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TheForces of the Brave (Arabic:جيش الصناديد / قوات الصناديد,romanized: Quwwāt aṣ-Ṣanādīd / Jayš aṣ-Ṣanādīd), generally called theal-Sanadid Forces,[6] is a militia formed by the ArabShammar tribe to fight against theIslamic State.[17] Even though the tribe's Syrian strongholds are mostly in theJazira Canton of theAutonomous Administration of North and East Syria (AANES), such as atal-Yaarubiyah andTell Hamis, the militia operates throughout most of the AANES. The red colour in their flag represents blood while the yellow represents the light, calling themselves “marchers on the red death”.[18] The al-Sanadid Forces are affiliated with the co-governor/co-president of Jazira Canton and tribal leaderHumaydi Daham al-Hadi, and are led by Humaydi's sonBandar al-Humaydi.[19][1][20][21][22][23]
The al-Sanadid Forces primarily want to ensure the Shammar tribe's autonomy and security in theAl-Hasakah Governorate; furthermore, they have pledged to fightWahhabism. Humaydi Daham al-Hadi has also expressed his ambition to facilitate the breakup ofSaudi Arabia, likely to retake the formerEmirate of Jabal Shammar from theHouse of Saud.[4][5]
The Shammar tribe generally maintains a long cooperative relationship with the Syrian Kurds since the 18th century,[4] despite a number of tribal disputes. In course of the2004 Qamishli riots, the Shammar under Humaydi Daham al-Hadi were the only Arab tribe in al-Hasakah Governorate that refused to fight the Kurdish protestors for the government.[24] As result, when the al-Sanadid Forces were formed, they were set up as explicitly pro-Kurdish. Humaydi Daham al-Hadi and his son both repeatedly expressed loyalty to and support for the Kurdish forces.[4][5][24]
The al-Sanadid Forces' stance in regard to theBa'athist government ofBashar al-Assad is ambiguous. Whereas some sources regard Humaydi Daham al-Hadi as "anti-government" figure,[24] others accuse the al-Sanadid Forces of siding with the government,[17] while strictly opposing theSyrian opposition.[25][26] The militia itself has claimed that it neither supports nor opposes Assad's rule, with Humaydi Daham al-Hadi having said that "whoever rulesDamascus rules Syria".[6][4][5]
The Shammar is a historically powerful and prestigious tribal group, though their number and influence in Syria has dwindled since the independence of Syria. After the outbreak of the Syrian Civil War and the almost complete retreat of theSyrian Army from theal-Hasakah Governorate in mid 2012, Humaydi Daham al-Hadi soon aligned himself with the Syrian KurdishDemocratic Union Party (PYD)[25] and in 2013 set up theArmy of Dignity (Jaysh al-Karama), which later transformed into the al-Sanadid Forces. The alliance with the Kurds and the formation of the Army of Dignity were Humaydi's response to the growing power of Jihadi groups like ISIL in the region.[6] By aiding the PYD'sYPG andYPJ in capturing much of the al-Hasakah Governorate, and especially securing the local oil fields,[24] the militia managed to grow in size and power, which allowed Humaydi Daham al-Hadi to maintain his authority over the Syrian Shammar.[25] Shammar members that were opposed to him and the PYD while supporting theSyrian opposition faced "expulsion and imprisonment" by the Army of Dignity / al-Sanadid Forces.[25][26]
As the influence of the al-Sanadid Forces and the Shammar grew, their cooperation with the PYD increased. Humaydi Daham al-Hadi was elected co-governor (along with Hediye Yusuf) of Jazira Canton in early 2015, while the al-Sanadid Forces joined theSyrian Democratic Forces and helped to expel ISIL from the rest of the al-Hasakah Governorate over the course of 2015/16.[25][19] The growing power of the Shammar was however resented by other Arab tribes in northeastern Syria such as theTayy, which led them to oppose any attempts by the al-Sandid Forces to integrate non-Shammar tribal forces into their ranks. Some tribes have instead opted to support the Assad government[25] or even ISIL.[27]
Nevertheless, experts still consider the al-Sanadid Forces as important mediators between Arabs and Kurds, and major diplomatic asset for the PYD and SDF.[6][25] As result, the Shammar militia took part in several offensives in the non-Kurdish/non-ShammarRaqqa Governorate, such as theTishrin Dam offensive,[13] theNorthern Raqqa offensive,[14] and thecampaign andbattle to captureRaqqa city, ISIL'sde facto capital.[6][28][16] The SDF has also advocated that an offensive against the ISIL-held areas inDeir ez-Zor Governorate should be spearheaded by theDeir ez-Zor Military Council and the al-Sanadid Forces instead of otherUnited States-allied Arab militias such as theLions of the East Army,Revolutionary Commando Army orDeir ez-Zor Liberation Brigade. RegionalWINEP expertFabrice Balanche claimed that this support for the Shammar militia stemmed primarily from the PYD's unwillingness to allow potential political rivals to grow in power in eastern Syria,[29] although both the Lions of East as well as Deir ez-Zor Liberation Brigade have themselves expressed opposition or even open hostility toward the SDF.[30][31]
Despite their usual cordial relationship, there have also been tensions between the YPG and the al-Sanadid Forces over time, such as when violent local disputes erupted between factions of two groups in June 2017.[32]
Although the group has previously stated their anti-Saudi stance and have used rhetoric against the country, in early 2018 after US PresidentDonald Trump expressed his desire to withdraw American military forces from Syria, Saudi officials held talks with the group in hopes of establishing an Arab force to replace American forces and counter Iranian influence.
