MILITARY PERSONNELS from Syria

Top 5

The following people are considered by Pantheon to be the most legendary Syrian Military Personnels of all time. This list of famous Syrian Military Personnels is sorted by HPI (Historical Popularity Index), a metric that aggregates information on a biography’s online popularity.

1. Maher al-Assad (1967 - )

With an HPI of 49.81, Maher al-Assad is the most famous Syrian Military Personnel.  His biography has been translated into 27 different languages on wikipedia.

Maher al-Assad (Arabic: مَاهِرُ ٱلْأَسَدِ, romanized: Māhir al-ʾAsad, born 8 December 1967) is a Syrian general and commander of the Syrian Army's elite 4th Armoured Division, which together with Syria's Military Intelligence form the core of the country's security forces. He is also a member of the Central Committee of the Ba'ath Party's Syrian Regional Branch. At the onset of the Syrian Revolution, Maher was thought by some to be the second-most powerful man in Syria after his brother Bashar, the president. However, his base of influence is not considered strong enough to directly defy the reign of Bashar. Maher is considered a regime hardliner, who reportedly favored the crackdown against Damascus Spring movement and has been implicated in UN reports of orchestrating the killing of Lebanese Prime Minister Rafic Hariri. Maher oversaw the brutal crackdown against Syrian protestors at Daraa, which led to US and EU announcing sanctions on him. Maher is described by analysts as preferring Iran (as opposed to Russia) to play the largest role as the Syrian Government's main ally during the Syrian Civil War and subsequent post-war reconstruction. This is in contrast to the position of Major General Suheil al-Hassan, commander of the 25th Special Mission Forces Division who has gained much influence as a result of his activities during the Syrian Civil War, who was reported as preferring Russia. However, it was reported in 2021 that Maher was part of the Ba'athist faction that demanded the end of Iranian presence in Syria, so as to promote regional rapprochement with neighboring Arab countries. Maher al-Assad also supervised operations of the dreaded Shabiha squads, pro-Assad Alawite paramilitaries known for sectarian attacks against Sunni civilians. As the commander of Fourth Armoured Division, Maher is directly involved in the production, trafficking and export operations of Syria's multi-billion dollar drug empire, which mostly smuggles an illegal drug known as Captagon.

2. Riad al-Asaad (1961 - )

With an HPI of 48.85, Riad al-Asaad is the 2nd most famous Syrian Military Personnel.  His biography has been translated into 18 different languages.

Riad Mousa al-Asaad (Arabic pronunciation: [rijɑːdˤ muːsa ɐlʔæsʕæd]; Arabic: رياض موسى الأسعد, born 2 February 1961) is a Syrian military commander, politician who is the founding leader of the Free Syrian Army. One of the prominent faces of the Syrian Civil War, he led the armed resistance to the Assad regime as commander-in-chief of FSA, during the early phase of the Syrian Civil War. Under Riad al-Asaad's command, FSA expanded into a paramilitary force of 75,000 guerillas and insurgents in March 2012; capable of ousting regime forces from Damascus. He currently serves as the Deputy Prime Minister for Military Affairs of the Syrian Salvation Government, a position he has held since 2 November 2017. He was a former Colonel in the Syrian Air Force who defected to the opposition in July 2011 and became the first Acting Commander-in-chief of the Free Syrian Army. A number of his family members were executed by the regime of Bashar al-Assad. Despite the similar English spelling of surname, it is a completely different surname, and he is not a member of, nor related with, Syria's ruling al-Assad family.

3. Issam Zahreddine (1961 - 2017)

With an HPI of 44.71, Issam Zahreddine is the 3rd most famous Syrian Military Personnel.  His biography has been translated into 17 different languages.

Issam Jad'aan Zahreddine (Arabic: عِصَام جَدْعَان زَهْر الدِّين, romanized: ʿIṣām Jadʿān Zahr ad-Dīn, 9 September 1961 – 18 October 2017; also transliterated as Zaher Eldin or Zaher al-Deen) was a Syrian military officer and former commander of the Syrian Republican Guard. He played a major role in the Syrian Civil War, leading Syrian government forces on several fronts. His most prominent role was the leadership of the surrounded Syrian forces during the over three-year long Siege of Deir ez-Zor. On 18 October 2017, Zahreddine was killed by a land mine explosion during operations against the Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant on Saqr island in Deir ez-Zor.

4. Suheil al-Hassan (1970 - )

With an HPI of 42.47, Suheil al-Hassan is the 4th most famous Syrian Military Personnel.  His biography has been translated into 19 different languages.

Major General Suhayl al-Hasan (Arabic: سُهَيْلُ الْحَسَنِ, romanized: Suhayl al-Ḥasan; born 10 June 1970) is a Syrian miltary officer, currently serving as the commander of the Syrian Army's Special Forces. He graduated from the Syrian Arab Air Force academy in 1991, and served in many units of the Syrian Arab Air Forces and Air Defence Command, completing several training courses. After serving in the Syrian Arab Air Force and Syrian Arab Air Defence units, he joined the Air Force Intelligence service, where he was responsible for the training of the elements of the Special Operations Section. During the Syrian Civil War, al-Hasan has served and commanded his troops during several major engagements, including Operation Canopus Star and the battle for the Shaer gas field. He is part of the new generation of field Syrian army commanders who emerged during the civil war. French newspaper Le Monde has claimed he could be a rival to Assad as leader of Syria. Al-Hasan was described by analysts as preferring Russia (as opposed to Iran) to serve as the Syrian Government's main ally during the Syrian civil war and subsequent post-war reconstruction. His position is contrasted by Maher al-Assad, brother of Syrian president Bashar al-Assad and head of Syria's Republican Guard and 4th Armoured Division, who is reported as preferring Iran.

5. Rojda Felat (1980 - )

With an HPI of 28.32, Rojda Felat is the 5th most famous Syrian Military Personnel.  Her biography has been translated into 17 different languages.

Rojda Felat (born c. 1977 or 1980) is a Syrian Kurdish senior commander of the Women's Protection Units (YPJ) and Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF), who has fought in the Rojava conflict since it began in 2012, and has led several major campaigns against the Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant (ISIL). A revolutionary feminist, Felat's stated goal is to achieve social transformation in the Middle East through the YPJ, "liberating the Kurdish woman and the Syrian woman in general from the ties and control of traditional society, as well as liberating the entirety of Syria from terrorism and tyranny".