Get to know strategic Brigade 90 in Quneitra, key target for Israeli airstrikes
(Syria Files)- When the Isralei airstrikes rocked the 90th Brigade in southern Quneitra province on September 21, Tel Aviv had not mentioned that the attack was targeting pro-Iran militants inside the powerful military fortress.
Brigade 90, which is affiliated to the 1st Corps of the Syrian Army, has gradually become an Iraniain power territory, such an expansion sets the alarm bells of the Israleis who have never been reluctant in hitting the Iran bases and its proxies inside the war-torn country.
The Brigade 90 has a significant importance for Tehran, Files source said the brigade is considered one of Iran’s military strongholds on the border with Israel.
The 90th Brigade, north of Quneitra, is one of the main armored brigades in the Syrian army, and
The strategic location of the 90th Brigade near the border with Israel gave Iran several advantages that make Tehran using it as a sub-base for it to reinforce its outposts and presence over there.
Also, Iran has already penetrated the brigade in terms of deploying Hezbollah militants, in addition to deploying Iranian weapons and missiles inside the brigade.
A source has confirmed to Syria Files that the military troops within the 90th Brigade were restricted only to members of the Syrian army, in addition to elements of the Lebanese Hezbollah militia.
But in May 2020, militants operating in the Iranian Revolutionary Guards were sent to the brigade. They wear the Syrian army camouflage uniforms, accompanied by some military equipment, mechanisms and systems in a plan aimed at controlling that strategic area near the 90th Brigade.
The elements of the Iranian Revolutionary Guards consist of the Quds Force, and a number of volunteers within the ranks of the guard from the people of the region, in addition to a group affiliated with the Lebanese Hezbollah.
-Iran Presence in Brigade 90-
An informed military source revealed that the number of Syrian army personnel inside the brigade exceeds the number of militia members of the Revolutionary Guard and the Lebanese Hezbollah, as the Syrian army rules this brigade despite Iran’s efforts to marginalize it.
The brigade has multi types of heavy, medium and light weapons, including an electronic warfare system and jamming type R330 in addition to four Shilka type ZSU-23-4 vehicles developed by the Iranian army and Hezbollah, Iranian short and medium-range missiles of the Shahab type, recently introduced by Iran, in addition to portable launchers on Korean-made armoured vehicles.
According to the Times of Israel, the Israeli strikes were a warning to Syrian President Bashar Assad, whose forces are encroaching on the Golan Heights.
Israel has launched more than 300 strikes since the start of the war in 2011.
