El-Sa‘ka Forces

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
El-Sa'ka Forces
Arabic: قوات الصاعقة‎
Sa'ka Forces logo.png
Active1956-present[1]
Country Egypt
BranchEgyptian Army
TypeSpecial Forces
Garrison/HQCairo[citation needed]
Motto(s)Sweat in training saves the blood in battle
Colorsblack and yellow
EngagementsNorth Yemen Civil War, Six Day War, War of Attrition, Yom Kippur War, Gulf War, Sinai Insurgency
Commanders
Current
commander		Major General Emad Abdel Qadir Yamani
Notable
commanders		Major General Galal Haredi

El-Sa‘ka Forces (Arabic: قوات الصاعقة‎, romanized: Kuwat El Sa‘ka, lit. 'Thunderbolt Forces'), is an Egyptian military commando force established by Major General Jalal Mahmoud Fahmy Al-Haridi.[2] High fitness is required and training is conducted at the El Sa‘ka Academy which was built by Major General Ahmed Ragai Ateya.[citation needed] Unit 777 and Unit 999 are divisions of the Sa'ka forces.[3][4]

The name of the Thunderbolt Forces is originally from Ramses II, who formed a group of the Special Guard. Their mission is to explore and attack, and was known as the Thunderbolt. The Major General, Galal Haredi first to establish the Thunderbolt unit in the armed forces in the modern era in 1955.

It is reported that , who went on to become Commander, Second Field Army in 1981-83, commanded the 31 Thunderbolt Brigade and Thunderbolt Units in Yemen in 1964 during the North Yemen Civil War.

Brigades and groups[]

Dani Asher wrote in 2009 that "when the Yom Kippur War broke out there were twenty-four commando battalions in the Egyptian army, organised into six groups (majmu'ot), each of which consisted of three to five battalions. Support units included one battalion of Sager anti-tank missiles and a group of BM-21s (122mm rocket launchers)."[5]

Structure[]

Most sources use Trevor Dupuy's commando brigade designations: 127, 128, 129, 130, 131, 132, and 134. But Dani Asher clearly defines six commando groups (group = brigade size). He doesn't identify the groups, but from Arab sources, the following designations are available: 39, 127, 129, 136, 139, and 145.[6]

In 1990 there were five brigade-sized commando groups; from 2011 to 2019, the International Institute for Strategic Studies' Military Balance has continued to list a total of five commando groups.

The Sa'ka consists of eight Special Forces Regiments/Groups (Brigade level) (117th, 123rd, 129th, 135th, 141st, 147th, 153rd, 159th) (of which 3 Lightning/Saaqa regiments and three Commandos regiments, the remaining two are the Marine Commandos and the Infiltration Anti-terror units).[citation needed]

It is not clear whether references to three Infiltration Anti-terror Battalions (777th, 888th, 999th) are also a reference to Unit 777 and Unit 999.

Notes[]

  1. ^ Amos, John W. (October 22, 2013). "Palestinian Resistance: Organization of a Nationalist Movement". Elsevier – via Google Books.
  2. ^ "Sadat said about him, God will help us with the parables of my son Abdel Hamid .. the story of the hero of Operation Sad Sabbath in Israel". eg24. 2020-10-05. Retrieved 2021-07-13.
  3. ^ Ryan, p.22
  4. ^ "مقاتلو الصاعقة الـ 999 يؤدون يمين حماية الوطن فى مناورة "قادر".. صور". اليوم السابع. 2020-01-12. Retrieved 2020-04-19.
  5. ^ Asher, Dani (2009). The Egyptian Strategy for the Yom Kippur War: An Analysis. McFarland. p. 155. ISBN 0786454008.
  6. ^ "Command Decision - Test of Battle -- View topic - Chinese Farm OB". www.testofbattle.com. Retrieved 2020-05-10.

References[]

  • Ryan, Mann and Stillwell (2003). The Encyclopedia of the World's Special Forces. ISBN 0-7607-3939-0
Retrieved from ""