People's Liberation Army (Lebanon)

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People's Liberation Army – PLA
جيش التحرير الشعبي
LeadersKamal Jumblatt and Walid Jumblatt
Dates of operation1975–1994
Group(s)Progressive Socialist Party
Lebanese National Movement
Lebanese National Salvation Front
HeadquartersBaakline (Chouf District)
Size17,000 fighters
AlliesLebanesearmyfirstflag.png Lebanese Arab Army (LAA)
Flag of the Amal Movement.svg Amal Movement
Flag of the Popular Nasserist Organization.svg Popular Nasserist Organization (PNO)
Syrian Social Nationalist Party (SSNP)
Zgharta Liberation Army (ZLA)
Lebanese Forces – Executive Command (LFEC)
Lebanese Communist Party (LCP)
Organization of Communist Action in Lebanon (OCAL)
Al-Mourabitoun
Palestine Liberation Organization Palestine Liberation Organization (PLO)
Kurdish Democratic Party – Lebanon (KDP-L)
Syria Syrian Army
Opponents Lebanese Front
Lebanese Forces
Lebanon Lebanese Army
Lebanon Internal Security Forces (ISF)
Lebanesearmyfirstflag.png Army of Free Lebanon (AFL)
Vanguard of the Maani Army (Movement of the Druze Jihad)
Flag of the Amal Movement.svg Amal Movement
Al-Mourabitoun
Sixth of February Movement
Palestine Liberation Organization Palestine Liberation Organization (PLO)
South Lebanon Army (SLA)
Syria Syrian Army
Israel Israel Defense Forces (IDF)
Battles and warsLebanese civil war (1975–1990)
Preceded by
3,000 fighters

The People's Liberation Army – PLA (Arabic: جيش التحرير الشعبي | Jayish al-Tahrir al-Sha'aby) or Armée de Libération Populaire (ALP) in French, also known as the Forces of the Martyr Kamal Jumblatt (Arabic: قوات الشهيد كمال جنبلاط | Quwwat al-Shahid Kamal Junblat), was the military wing of the left-wing Druze Progressive Socialist Party (PSP), which fought in the Lebanese Civil War. The PSP and its militia were members of the Lebanese National Movement (LNM) from 1975 to 1982.

Emblem[]

The PLA official emblem consisted of a red flag with a white disc on the centre, featuring a crossed dip pen and pickaxe superimposed on an AK-47 assault rifle in the middle standing upwards, all in silver, inserted on a golden circular wreath, the latter consisting of two interlocking branches and leaves of the bay laurel and the olive tree.

  • People's Liberation Army Flag

    People's Liberation Army Flag

  • Anti-Aircraft Corp

    Anti-Aircraft Corps

  • Armored Corps

    Armored Corps

  • Engineering and Support Regiment

    Engineering and Support Regiment

  • Artillery Corps

    Artillery Corps

  • Security Police Corps

    Security Police Corps

  • People's Liberation Army 1976 Flag Version Tanukh Brigade

    People's Liberation Army 1976 Flag Version - Tanukh Brigade

  • Popular Liberation Forces

    Popular Liberation Forces

  • Signal Corps

    Signal Corps

  • The Military School

    Military School

  • War of 1958 Veterans

    War of 1958 Veterans' association

Origins[]

Although the PSP was officially a secular political party, its military wing was not only well-organized, but also one of the largest sectarian militias in Lebanon. It was first founded unofficially by the Party's president, the za'im (political boss) Kamal Jumblatt at the height of the 1958 civil war with a strength of about 1,000–2,000 militiamen, which fought alongside the Pan-Arab/leftist anti-government forces against the Lebanese Army, and the pro-government conservative Christian and Muslim militias in Beirut and the Chouf District.

Disbanded upon the conclusion of the war, the PSP was left without an official paramilitary branch until the early 1970s, when – despite Kamal Jumblatt's initial reluctance to engage in paramilitarism – the Party's leadership board decided to quietly raise a new militia force with the help of the Palestine Liberation Organization or PLO (mainly from Fatah, PFLP and DPFLP) in response to the Christian rightist Parties' own clandestine military build-up.[1] Initial progress was slow, however, since the PSP under Kamal Jumblatt had no regular militiamen, but relied mostly on its Druze irregulars, which could be mobilised when needed. Because of the secrecy surrounding the formation of its military wing, the PSP was only able to gather 175-185 militiamen, most of them drawn from a existing Boy Scout organization,[2] and each recruit had to finance himself.[3] The weapons that these fighters used, usually a left-over from the PLO or a regional country, were obsolete, somewhat basic and in short supply, as Jumblatt had neither the means nor the will to invest heavily in his new militia.[4]

From 1971 to 1974, this initial intake of young recruits was trained by a Druze medical doctor and former officer in the Mexican Special Forces, Colonel , who manned a advanced Commando course at a PSP-run secret training camp set up near Choueifat in the Aley District.[5] Eventually, the group of 185 highly-trained fighters that graduated from the course in 1974 with excellent military skills and tactics went to provide the founding cadre for the PSP's first unconventional warfare unit, which was given the title Popular Commandos Forces – PCF (Arabic: قوات الكوماندوز الشعبية | Quwwat al-Kumanduz al-Sha'abya). Led by , they first saw action in Beirut during the Battle of the Hotels in 1975-76.[6][7] Under Kamal Jumblatt's leadership, the PSP was a major element in the Lebanese National Movement (LNM) alliance, which supported the recognition of Lebanon's Arab identity and sympathised with the Palestinians. When the Lebanese Civil War broke out in April 1975, as a member of the LNM the PSP and its small PCF militia were active founders of the movement's military wing, the Joint Forces (LNM-JF).

On 7 August 1976, following an open appeal by Kamal Jumblatt urging Lebanese Muslim youths to join the LNM-JF militias, the PSP's own military wing was re-organized and expanded to a force not exceeding 400 men, being officially established as the Popular Liberation Forces – PLF (Arabic: قوات التحرير الشعبية | Quwwat al-Tahrir al-Sha'abya).[8][9] In the process, the PLF absorbed the PCF which was integrated in the newly-created structure as the Tanukh Brigade (Arabic: لواء تنوخ | Liwa' Tanukh).[10] The name 'Tanoukh' clearly indicates Kamal Joumblatt's wish to link his current political venture to that of the early Druze settlers tasked with defending the Lebanese coast against foreign invasions. In any case, this brigade was the basis for many of the fighting units that were formed in PSP-affiliated areas, especially those engaged in combat at this early stage.[11] The PLF continued to expand and by early 1977, it mustered 2,500–3,000 lightly-armed fighters drawn from the Druze and Shia Muslim communities of the Chouf,[12][13][14][15] although other sources place its numbers as high as 5,000.[16][17]

Nevertheless, it was not until the death of Kamal Jumblatt in 1977, that a process to build a real military structure was set in motion in collaboration with the Soviet Union and Syria. On a military level both the Soviets and the Syrians took the PSP under their wing and gradually transformed its PLF militia into a proper army, with modern training and unrestricted access to weaponry when needed. The transformation of the PSP militia into an organised fighting unit was entrusted to , a Druze ex-Lebanese Army Lieutenant, who supervised training programs and military equipment deliveries to PLF units in Lebanon.[18] All these developments allowed Walid Joumblatt to finally declare on 1 June 1978 the founding of the People's Liberation Army – Forces of the Martyr Kamal Jumblatt (PLA – FMKL). The Lebanese Druze, under the leadership of Walid Jumblatt (concurrently the lider of the PSP and the LNM), now had an army capable of confronting any serious challenge, especially the perceived threat that was looming with the rise of Bashir Gemayel and his newly unified Lebanese Forces (LF) Christian militia backed by Israel.[19][20]

Military structure and organization[]

In 1975–77 the PLA was a predominantly infantry force, loosely organized into company- or battalion-sized formations provided with light weapons drawn from PLO stocks or pilfered from LAF and ISF barracks. After suffering casualties during the Israeli invasion of Lebanon of June 1982, the PLA was quietly re-organized late that year by Walid Jumblatt, who turned it into a disciplined fighting force provided with Soviet-made armoured vehicles and artillery. Headquartered at the Druze town of Baakline in the Chouf, the PSP militia by 1983 aligned 16,000–17,000 troops, consisting of 5,000–6,000 uniformed regulars backed by 12,000 male and female reservists[21][22] staffed by a qualified, professionally-trained Officer corps.

The PLA absorbed many Druze soldiers which had served with the Lebanese Arab Army (LAA) upon its forceful disbandment in 1977-78,[23] being subsequently enlarged in the wake of the Mountain War with the inclusion of a number of Druze officers, NCOs and enlisted men from the Lebanese Army's Fourth Brigade after its disintegration in February 1984.[24][25] During that conflict, the PLA also received the active support of the 1,800 men-strong, primarily Druze commanded by Colonel , stationed at Hammana and Beiteddine.[26][27][28][29][30] Although its membership and command structure was predominantly Druze, the PLA did included a number of Sunnis and Shi'ites in their ranks; most Druze recruits continued to come from the Mountain and, until the return of the Syrian Army in 1987, from the (Kantari) and the seafront quarters of West Beirut.[17]

Under the command of , from 1978 until the end of the civil war in 1990, the PSP militia annually had about 150 men in the USSR, at the two main training facilities run by the Soviet Main Directorate of International Military Cooperation, the Higher Military Combined Command Engineering School of Air Defense and the Higher United Military School in the Odessa, and the Simferopol United Military School on the Crimea.[31] In the winter of 1978, the first group of 52 Druze officer cadets arrived in the USSR, to be exposed to various military courses ranging from the School of Infantry to the more advanced Command and Staff College.[32] Following their return, these skilled fighters formed the cadres in the PSP training camps set up throughout the Chouf District, where they transferred the skills they had acquired to a large number of future combatants. On some of these camps, the Soviet-trained Druze instructors were assisted by several Syrian military advisors sent by Hafez al-Assad to support his new ally Walid Jumblatt.[33] Other Druze officer cadets received their instruction in a PSP-run Military School set up at the town of Debbiyeh, also in the Chouf.[34]

In 1986-87, Walid Jumblatt agreed to lend 2,000 PSP/PLA troops to the Libyan dictator Colonel Muammar Gaddafi to fight alongside the Libyan Army in the Chadian–Libyan conflict, as part of a aid package deal that included much-needed financing for the PSP troops in Lebanon.[35] In the end, only a small contingent of 120 Druze officers and enlisted men was actually sent to Libya, but they were never used in their intended role of fighting the Chadians; instead, the PLA contingent underwent a regimented training programme in basic infantry, armour, and artillery tactics, manned by Soviet and East German advisors. Upon the conclusion of their instruction cycle, they were provided by the Libyans with a considerable haul of Soviet-made heavy weapons, including tanks, tracked and wheeled APCs, MBRLs, and SPAAGs, before returning to Lebanon by ship to the PSP-controlled port of Jieh in the Iqlim al-Kharrub coastal enclave.[36]

Branches of service[]

In 1983-84, Walid Jumblatt reestructed the PLA along conventional lines, comprising several branches of service and support units, organized into seven brigade-sized formations termed "Corps".[37] Armored, "Commando", infantry, and artillery units were organized into independent battalions assigned to a specific area of military operations or "sector" (e.g. "Beirut Sector", "Aley Sector", "Choueifat Sector", and so forth), whilst PLA branches and specialized technical services consisted of:

  • the Infantry Corps (Arabic: سلاح المشاة | Silah al-Moushat)
  • the Armored Corps (Arabic: سلاح مدرع | Silah al-Moudara'a)
  • the Artillery Corps (Arabic: سلاح المدفعية | Silah al-Madfa'aiya)
  • the Anti-Aircraft Corps (Arabic: سلاح مضاد للطائرات | Silah Moudadoun lil Tayirat)
  • the Rocket Corps (Arabic: سلاح الصواريخ | Silah al-Sawarikh)
  • the Signal Corps (Arabic: فيلق الإشارة | Faylaq al-Ichara)
  • the Logistics Corps (Arabic: سلاح اللوجستي��ت | Silah al-luwjustayat)
  • the Engineering and Support Regiment (Arabic: فوج الهندسة والدعم | Fawj al-Hindasat Waldem)
  • the Security Police Corps (Arabic: فيلق شرطة الأمن | Faylaq Shurtat al-Amn) – the PLA regular provost corps, which served both as Military Police and as a Gendarmerie in Druze-controlled areas to maintain law and order.

Units[]

  • the 1st Naval Regiment (Arabic: أول فوج بحري | Awal Fawj Bahriin)
  • the War of 1958 Veterans' association (Arabic: حرب 1958 جمعية المحاربين القدامى | Harb 1958 Jameiat al-Muharibin al-Qudama'a)

Military facilities[]

List of PLA Commanders[]

  • Kamal Jumblatt (1975–1977)
  • Walid Jumblatt (1977–1990)

PLA Junior Commanders[]

  • Colonel
  • Lieutenant
  • (commander of the PLA Tanukh "Commando" Brigade)[38]
  • [39]
  • [40]
  • (a.k.a. 'Abu Said')
  • (commander of the Aley sector)[41]
  • (head of the security apparatus of PSP President Walid Jumblatt)
  • (commander of the PLA Security Police Corps)[42]

Weapons and equipment[]

Besides Palestinian and Syrian backing, the collapse of the Lebanese Armed Forces (LAF) and Internal Security Forces (ISF) in January 1976 allowed the PSP/PLA to seize some weapons and vehicles from their barracks and police stations, though they received further military assistance from Libya, Iraq, East Germany, and the USSR.[43][44] Additional weaponry, vehicles and other, non-lethal military equipments were procured in the international black market.

Small-arms[]

PLA infantry units were provided with a variety of small arms, comprising Mauser Gewehr 98 and Karabiner 98k, Lee-Enfield, Pattern 1914 Enfield, Berthier 1907/15 – M16 Lebel and MAS-36 bolt-action rifles, MAS-49, M1 Garand (or its Italian-produced copy, the Beretta Model 1952) and SKS semi-automatic rifles, AMD-65 assault carbines, Heckler & Koch G3,[45] FN FAL, M16A1, AK-47 and AKM assault rifles (other variants included the Zastava M70,[46] Chinese Type 56,[47] Romanian Pistol Mitralieră model 1963/1965,[48] Bulgarian AKK/AKKS and former East German MPi-KMS-72 assault rifles).[49] Submachine guns and shotguns, such as the PPSh-41,[50] Beretta Model 12, Socimi Type 821 and Remington Model 870 were employed by PLA bodyguard units.

Several models of handguns were used, such as Colt Cobra .38 Special snub-nose revolvers,[51] Tokarev TT-33, CZ 75, FN P35 and MAB PA-15 pistols. Squad weapons consisted of Bren Mk. I .303 (7.7mm), MG 34, RPK, RPD,[51] PK/PKM, FN MAG and M60 light machine guns, with heavier Browning M1919A4 .30 Cal, Browning M2HB .50 Cal,[52] SG-43/SGM Goryunov and DShKM machine guns[53] being employed as platoon and company weapons. SIG SG 542 assault rifles fitted with sniper scopes were used for sniping.

Grenade launchers and portable anti-tank weapons included M79, M72 LAW and RPG-7 rocket launchers[54] whilst crew-served and indirect fire weapons comprised M1938 107mm, 120-PM-38 (M-1938) 120mm, MT-13 (M1943) 160mm and 240mm M-240 heavy mortars,[55] plus SPG-9 73 mm,[56] B-10 82mm,[57] B-11 107mm and M40A1 106mm[58] recoilless rifles (often mounted on technicals).

Armoured and transport vehicles[]

The PSP militia fielded by 1977 a small mechanized corps made of Panhard AML-90[59][60][61] and Staghound armoured cars,[62] AMX-13 and M41A3 Walker Bulldog light tanks,[63] M42 Duster SPAAGs, Panhard M3 VTT[64] and M113 armored personnel carriers[60] seized from the Lebanese Army in February 1976, plus a fleet of gun trucks and technicals. The latter consisted of US Willys M38A1 MD jeeps,[56] Land-Rover series II-III,[65] Toyota Land Cruiser (J40),[66] Peugeot 404, GMC Sierra Custom K25/K30, Chevrolet C/K 3rd generation[67] and Jeep Gladiator J20 light pickup trucks[60] and M35A1 2½-ton (6x6) military trucks,[60] equipped with heavy machine guns, recoilless rifles, and Anti-aircraft autocannons.[68]

These vehicles were partially supplanted in the early 1980s by new models, such as Jeep CJ-5 and Jeep CJ-8 (civilian versions of the Willys M38A1 MD jeep),[69] Toyota Land Cruiser (J45),[70] , Toyota Land Cruiser (J70), Nissan Patrol 160-Series (3rd generation),[60] Nissan 620 and Datsun 720 pickup trucks,[71] whilst the disintegration of the Fourth Brigade allowed the PLA to seize a number of US M151A2 jeeps,[72] M880/M890 Series CUCV,[73] Chevrolet C-20 Scottsdale[74] and Dodge Ram (1st generation) pickup trucks, and M35A2 2½-ton cargo trucks,[73] which they turned into technicals by arming them with Heavy machine guns, recoilless rifles and AA autocannons. They also captured four Alvis Saladin armoured cars,[75] seven US-made M48A5 main battle tanks (MBTs),[76][77] AMX-13 light tanks,[76] and forty-three M113 APCs[60][78] for their own armoured corps.

The PLA's armoured units were further strengthened between 1983 and 1987 with the arrival of some 70 T-55A MBTs,[79][80] BTR-152V1,[81] BTR-60PB,[81] and BMP-1[81] APCs and two ZSU-23-4M1 Shilka SPAAGs supplied on loan by the DPFLP,[82] Syria, Libya, and the USSR,[83] which they employed in the War of the Camps waged in 1985–88 against Nasserist and PLO militias in west Beirut. For logistical support, the PLA relied on Soviet UAZ-469 light utility vehicles,[84] Toyota Land Cruiser (J42) hardtop, Toyota Land Cruiser (J45) hardtop[85] and Nissan Patrol 160-Series (3rd generation) hardtop light pickups, Syrian-supplied Mercedes-Benz Unimog 416 and GAZ-66 light trucks, Soviet ZIL-131 (6x6) military trucks, Ural-4320 AWD (6x6) general purpose trucks,[86] captured Israeli AIL M325 Command Cars ('Nun-Nun')[81][87] and US M35A2 2½-ton (6x6) military trucks.[88] A number of Soviet BTS-4 and VT-55KS Armoured Recovery Vehicles (ARV)[89] and MAZ-537G tank transporters were also employed.[90] Volkswagen (Type 2) T3 Transporter vans were used as military ambulances.

Artillery[]

The PLA also fielded a powerful artillery corps equipped with obsolete Soviet ZiS-2 57mm anti-tank guns,[91][92] M1944 (BS-3) 100mm anti-tank and field guns, M101A1 105mm towed field howitzers, 122 mm howitzer 2A18 (D-30),[93] 130 mm towed field gun M1954 (M-46),[94][91] Type 59-1 130mm field guns and M1955 (D-20) 152mm towed gun-howitzers, whilst the rocket corps fielded truck-mounted BM-11 122mm[95] and BM-21 Grad 122mm[96][97] and towed BM-12 (Chinese Type 63 107mm) MBRLs.[91][98] A small number of DEFA D921/GT-2 90mm anti-tank guns mounted on M3/M9 Zahlam half-tracks were captured from the Lebanese Forces in 1983-84.[99]

Yugoslav Zastava M55 A2 20mm,[100][101] Soviet ZPU (ZPU-1, ZPU-2, ZPU-4) 14.5mm[102] and ZU-23-2 23mm Anti-aircraft autocannons (mostly mounted on technicals and BTR-152 and M113 APCs), and towed AZP S-60 57mm anti-aircraft guns were employed in both air defense and direct fire supporting roles. In addition to AA guns and autocannons, the PLA received from Syria a number of man-portable, shoulder-launched Soviet SA-7 Grail surface-to-air (SAM) missiles which were used to bring down two Lebanese Air Force Hawker Hunter fighter jets and one Israeli Air Force (IAF) Kfir fighter-bomber jet during the 1983–84 Mountain War (the pilot was rescued by the Lebanese Army).[103][104][105][106]

Administrative organization and illegal activities[]

The stronghold of the PSP/PLA laid in the Jabal Barouk area within the Chouf, which they turned into a semi-autonomous canton in the early 1980s, known unofficially as the 'Druze Mountain' (Arabic: Jabal al-Duruz). Centred at the Druze town of Baakline – the PSP's political and military HQ – the canton comprised the Chouf District proper, including the historic towns of Moukhtara (the Jumblatt family's feudal seat near Beiteddine), Deir al-Qamar, Aley and Bhamdoun, and the Iqlim al-Kharrub coastal enclave south of Beirut, which was added to the canton in March 1984. At west Beirut, the PLA controlled since May 1985 the Druze-populated , parts of the Hamra district and a large portion of , the latter a small Druze street that housed the PSP's main political offices in the capital city.

From the Israeli withdrawal from the Chouf in 1983 to the end of the civil war in 1990, the PSP ran a highly effective and well-organized civil service, the "Civilian Administration of the Mountain" (CAM or CAOM), in the areas under its control. The CAM was set up on 1 October 1983 at Beiteddine, headed by an eight-man supreme council that included a central committee and a general congress.[107] Its own 23 bureaus staffed by 3,000 public employees provided everything from education to medical care and also employed 2,000 seasonal workers in agricultural and industrial projects in the Chouf.[17]

To finance the administration, a Druze-run Holding, the COGECO group, was made responsible for running illegal activities at the clandestine ports of Khalde and Jieh in the Iqlim al-Kharrub coastal enclave, which included the importation of fuel from Iran, drug-trafficking and gambling by a network of PSP-run Hotels and illegal Casinos. Additional revenues were generated by leaving tolls on the transit trade of agricultural products and other goods at a number of in-land PLA road checkpoints, whilst the expatriated Druze community in the United States provided financial support.

Beiteddine was also the home of the PSP/PLA media services, responsible for editing its official newspaper, "The News" (Arabic: Al-Anba'a) and operated since February 1984 their own radio station, the "Voice of the Mountain" (Arabic: Iza'at Sawt al-Djabal) or "La Voix de la Montagne" in French.[108][109][110]

Controversy[]

Historically, the Druze in Lebanon managed to maintain for centuries a small, hardy community in the Chouf Mountains overlooking Beirut surrounded by a sea of potential enemies, both Christian and Muslim, and they have a reputation of being savage fighters known for their tenacious battle spirit. Their esprit de corps and brutal methods often convinced their opponents to flee, whilst those who decided to stay and fight never lived to tell the tale.[111] However, the Lebanese Druze have also been amiable to whoever controls the Chouf region at any given time, and they were pragmatic with their dealings with foreign powers such as the Israelis, Americans and Syrians.[112]

Long-standing enemies since the 1860s, the Druze have always been at odds with the Maronites, and acts of barbarism on both sides have bedevilled their ability to co-exist for centuries past. On 16 March 1977, the PSP leader Kamal Jumblatt was ambushed and killed in his car near Baakline in the Chouf by unidentified gunmen (allegedly, fighters from the pro-Syrian faction of the Syrian Social Nationalist Party or SSNP, acting in collusion with the Syrian military commander of the Mount Lebanon region, Colonel );[113][114][115][116][117] believing that the perpetrators were members of the predominately Christian Phalangist Kataeb Regulatory Forces (KRF) or Tigers Militias, PLF militiamen extracted swift retribution on the local Maronite population living in the intermixed towns and villages around Baakline. Despite the hasty dispatch on March 17 of 4,000 Syrian Army troops from the Arab Deterrent Force (ADF) to keep the peace in the Chouf, it is estimated that about 177–250 Maronite villagers were killed in reprisal actions at the towns of Moukhtara and Barouk, and at the villages of , , , Kfar Nabrakh, Machghara and Brih.[118][116][119][120]

During the Mountain War, the predominantly Maronite Lebanese Forces militia occupied the Chouf District and tried to impose its authority by force, allegedly killing some 145 Druze civilians at in September 1983 (although other sources allege that the death toll mounted to 200 people).[121][122] The Lebanese Forces command later accused the Druze PLA of committing "unprecedented massacres" in the Chouf,[123][124] after Walid Jumblatt's militia forces overran between 31 August and 13 September 1983 sixty-two Maronite villages (including , Bireh, Ras el-Matn, Maaser Beit ed-Dine, , , , , and Maaser el-Chouf), slaughtered 1,500 people and drove another 50,000 out of their homes in the mountainous areas east and west of Beirut.[125][126]

Like other Lebanese militias, the PLA was also involved in the kidnapping of political adversaries. In one occasion, on 23 September 1984 PLA fighters attempted to seize two Lebanese Army soldiers posted on sentry duty outside the in the Ouza'i district of West Beirut, though the latter managed to escape on foot towards the Army-manned Ojjeh checkpoint situated nearby at the Green Line, despite being pursued by their captors in a civilian car.[127] Later on 8 September 1988, the deputy for Jezzine in the Lebanese Parliament, Dr , was seized by PLA militiamen at a checkpoint also in the Ouza'i district of West Beirut and driven off to the Le Bristol Hotel Beirut in Rue Madame Curie, Ras Beirut, where he was temporarily held hostage.[128]

The PLA in the Lebanese Civil War[]

The early phase 1975–1982[]

Main article: Battle of the Hotels

When the Lebanese Civil War began in April 1975, as a member of the LNM the Druze PSP was an active founder of its military wing, the Joint Forces (LNM-JF), and during the 1975–77 phase of the Lebanese Civil War, they were heavily committed in several battles. At the Battle of the Hotels in October 1975, the Popular Commandos Forces led by engaged Christian Kataeb Regulatory Forces (KRF) and Tigers Militia fighters,[129][130] and later participated in the 'Spring Offensive' held against East Beirut and Mount Lebanon, battling the Lebanese Front militias at the Aley District in March–April 1976. At the former location, the PSP Popular Commandos Forces allied with the Lebanese Arab Army (LAA) battled Internal Security Forces (ISF) and Army of Free Lebanon's (AFL) units during an unsuccessful attempt to raid the AFL Headquarters at the Shukri Ghanem Barracks complex in the district.[131][132]

Kamal Jumblatt's opposition to the Syrian military intervention of June 1976 in support of the official Lebanese Government and his adversaries of the Christian Lebanese Front militias, resulted in the PSP/PLF fighting Syrian Army troops at the in the Chouf District. Between 13 and 17 October 1976, the Druze PSP's Popular Liberation Forces and their allies of the Sunni Al-Mourabitoun militia, the LAA and the PLO inflicted heavy losses on the Syrian 3rd Armoured Division when they tried to enter Bhamdoun by force.[133][134][135][136]

The Mountain War 1983–84[]

Main article: Mountain War (Lebanon)

During the June 1982 Israeli invasion of Lebanon the PSP/PLA remained neutral, with Walid Jumblatt refusing to allow PLO units to operate within Druze territory and the PSP militia forces did not fought against the Israel Defense Forces (IDF), even though they supported their arch-enemies the Maronite Kataeb Party and its military arm, the Lebanese Forces (LF) militia.[137][138] However, when President Amine Gemayel refused to grant the Druze community the expected political representation, Walid Jumblatt formed in response on July 1983 a Palestinian- and Syrian-backed military coalition, the Lebanese National Salvation Front (LNSF), that rallied several Lebanese Muslim and Christian parties and militias opposed to the U.S.-sponsored May 17 Agreement with Israel. Led by Jumblatt's PSP/PLA, the alliance gathered its rivals of the Druze clan, the Syrian Social Nationalist Party (SSNP), the Al-Mourabitoun and the Lebanese Communist Party (LCP)/Popular Guards, which fought the LF, the Lebanese Armed Forces (LAF) and the U.S. Marines contingent of the Multinational Force (MNF II) in the Chouf and Aley Districts and at West Beirut between September 1983 and February 1984.[137][139][140]

On July 24, 1984 the PLA battled the Sunni Al-Mourabitoun militia at West Beirut, until the fighting was curbed by the intervention of the predominately Shia Sixth Brigade.[141]

The War of the Camps 1985–87[]

Main article: War of the Camps

When the broke out in March–April 1985, the PSP/PLA joined in a Syrian-backed coalition with the Popular Nasserist Organization (PNO), the Al-Mourabitoun and the Shi'ite Amal Movement, which defeated the Christian Lebanese Forces (LF) attempts to establish bridgeheads at Damour and Sidon.[142] As soon this battle ended, they joined in May another powerful coalition that gathered Amal and LCP/Popular Guards militia forces backed by Syria,[143] the Lebanese Army,[144] and anti-Arafat dissident Palestinian guerrilla factions pitted against an alliance of pro-Arafat Palestinian refugee camps' PLO militias, the Al-Mourabitoun, the Communist Action Organization in Lebanon (OCAL), the Sixth of February Movement and the Kurdish Democratic Party – Lebanon (KDP-L). Although the PSP/PLA helped Amal in defeating the Al-Mourabitoun after a week of heavy fighting,[145] they were reluctant to suppress altogether the PLO and KDP-L militias defending the refugee camps, preferring instead to stay out of the fight and remain militarily neutral in the subsequent conflict. Despite the PLA's "neutrality" posture, however, they did allowed the pro-Arafat Palestinian fighters to station their artillery on Druze-controlled areas.

Between July and November 1985, the PLA battled Amal for the control of some key positions in West Beirut previously held by the Multinational Force (MNF II), until a cease-fire agreement mediated by the Syrian military intelligence chief in Lebanon, Major general Ghazi Kanaan, was signed in late November.[146] The terms of the agreement clearly favored Amal, which forced Walid Jumblatt on November 24 to publicly "reconsider" the military presence of his own PSP/PLA militia in the western sector of the Lebanese Capital.

In January 1987, PLA bodyguards provided protection to the Church of England's special envoy Terry Waite during his trip to West Beirut to negotiate the release of several British hostages then held by the Islamic Jihad Organization (IJO), though they were unable to prevent him of being tricked and abducted in turn by the IJO on January 20. Besides personal protection, the PLA also provided security to the Commodore Hotel at Rue Baalbek on the Hamra district of West Beirut – which housed many foreign correspondents on assignment in the war-torn Lebanese Capital and served as an international news media center – and to the Soviet Embassy at Rue Mar Elias in the El-Tina quarter, also in West Beirut.[147]

The following month, the PLA and Amal again turned against each other in what became known as the "War of the Flag". The conflict was sparked by an incident on February 22, when a PLA fighter walked to the Channel 7 TV station (French: Télé Liban – Canal 7) building in the quarter[148] and replaced the Lebanese national flag hoisted there by the PSP flag, which was interpreted by Amal militiamen as a deliberate act of provocation.[149] A new round of brutal fighting soon spread throughout western Beirut, and although Amal forces initially managed to restore the Lebanese national flag on the Channel 7 building, they were subsequently overpowered by an alliance of PLA, LCP/Popular Guard and SSNP militias, who quickly seized large portions of West Beirut. Eventually, the fighting was curbed by the massive deployment at West Beirut of Syrian troops under the command of Maj. Gen. Kanaan, assisted by Lebanese Internal Security Forces (ISF) gendarmes.

That same year, the PLA fought again the Lebanese Army in the Aley District, after the predominately Christian Maronite Fifth brigade had been deployed at the strategic town of Souk El Gharb to prevent Druze artillerymen from shelling the Lebanese Capital.[150][151]

The later years 1988–1990[]

During the 1988–1990 Liberation War, the PLA fought alongside pro-Syrian Lebanese Forces – Executive Command (LFEC) and Palestinian militias backed by the Syrian Army against General Michel Aoun's Lebanese Army troops at the second battle of Souk El Gharb on August 13, 1989. The ground offensive was preceded by a massive and sustained Syrian artillery barrage on the positions held by Aounist troops, who repulsed the assault by inflicting some 20-30 casualties on the PSP/PLA attackers.[152][153][154] Later on October 13, 1990, the PLA participated in the final offensive that brought a decisive end to the Lebanese Civil War, assisting Syrian Social Nationalist Party (SSNP) and LFEC militiamen and Syrian troops in the capture of Gen. Aoun's HQ at the Presidential Palace in Baabda.[155]

Disbandment[]

Upon the end of the war in October 1990, PSP/PLA militia forces operating in Beirut and the Chouf were ordered by the Lebanese Government on March 28, 1991 to disband and surrender their heavy weaponry by April 30 as stipulated by the Taif Agreement.[156] A total of 3,300 former PLA militiamen, including 50 officers, requested integration into the structure of the Lebanese Armed Forces (LAF), but only 1,300 of these applicants were actually integrated. Some 800 ex-PLA fighters joined the re-formed Lebanese Army during the first stage, 160 of whom were attached to the Internal Security Forces (ISF) or the Lebanese Customs Administration. At a later stage, probably towards the beginning of 1992, an additional 500 Druze militiamen were integrated into the LAF and the ISF, with the process being completed by mid-1994.[157]

Despite the order to disarm, some PSP/PLA guerrilla cells continued to operate in southern Lebanon against the Israel Defense Forces (IDF) and their South Lebanon Army (SLA) proxies in the "Security Belt" until the final Israeli pull-out in May 2000.[158] The PLA is no longer active.

Uniforms and insignia[]

Usually, PLA militiamen wore in the field a mix of military uniforms, western civilian clothes and traditional Druze garb,[159] though they were known to have worn a variety of battle dress, depending on whom they allied to and what other armed forces were occupying their territory.[51]

Fatigue clothing[]

Besides ex-Lebanese Army and Syrian Army olive-green fatigues,[160] a light khaki work uniform, possibly of Libyan origin, was also issued to PLA combat troops, which consisted of a cotton shirt and pants. The shirt featured a six-buttoned front and two pleated breast pockets closed by pointed flaps, was provided with shoulder straps and had long sleeves with buttoned cuffs. It was worn with matching trousers, which had two side slashed pockets, two pleated cargo pockets closed by straight, dual-buttoned flaps, and two internal pockets at the back, closed by pointed flaps.

Camouflage uniforms consisted of Czechoslovakian Vz 60 "Salamander" (Mlok) pattern fatigues,[161] surplus US Highland pattern (ERDL 1948 Leaf pattern or "Woodland pattern") fatigues, Italian M1929 Telo mimetico fatigues,[48] West German Bundeswehr 1956 Splinter pattern jackets, Syrian or PLO Lizard horizontal and vertical patterns' fatigues, Syrian copies of the (nicknamed "Wisp") fatigues,[162] captured U.S. Woodland Battle Dress Uniforms (BDU)[51] and fatigues; the latter was a PLO Brushstroke variation incorporating very dark olive and purplish-brown strokes with very long and thin brush trails on a sandy-colored background. The PLA did develop though their own unique camouflage pattern, a hybrid lizard/Pakistani brushstroke design, which was locally-produced. T-shirts in US Highland pattern were sometimes used.

Syrian-supplied OG US M-1965 field jackets,[159] captured Israeli olive Dubon Parkas[163][48] and ex-PLO Pakistan Army olive-brown woollen pullovers (a.k.a. 'woolly-pullies') provided with breast pockets and shoulder straps, were worn in cold weather.

Headgear[]

PSP Beret and Soviet-made Afghanistan War Panamka Hat
PSP Beret and Soviet-made Afghanistan War Panama Hat resting on a PLA flag.

Usual headgear consisted of ex-Lebanese Army OG Baseball caps, PLO patrol caps in Lizard camouflage pattern and US BDU caps in U.S. Woodland camouflage pattern, and black, midnight blue or olive green berets worn French-style, pulled to the left, whilst "Commando" units wore red or maroon berets instead,[164] although berets made of PLA hybrid lizard/Pakistani brushstroke camouflage cloth were also worn by these special operations' formations. Soviet brimmed, circular sun hats in khaki cotton (Russian: Panamanka) were worn in the summer, replaced by the traditional Druze tan woollen cap in the winter;[163] a Ushanka-style shaggy black fur hat was sometimes seen. A black-and-white or red-and-white kaffiyeh was also worn around the neck as a foulard or wrapped around the head to conceal identity.

In the field, PLA infantrymen could be found wearing a variety of helmet types, consisting of Syrian-supplied East German M-56, Soviet SSh-60 and SSh-68 steel helmets or captured US M-1 and French M1951 NATO (French: Casque Mle 1951 OTAN) steel helmets, and Israeli Orlite OR-201 (Model 76) ballistic helmets. Armoured crews received Soviet black tanker's padded cloth helmets or wore US fibreglass "bone dome" Combat Vehicle Crewman (CVC) helmets and CTVC DH-132 helmets in ballistic Kevlar captured from the Lebanese Army.

In addition to helmets, some PLA militiamen also used captured flak jackets, either the Ballistic Nylon US M-1952/69 "Half-collar" vest and the Israeli-produced Kevlar ("Shapats").

Footwear[]

Footwear was equally diverse. Black leather combat boots came from Lebanese Army stocks[165] or were provided by the Syrians, complemented by Israeli black or brown leather paratrooper boots captured from the Lebanese Forces and Syrian high-top Pataugas olive canvas-and-rubber patrol boots. Several models of civilian sneakers or "trainers" and rubber gumboots were also used by PLA militiamen.[103]

Accoutrements[]

Web gear consisted on the US Army M-1956 Load-Carrying Equipment (LCE) in khaki cotton canvas and the All-purpose Lightweight Individual Carrying Equipment (ALICE) in OG Nylon captured from the Lebanese Army, ChiCom chest rigs in khaki cotton fabric for the AK-47 assault rifle and the SKS semi-automatic rifle, Soviet three-cell AK-47 magazine pouches in Khaki or OG canvas, and even IDF olive green Nylon Ephod Combat Vests; several variants of locally-made, multi-pocket chest rigs and assault vests in camouflage cloth, canvas or Nylon were also widely used.[159]

Insignia[]

Apart from Corps' and units' flags, the PLA apparently never devised a system of rank, branch or unit insignia of their own, although its personnel did wear a variety of field recognition signs. Berets were worn with the standard PLA cap badge placed above the right eye.[166] Issued in gilt metal for all-ranks, it was sometimes found pinned to Soviet sun hats and Baseball caps. White, red, olive green and black T-shirts stamped with either the PSP crest, the PLA badge, PLA unit and sub-unit insignia or the Party leaders' effigy were commonly worn by Druze fighters.[159]

A red brassard of roughly triangular shape and attached to a shoulder strap, bearing the stamped full-colour Progressive Socialist Party crest with the initials "PSP" below, flanked by the inscription of the sector to which the bearer was assigned to and surmounted by another inscription bearing "People's Liberation Army" in Arabic script, was worn on the left arm.[48] Steel helmets painted in red, marked with white stripes at the sides and the initials "PSP" were issued to Security Police Corps' troopers assigned patrol duties in urban areas.

See also[]

Notes[]

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  2. ^ Abi-Chahine, The People's Liberation Army through the eyes of a lens, 1975–1991 (2019), p. 14.
  3. ^ Sex & Abi-Chahine, Modern Conflicts 2 – The Lebanese Civil War, From 1975 to 1991 and Beyond (2021), p. 26.
  4. ^ Rabah, Conflict on Mount Lebanon: The Druze, the Maronites and Collective Memory (2020), p. 153.
  5. ^ Abi-Chahine, The People's Liberation Army through the eyes of a lens, 1975–1991 (2019), p. 16.
  6. ^ Abi-Chahine, The People's Liberation Army through the eyes of a lens, 1975–1991 (2019), p. 13.
  7. ^ Rabah, Conflict on Mount Lebanon: The Druze, the Maronites and Collective Memory (2020), p. 153.
  8. ^ Jureidini, McLaurin, and Price, Military Operations in Selected Lebanese Built-Up Areas (1979), Appendix B, B-39.
  9. ^ Rabah, Conflict on Mount Lebanon: The Druze, the Maronites and Collective Memory (2020), p. 154.
  10. ^ Sex & Abi-Chahine, Modern Conflicts 2 – The Lebanese Civil War, From 1975 to 1991 and Beyond (2021), p. 26.
  11. ^ Rabah, Conflict on Mount Lebanon: The Druze, the Maronites and Collective Memory (2020), pp. 153-154.
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  163. ^ a b Katz, Russel, and Volstad, Armies in Lebanon (1985), p. 45, Plate G3.
  164. ^ Katz and Volstad, Arab Armies of the Middle East Wars 2 (1988), p. 46, Plate G5.
  165. ^ Katz, Russel, and Volstad, Armies in Lebanon (1985), pp. 44-45, Plate G3.
  166. ^ Katz and Volstad, Arab Armies of the Middle East Wars 2 (1988), p. 46, Plate G5.

References[]

  • Afaf Sabeh McGowan, John Roberts, As'ad Abu Khalil, and Robert Scott Mason, Lebanon: A Country Study, area handbook series, Headquarters, Department of the Army (DA Pam 550-24), Washington D.C. 1989. – [1]
  • Alain Menargues, Les Secrets de la guerre du Liban: Du coup d'état de Béchir Gémayel aux massacres des camps palestiniens, Albin Michel, Paris 2004. ISBN 978-2226121271 (in French)
  • Bassel Abi-Chahine, The People's Liberation Army through the eyes of a lens, 1975–1991, Éditions Dergham, Jdeideh (Beirut) 2019. ISBN 978-614-459-033-1
  • Beate Hamizrachi, The Emergence of South Lebanon Security Belt, Praeger Publishers Inc., New York 1984. ISBN 978-0-275-92854-4
  • Boutros Labaki & Khalil Abou Rjeily, Bilan des guerres du Liban (1975-1990), Collection "Comprendre le Moyen-Orient", Éditions L'Harmattan, Paris 1993. ISBN 978-2738415257 (in French)
  • Chris McNab, Soviet Submachine Guns of World War II: PPD-40, PPSh-41 and PPS, Weapon series 33, Osprey Publishing Ltd, Oxford 2014. ISBN 9781782007944
  • Edgar O'Ballance, Civil War in Lebanon, 1975–92, Palgrave Macmillan, London 1998. ISBN 0-333-72975-7
  • Elizabeth Bicard, Prospects for Lebanon – The Demobilization of the Lebanese Militias, Centre for Lebanese Studies, Oxford (no date). ISBN 1 870552 64 4
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  • John C. Rolland (ed.), Lebanon: Current Issues and Background, Nova Science Publishers, Hauppauge, New York 2003. ISBN 978-1-590-33871-1 – [7]
  • John Laffin, The War of Desperation: Lebanon 1982-85, Osprey Publishing Ltd, London 1985. ISBN 0 85045 603 7
  • Joseph Hokayem, L'armée libanaise pendant la guerre: un instrument du pouvoir du président de la République (1975–1985), Lulu.com, Beyrouth 2012. ISBN 9781291036602, 1291036601 (in French) – [8]
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  • Zachary Sex & Bassel Abi-Chahine, Modern Conflicts 2 – The Lebanese Civil War, From 1975 to 1991 and Beyond, Modern Conflicts Profile Guide Volume II, AK Interactive, 2021. ISBN 8435568306073

Further reading[]

  • Denise Ammoun, Histoire du Liban contemporain: Tome 2 1943–1990, Fayard, Paris 2005. ISBN 978-2-213-61521-9 (in French) – [17]
  • Fawwaz Traboulsi, A History of Modern Lebanon: Second Edition, Pluto Press, London 2012. ISBN 978-0745332741
  • Jean Sarkis, Histoire de la guerre du Liban, Presses Universitaires de France – PUF, Paris 1993. ISBN 978-2-13-045801-2 (in French)
  • Jonathan Randall, The Tragedy of Lebanon: Christian Warlords, Israeli Adventurers, and American Bunglers, Just World Books, Charlottesville, Virginia 2012. ISBN 978-1-935982-16-6
  • Samir Kassir, La Guerre du Liban: De la dissension nationale au conflit régional, Éditions Karthala/CERMOC, Paris 1994. ISBN 978-2865374991 (in French)
  • William W. Harris, Faces of Lebanon: Sects, Wars, and Global Extensions, Princeton Series on the Middle East, Markus Wiener Publishers, 1997. ISBN 978-1558761155, 1-55876-115-2

External links[]

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