an assortment of ex-Lebanese Army M41 Walker Bulldog
M41 Walker Bulldog
The M41 Walker Bulldog was a U.S. light tank developed to replace the M24 Chaffee. It was named for General Walton Walker who died in a jeep accident in Korea...
and AMX-13
AMX-13
The AMX-13 is a French light tank produced from 1953 to 1985. It served with the French Army and was exported to over twenty-five other nations...
light tanks, Charioteer tank destroyer
Charioteer tank destroyer
The Charioteer tank destroyer officially known as FV4101 Cromwell Heavy AT Gun was a British tank destroyer, designed in the 1950s from the Cromwell tank and used to add firepower to units serving in West Germany.-Development:...
s, M42 Duster
M42 Duster
The M42 40 mm Self-Propelled Anti-Aircraft Gun, or "Duster," is an armored light air-defense gun built for the U.S. Army from 1952 until December 1959. Production of this vehicle was performed by the tank division of the General Motors Corporation. It used components from the M41 light tank...
SPAAGs, M113 and Panhard M3 VTT
Panhard M3
The Panhard M3 VTT , armoured personnel carrier was designed as a private venture with the first prototype completed in 1969. The prototype had a single door in each side of the hull and twin doors in the hull rear...
Armoured personnel carrier
Armoured personnel carrier
An armoured personnel carrier is an armoured fighting vehicle designed to transport infantry to the battlefield.APCs are usually armed with only a machine gun although variants carry recoilless rifles, anti-tank guided missiles , or mortars...
s, Staghound armoured cars, Panhard AML-90
Panhard AML
-Former Operators:: unknown number of AML-60s and AML-90s in service between 1960-1975.: 34 Eland 90s and Eland 60s in service with the Rhodesian Security Forces in 1979, passed on to successor state.-Trivia:...
armoured cars, and a fleet of gun-trucks (M151
M151
The M151 MUTT was the successor to the Korean War M38 and M38A1 jeep Light Utility Vehicles. It was produced from 1959 through 1982 and served in the Vietnam War. The M151 utilized a monocoque design making it roomier than previous jeep designs, and incorporated an independent suspension with coil...
jeeps, Land-Rovers, Toyota Land Cruisers, Peugeot
Peugeot
Peugeot is a major French car brand, part of PSA Peugeot Citroën, the second largest carmaker based in Europe.The family business that precedes the current Peugeot company was founded in 1810, and manufactured coffee mills and bicycles. On 20 November 1858, Emile Peugeot applied for the lion...
and Chrysler
Chrysler
Chrysler Group LLC is a multinational automaker headquartered in Auburn Hills, Michigan, USA. Chrysler was first organized as the Chrysler Corporation in 1925....
light pickups, and GMC
GMC
GMC may refer to:* Ganglion mother cell, a cell in the developing nervous system that divides once to produce two neurons* General motion control, a field of motion control concerned with single- and multi-axis motion controllers, intelligent drives, servo and stepper motors* Generalized Method of...
cargo trucks) fitted with heavy machine guns, recoilless rifles, anti-aircraft autocannons and light MBRLs.
Although the Chamouns never achieved with their militia the same level of organizational efficiency displayed by the rival Phalange' Kataeb Regulatory Forces
Kataeb Regulatory Forces
The Kataeb Regulatory Forces – KRF or RF , Forces Regulatoires du Kataeb in French were the military wing of the right-wing Lebanese Christian Kataeb Party, otherwise known as the Phalange, from 1961 to 1977...
militia, they were nonetheless capable of aligning 3,500 men and women, though other sources list a total of 4,000.
Its 500 full-time fighters and 3,000 part-time reservists were organized into armoured
Armoured warfare
Armoured warfare or tank warfare is the use of armoured fighting vehicles in modern warfare. It is a major component of modern methods of war....
, ‘commando
Commando
In English, the term commando means a specific kind of individual soldier or military unit. In contemporary usage, commando usually means elite light infantry and/or special operations forces units, specializing in amphibious landings, parachuting, rappelling and similar techniques, to conduct and...
’, infantry
Infantry
Infantrymen are soldiers who are specifically trained for the role of fighting on foot to engage the enemy face to face and have historically borne the brunt of the casualties of combat in wars. As the oldest branch of combat arms, they are the backbone of armies...
, artillery
Artillery
Originally applied to any group of infantry primarily armed with projectile weapons, artillery has over time become limited in meaning to refer only to those engines of war that operate by projection of munitions far beyond the range of effect of personal weapons...
, signals, medical, logistics
Logistics
Logistics is the management of the flow of goods between the point of origin and the point of destination in order to meet the requirements of customers or corporations. Logistics involves the integration of information, transportation, inventory, warehousing, material handling, and packaging, and...
and military police
Military police
Military police are police organisations connected with, or part of, the military of a state. The word can have different meanings in different countries, and may refer to:...
branches.
Their chain of command was predominantly Maronite, though the rank-and-file were drawn from the Maronite, Greek-Orthodox, Druze
Druze
The Druze are an esoteric, monotheistic religious community, found primarily in Syria, Lebanon, Israel, and Jordan, which emerged during the 11th century from Ismailism. The Druze have an eclectic set of beliefs that incorporate several elements from Abrahamic religions, Gnosticism, Neoplatonism...
, and Shi’ite militants of the NLP and trained in-country at clandestine facilities; first set up by the NLP in 1966 these training centres were located at Naas
Naas
Naas is the county town of County Kildare in Ireland. With a population of just over twenty thousand, it is also the largest town in the county. Naas is a major commuter suburb, with many people residing there and working in Dublin...
in the Metn, Es-Saadiyat in the Iqlim al-Kharrub coastal enclave south of Beirut
Beirut
Beirut is the capital and largest city of Lebanon, with a population ranging from 1 million to more than 2 million . Located on a peninsula at the midpoint of Lebanon's Mediterranean coastline, it serves as the country's largest and main seaport, and also forms the Beirut Metropolitan...
and in Adma at the northern mountainous Keserwan District
Keserwan District
Keserwan is a district in the Mount Lebanon Governorate , Lebanon, to the northeast of the Lebanon's capital Beirut...
.
The Tigers also received covert support from Jordan
Jordan
Jordan , officially the Hashemite Kingdom of Jordan , Al-Mamlaka al-Urduniyya al-Hashemiyya) is a kingdom on the East Bank of the River Jordan. The country borders Saudi Arabia to the east and south-east, Iraq to the north-east, Syria to the north and the West Bank and Israel to the west, sharing...
and Egypt
Egypt
Egypt , officially the Arab Republic of Egypt, Arabic: , is a country mainly in North Africa, with the Sinai Peninsula forming a land bridge in Southwest Asia. Egypt is thus a transcontinental country, and a major power in Africa, the Mediterranean Basin, the Middle East and the Muslim world...
since 1973, followed by Israel
Israel
The State of Israel is a parliamentary republic located in the Middle East, along the eastern shore of the Mediterranean Sea...
and Syria
Syria
Syria , officially the Syrian Arab Republic , is a country in Western Asia, bordering Lebanon and the Mediterranean Sea to the West, Turkey to the north, Iraq to the east, Jordan to the south, and Israel to the southwest....
in 1976-77, who provided further training as well as additional weapons and heavy equipment, including twenty M50 Super Sherman
M50 Super Sherman
The Sherman M-50 and the Sherman M-51, both known abroad as the Super Sherman, were modified versions of the American M4 Sherman tank that served with the Israel Defense Forces from the mid-1950s to early 1980s. The M-51 was also referred to as the Isherman...
Tanks, BTR-152
BTR-152
The BTR-152 was a non-amphibious Soviet wheeled armored personnel carrier that entered Soviet service in 1950. By the early 1970s it had been replaced in the infantry vehicle role by the BTR-60...
APCs, field artillery
Field artillery
Field artillery is a category of mobile artillery used to support armies in the field. These weapons are specialized for mobility, tactical proficiency, long range, short range and extremely long range target engagement....
, BM-12
BM-12
The BM-12 was a 107mm Multiple Rocket Launcher developed in the Soviet Union after World War II. The launcher and rockets were adopted by China and produced in large quantities as the Type 63....
(Chinese Type 63
Type 63 multiple rocket launcher
The Type 63 multiple rocket launcher is a towed, 12-tube, 107mm rocket launcher produced by the People's Republic of China in the early 1960s, based on the Soviet BM-12 MRS and using similar rockets...
) 107mm towed MBRLs, and anti-aircraft autocannons.
NLP militia units operated mainly in East Beirut, Jbeil and Tripoli in the Metn, Mount Lebanon
Mount Lebanon
Mount Lebanon , as a geographic designation, is a Lebanese mountain range, averaging above 2,200 meters in height and receiving a substantial amount of precipitation, including snow, which averages around four meters deep. It extends across the whole country along about , parallel to the...
and Keserwan District
Keserwan District
Keserwan is a district in the Mount Lebanon Governorate , Lebanon, to the northeast of the Lebanon's capital Beirut...
s, but also had a presence at Zahlé
Zahlé
Zahlé is the capital and largest city of Beqaa Governorate, Lebanon. With around 50,000 inhabitants, it is the fourth largest city in Lebanon, after Beirut, Tripoli and Jounieh...
in the Beqaa valley
Beqaa Valley
The Beqaa Valley is a fertile valley in east Lebanon. For the Romans, the Beqaa Valley was a major agricultural source, and today it remains Lebanon’s most important farming region...
, at the south in the Iqlim al-Kharrub and the Jabal Amel
Jabal Amel
Jabal Amel or Amil is a mountainous region of Southern Lebanon.The region is named after the Banu 'Amilah, a Yemenite tribe who, along with the kindred tribes of Hamadan, Lakhm, and Judham, settled in Syria, Palestine, parts of Jordan, and Lebanon. The area was known in ancient times as Jabal...
, where their local militants later played a key part in the formation of the Israeli-backed 'Free Lebanese Militia/Army', South Lebanon Army
South Lebanon Army
The South Lebanon Army , also "South Lebanese Army," was a Lebanese militia during the Lebanese Civil War. After 1979, the militia operated in southern Lebanon under the authority of Saad Haddad's Government of Free Lebanon...
’s predecessor.
Illegal activities and controversy
Financing for the NLP militia came at first from both the Chamoun’s personal fortune and 'protection' rackets collected in the areas under their control, though they also received outside help. Conservative Arab Countries such as Saudi ArabiaSaudi Arabia
The Kingdom of Saudi Arabia , commonly known in British English as Saudi Arabia and in Arabic as as-Sa‘ūdiyyah , is the largest state in Western Asia by land area, constituting the bulk of the Arabian Peninsula, and the second-largest in the Arab World...
and Jordan
Jordan
Jordan , officially the Hashemite Kingdom of Jordan , Al-Mamlaka al-Urduniyya al-Hashemiyya) is a kingdom on the East Bank of the River Jordan. The country borders Saudi Arabia to the east and south-east, Iraq to the north-east, Syria to the north and the West Bank and Israel to the west, sharing...
, together with Egypt
Egypt
Egypt , officially the Arab Republic of Egypt, Arabic: , is a country mainly in North Africa, with the Sinai Peninsula forming a land bridge in Southwest Asia. Egypt is thus a transcontinental country, and a major power in Africa, the Mediterranean Basin, the Middle East and the Muslim world...
and Israel
Israel
The State of Israel is a parliamentary republic located in the Middle East, along the eastern shore of the Mediterranean Sea...
, provided covert funding, weapons, ammunition, training and other non-lethal assistance. Most of it entered towards the illegal port of Dbayeh
Dbayeh
Dbayeh in arabic , is a town located on the mediterranean sea in the matn district mount-lebanon governorate, between Beirut the capital of Lebanon ,and jounieh , almost all the population is christian exluding some gulf arabs muslims who reside in Dbayeh during the summerThe "Dog River" cuts...
, set up in early 1976 and run by Joseph Abbud, former personal chauffer of Camille Chamoun, who carried out drug-smuggling and arms contraband activities at the behalf of the NLP until 1980, when the Lebanese Forces
Lebanese Forces
The Lebanese Forces is a Lebanese political party. Founded as a militia by Bachir Gemayel during the Lebanese Civil War, the movement fought as the main militia within the Christian-dominated Lebanese Front...
brought the port under their authority.
Ruthless fighters with a reputation of aggressiveness, aggrieved by lack of discipline and restraint, they were involved in the Karantina
Karantina Massacre
The Karantina massacre took place early in the Lebanese Civil War on January 18, 1976. With the breakdown in authority of the Lebanese government the militancy of radical factions increased...
, al-Masklah and Tel al-Zaatar Massacre
Tel al-Zaatar Massacre
The Tel al-Zaatar massacre took place during the Lebanese Civil War on August 12, 1976. Tel al-Zaatar was a UNRWA administered Palestinian Refugee camp housing approximately 50,000-60,000 refugees in northeast Beirut.-Background:...
s of Palestinian refugee
Palestinian refugee
Palestinian refugees or Palestine refugees are the people and their descendants, predominantly Palestinian Arabic-speakers, who fled or were expelled from their homes during and after the 1948 Palestine War, within that part of the British Mandate of Palestine, that after that war became the...
s in East Beirut and Dbayeh, allied with the Army of Free Lebanon
Army of Free Lebanon
The Army of Free Lebanon – AFL or ‘Colonel Barakat’s Army’ , also designated Armée du Liban Libre or ‘Armée du Colonel Barakat’ in French, was a predominantely Christian splinter faction of the Lebanese Army that came to play a major role in the 1975-77 phase of the Lebanese Civil War.-Emblem:Upon...
, Al-Tanzim
Al-Tanzim
The Al-Tanzim, Al-Tanzym or At-Tanzim was the name of an ultra-nationalist secret military society and militia set up by right-wing Christian activists in Lebanon at the early 1970s, and which came to play an important role in the Lebanese Civil War.-Emblem:The emblem of the group, a map of Lebanon...
, Kataeb Regulatory Forces
Kataeb Regulatory Forces
The Kataeb Regulatory Forces – KRF or RF , Forces Regulatoires du Kataeb in French were the military wing of the right-wing Lebanese Christian Kataeb Party, otherwise known as the Phalange, from 1961 to 1977...
and the Guardians of the Cedars
Guardians of the Cedars
The Guardians of the Cedars – GoC , also designated Gardiens du Cedre or Gardiens des Cèdres in French, are a far-right ultranationalist Lebanese party and former militia in Lebanon...
.
Towards the end of the 1970s, however, rivalities within the Lebanese Front
Lebanese Front
The Lebanese Front or Front libanais in French, also known as the "Kufur Front", was a coalition of mainly Christian parties formed in 1976, during the Lebanese Civil War...
coalition strained the relationship between the NLP Tigers’ militia and their ertswhile Christian allies, leading them to violent confrontation with the Phalangists and the Guardians of the Cedars
Guardians of the Cedars
The Guardians of the Cedars – GoC , also designated Gardiens du Cedre or Gardiens des Cèdres in French, are a far-right ultranationalist Lebanese party and former militia in Lebanon...
(GoC). The Tigers’ even battled these two factions in May 1979 for control of the Fern el-Shebak and Ain el-Rammaneh districts in Beirut, and for the town of Akoura in the Metn.
List of Commanders
- Naim Berdkan (October 1968 – January 1976)
- Dany ChamounDany ChamounDany Chamoun was a prominent Lebanese politician. A Maronite Christian and the younger son of former President Camille Chamoun, Dany Chamoun was also a politician in his own right, and was known for his opposition to the occupation of Lebanese territory by foreign forces, whether Syrian or...
(January 1976 – July 1980) - Dory ChamounDory ChamounDory Chamoun is a Lebanese politician who leads the National Liberal Party, and is also a prominent member of the Qornet Shehwan Gathering, a coalition of politicians, academics, and businessmen who oppose the pro-Syrian March 8 Alliance and Syrian influence in Lebanon.Dory Chamoun is the elder...
(July – August 1980)
The Tigers in the civil war 1975-77
Upon the outbreak of the civil war in April 1975, the NLP Tigers immediately engaged the leftist Lebanese National MovementLebanese National Movement
The Lebanese National Movement or Mouvement National Libanais in French, was a front of parties and organizations active during the early years of the Lebanese Civil War...
(LNM) militias and its Palestinian
Palestinian territories
The Palestinian territories comprise the West Bank and the Gaza Strip. Since the Palestinian Declaration of Independence in 1988, the region is today recognized by three-quarters of the world's countries as the State of Palestine or simply Palestine, although this status is not recognized by the...
PLO allies, being heavily committed in several battles in and outside the Beirut area.
At the Battle of the Hotels
Battle of the Hotels
The Battle of the Hotels, also known as the “Hotel front” or “Front des Hotels” in French, was a subconflict within the 1975-77 phase of the Lebanese Civil War which occurred in the Minet-el-Hosn hotel district of downtown Beirut...
in October 1975, they supported their Phalangist allies of the Kataeb Regulatory Forces
Kataeb Regulatory Forces
The Kataeb Regulatory Forces – KRF or RF , Forces Regulatoires du Kataeb in French were the military wing of the right-wing Lebanese Christian Kataeb Party, otherwise known as the Phalange, from 1961 to 1977...
(KRF) militia against the Al-Murabitoun and the Nasserite Correctionist Movement (NCM) for the control of the Hotels district in centre Beirut.
In January 1976 the collapse of the Lebanese Armed Forces
Lebanese Armed Forces
The Lebanese Armed Forces or Forces Armées Libanaises in French, also known as the Lebanese Army according to its official Website The Lebanese Armed Forces (LAF) (Arabic: القوات المسلحة اللبنانية | Al-Quwwāt al-Musallaḥa al-Lubnāniyya) or Forces Armées Libanaises in French, also known as the...
(LAF) enabled the Tigers to take over Army barracks and depots located at Ashrafieh, Ain el-Rammaneh, Hadath, Baabda
Baabda
Baabda is the capital city of Baabda District as well as the capital of Mount Lebanon Governorate, western Lebanon. Baabda was the capital city of the autonomous Ottoman Mount Lebanon....
, and Hazmiyeh
Hazmiyeh
Hazmiyeh is a town in Mount Lebanon Governorate of Lebanon, and a suburb of Beirut....
districts of East Beirut, seizing heavy weapons and enrolling defectors into its ranks.
The Tigers later joined the allied Christian Lebanese Front
Lebanese Front
The Lebanese Front or Front libanais in French, also known as the "Kufur Front", was a coalition of mainly Christian parties formed in 1976, during the Lebanese Civil War...
militias in the defense of the Mount Lebanon
Mount Lebanon
Mount Lebanon , as a geographic designation, is a Lebanese mountain range, averaging above 2,200 meters in height and receiving a substantial amount of precipitation, including snow, which averages around four meters deep. It extends across the whole country along about , parallel to the...
region against
the LNM-PLO ‘Spring Offensive’ in March 1976. Backed by the Tyous Team of Commandos
Tyous Team of Commandos
The Tyous Team of Commandos – TTC or simply Tyous for short , was a small far-right Christian militia which fought in the 1975-78 phase of the Lebanese Civil War.-Origins:The Tyous was quietly formed at the early 1970s in Beirut by one...
they later put a spirited defence of the Achrafieh and Fayadieh districts during the Hundred Days War
Hundred Days War
The Hundred Days War , also known as La Guerre des Cent Jours in French was a subconflict within the 1977–82 phase of the Lebanese Civil War which occurred at the Lebanese Capital Beirut...
in February 1978 against the Syrian Army
Syrian Army
The Syrian Army, officially called the Syrian Arab Army, is the land force branch of the Syrian Armed Forces. It is the dominant military service of the four uniformed services, controlling the senior most posts in the armed forces, and has the greatest manpower, approximately 80 percent of the...
.
Reversals and decline 1978-1980
The Tigers’ involvement in the above mentioned atrocities, however, cost them the loss of the Iqlim al-Kharrub to the LNM-PLO allianceAlliance
An alliance is an agreement or friendship between two or more parties, made in order to advance common goals and to secure common interests.See also military alliance and business alliance.-International relations:...
in January 1976, which they failed to defend despite being backed by ISF
ISF
ISF may stand for:*Istanbul Shopping Fest*Impôt de Solidarité sur la Fortune, a French wealth tax*Iraqi Security Forces*Incremental sheet forming*Internal Security Forces, of Lebanon*International Softball Federation*International School of Florence...
units and Lebanese Army ground forces. The fall of this important stronghold was a severe blow to the NLP and the Tigers, depriving them of their main recruiting area along with their local training infrastructure, chiefly the Es-Saadiyat camp, and the port towns of Damour
Damour
Damour is a Lebanese Christian town that is 24 kilometres south of Beirut. The name of the town is derived from the name of the Phoenician god Damoros who symbolized immortality ....
and Jiyeh.
To further aggrieve matters, relations between the NLP political board and the Tigers’ military command soured after the former, headed by Camille Chamoun
Camille Chamoun
Camille Nimr Chamoun was President of Lebanon from 1952 to 1958, and one of the country's main Christian leaders during most of the Lebanese Civil War ....
, supported Syria
Syria
Syria , officially the Syrian Arab Republic , is a country in Western Asia, bordering Lebanon and the Mediterranean Sea to the West, Turkey to the north, Iraq to the east, Jordan to the south, and Israel to the southwest....
’s military intervention in June that year whereas the latter, led by its son Dany, strongly opposed to it. Fearing that its own party’ militia was getting out of control, Camille tacitly allowed its Kataeb rivals to absorb the Tigers’ into the Lebanese Forces
Lebanese Forces
The Lebanese Forces is a Lebanese political party. Founded as a militia by Bachir Gemayel during the Lebanese Civil War, the movement fought as the main militia within the Christian-dominated Lebanese Front...
(LF) under Bachir Gemayel
Bachir Gemayel
Bachir Gemayel was a Lebanese politician, militia commander, and president-elect...
. Dany Chamoun
Dany Chamoun
Dany Chamoun was a prominent Lebanese politician. A Maronite Christian and the younger son of former President Camille Chamoun, Dany Chamoun was also a politician in his own right, and was known for his opposition to the occupation of Lebanese territory by foreign forces, whether Syrian or...
’s adamant refusal of allowing the Tigers’ to be incorporated led the Phalangists to attack its Safra
Safra
Safra may refer to:*People:**Edmond J. Safra***Lily Safra, chairman of the Edmond J. Safra Philanthropic Foundation**Jacob Safra**Jacqui Safra**Joseph Safra**Safra A...
HQ on July 7, 1980, which resulted in a bloodbath that claimed up to 500 lives, mostly civilians.
While their leader Dany was rushed to exile, first to Syria
Syria
Syria , officially the Syrian Arab Republic , is a country in Western Asia, bordering Lebanon and the Mediterranean Sea to the West, Turkey to the north, Iraq to the east, Jordan to the south, and Israel to the southwest....
and then to Europe
Europe
Europe is, by convention, one of the world's seven continents. Comprising the westernmost peninsula of Eurasia, Europe is generally 'divided' from Asia to its east by the watershed divides of the Ural and Caucasus Mountains, the Ural River, the Caspian and Black Seas, and the waterways connecting...
after handling over the command of the Tigers to his elder brother Dory Chamoun
Dory Chamoun
Dory Chamoun is a Lebanese politician who leads the National Liberal Party, and is also a prominent member of the Qornet Shehwan Gathering, a coalition of politicians, academics, and businessmen who oppose the pro-Syrian March 8 Alliance and Syrian influence in Lebanon.Dory Chamoun is the elder...
, the militia was officially disbanded on Camille’s orders in late August. Soon afterwards, this was followed by the seizure on the part of the Phalangists of nearly all their positions in and outside East Beirut, including the vital Naas and Adma training camps. The remaining 3,000 or so militiamen founded themselves being consolidated by the end of October of that year into the Damouri Brigade within the Lebanese Forces
Lebanese Forces
The Lebanese Forces is a Lebanese political party. Founded as a militia by Bachir Gemayel during the Lebanese Civil War, the movement fought as the main militia within the Christian-dominated Lebanese Front...
.
Revival and disbandment 1983-1990
The Israeli invasion of LebanonIsraeli invasion of Lebanon
The Israeli invasion of Lebanon could refer to:*The Israeli invasion of Lebanon in the 1978 South Lebanon conflict;*The Israeli invasion of Lebanon in the 1982 Lebanon War;*The Israeli invasion of Lebanon in the 1993 Lebanon War;...
in June 1982, coupled by the death of the LF supremo Bachir Gemayel
Bachir Gemayel
Bachir Gemayel was a Lebanese politician, militia commander, and president-elect...
in September that year brought the resurgence of the National Liberals
National Liberal Party (Lebanon)
The National Liberal Party is a center-right political party in Lebanon, established by President Camille Chamoun in 1958...
into the political scene, though the efforts by Camille Chamoun
Camille Chamoun
Camille Nimr Chamoun was President of Lebanon from 1952 to 1958, and one of the country's main Christian leaders during most of the Lebanese Civil War ....
to revive the Tigers’ militia in 1983-84 proved less successful. The small force of only 100 or so lightly equipped fighters they gathered proved unable to compete with the Lebanese Forces
Lebanese Forces
The Lebanese Forces is a Lebanese political party. Founded as a militia by Bachir Gemayel during the Lebanese Civil War, the movement fought as the main militia within the Christian-dominated Lebanese Front...
’ military might, being relegated to the role of a mere bodyguard
Bodyguard
A bodyguard is a type of security operative or government agent who protects a person—usually a famous, wealthy, or politically important figure—from assault, kidnapping, assassination, stalking, loss of confidential information, terrorist attack or other threats.Most important public figures such...
for the NLP political leaders for the remainder of the war.
Upon the end of the civilian strife in October 1990 and the subsequent assassination of Dany Chamoun
Dany Chamoun
Dany Chamoun was a prominent Lebanese politician. A Maronite Christian and the younger son of former President Camille Chamoun, Dany Chamoun was also a politician in his own right, and was known for his opposition to the occupation of Lebanese territory by foreign forces, whether Syrian or...
– who had succeeded his late father at the NLP’s presidency in October 1987 – the last remaining National Liberals
National Liberal Party (Lebanon)
The National Liberal Party is a center-right political party in Lebanon, established by President Camille Chamoun in 1958...
’ paramilitary organization was disarmed on orders of the new Lebanese government. The NLP Tigers are no longer active.
The Free Tigers
The Free Tigers (Arabic: Noumour Al-Horr) were originally a 200-strong or so unit of the NLP Tigers commanded by Elias Hannache, which used to operate in the Hadath and Ain el-Rammaneh sectors of East Beirut until the forcible merger of the Tigers’ militia into the Lebanese ForcesLebanese Forces
The Lebanese Forces is a Lebanese political party. Founded as a militia by Bachir Gemayel during the Lebanese Civil War, the movement fought as the main militia within the Christian-dominated Lebanese Front...
in July 1980.
Backed by Lebanese Army units sent upon request of the NLP president Camille Chamoun
Camille Chamoun
Camille Nimr Chamoun was President of Lebanon from 1952 to 1958, and one of the country's main Christian leaders during most of the Lebanese Civil War ....
, Hannache and its men tried to resist incorporation by staging an anti-LF armed uprising that rocked the south-east districts of the Lebanese Capital from August to October 1980. Defeated after a four-day street battle and forced out of their last remaining strongholds at Ain el-Rammaneh by the LF, Hannache’s dissident Tigers fled across the Green Line
Green Line (Lebanon)
The Green Line was a line of demarcation in Beirut, Lebanon during the Lebanese Civil War from 1975 to 1990. It separated the mainly Muslim factions in West Beirut from the Christian Lebanese Front in East Beirut. The appellation refers to the coloration of the foliage that grew because the space...
into the Muslim
Muslim
A Muslim, also spelled Moslem, is an adherent of Islam, a monotheistic, Abrahamic religion based on the Quran, which Muslims consider the verbatim word of God as revealed to prophet Muhammad. "Muslim" is the Arabic term for "submitter" .Muslims believe that God is one and incomparable...
-controlled western sector of the Capital. There they placed themselves under the protection of the Palestinian
Palestinian territories
The Palestinian territories comprise the West Bank and the Gaza Strip. Since the Palestinian Declaration of Independence in 1988, the region is today recognized by three-quarters of the world's countries as the State of Palestine or simply Palestine, although this status is not recognized by the...
Fatah
Fatah
Fataḥ is a major Palestinian political party and the largest faction of the Palestine Liberation Organization , a multi-party confederation. In Palestinian politics it is on the left-wing of the spectrum; it is mainly nationalist, although not predominantly socialist. Its official goals are found...
intelligence service before moving to Zahlé
Zahlé
Zahlé is the capital and largest city of Beqaa Governorate, Lebanon. With around 50,000 inhabitants, it is the fourth largest city in Lebanon, after Beirut, Tripoli and Jounieh...
in late October, where they merged with the NLP Tigers’ local cell.
In addition to PLO backing, the Free Tigers also received some support from Syria
Syria
Syria , officially the Syrian Arab Republic , is a country in Western Asia, bordering Lebanon and the Mediterranean Sea to the West, Turkey to the north, Iraq to the east, Jordan to the south, and Israel to the southwest....
in 1981, though Hannache seems to have taken sides with the LF Commando
Commando
In English, the term commando means a specific kind of individual soldier or military unit. In contemporary usage, commando usually means elite light infantry and/or special operations forces units, specializing in amphibious landings, parachuting, rappelling and similar techniques, to conduct and...
force sent to defend Zahlé
Zahlé
Zahlé is the capital and largest city of Beqaa Governorate, Lebanon. With around 50,000 inhabitants, it is the fourth largest city in Lebanon, after Beirut, Tripoli and Jounieh...
in that same year, but very little was heard from them afterwards.
See also
- Damour massacreDamour massacreThe Damour massacre took place on January 20, 1976 during the 1975–1990 Lebanese Civil War. Damour, a Christian town on the main highway south of Beirut, was attacked by the Palestine Liberation Organisation units...
- National Liberal Party (Lebanon)National Liberal Party (Lebanon)The National Liberal Party is a center-right political party in Lebanon, established by President Camille Chamoun in 1958...
- Lebanese FrontLebanese FrontThe Lebanese Front or Front libanais in French, also known as the "Kufur Front", was a coalition of mainly Christian parties formed in 1976, during the Lebanese Civil War...
- Lebanese ForcesLebanese ForcesThe Lebanese Forces is a Lebanese political party. Founded as a militia by Bachir Gemayel during the Lebanese Civil War, the movement fought as the main militia within the Christian-dominated Lebanese Front...
- Lebanese Civil WarLebanese Civil WarThe Lebanese Civil War was a multifaceted civil war in Lebanon. The war lasted from 1975 to 1990 and resulted in an estimated 150,000 to 230,000 civilian fatalities. Another one million people were wounded, and today approximately 350,000 people remain displaced. There was also a mass exodus of...
- Safra massacre
- South Lebanon ArmySouth Lebanon ArmyThe South Lebanon Army , also "South Lebanese Army," was a Lebanese militia during the Lebanese Civil War. After 1979, the militia operated in southern Lebanon under the authority of Saad Haddad's Government of Free Lebanon...
- Tyous Team of CommandosTyous Team of CommandosThe Tyous Team of Commandos – TTC or simply Tyous for short , was a small far-right Christian militia which fought in the 1975-78 phase of the Lebanese Civil War.-Origins:The Tyous was quietly formed at the early 1970s in Beirut by one...
External links
- http://noumour.tripod.com/ PNL Tigers official home page.
- http://www.facebook.com/group.php?gid=2323109463/ Noumour Al Ahrar Facebook page.