Issam Zahreddine | |
---|---|
Nickname(s) | "Lion of the Republican Guard"[1] |
Born | Tarba, As-Suwayda, United Arab Republic (present-day Syria) | 9 September 1961
Died | 18 October 2017 Hawijat Saqr, Deir ez-Zor, Syria | (aged 56)
Buried | |
Allegiance | Ba'athist Syria |
Service | Syrian Army |
Years of service | 1980–2017 |
Rank | Major General |
Unit | Republican Guard |
Commands | |
Battles / wars |
|
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.[3][7][8] He played a major role in the Syrian Civil War, leading Syrian government forces on several fronts.[9] 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.[10]
Israeli Druze
was invoked but never defined (see the help page).