Assad replaces his brother with Russian-backed commander

CAIRO – 13 November 2017: In a new, unexpected move by Syrian President Bashar al-Assad, he announced excluding his younger brother, Maher al-Assad, from leading the Republican Guard, according to Syrian media outlets.

The real reasons behind the announcement were not clear; however, some of the outlets affirmed that the president’s decision came due to several disputes between him and his brother, which ended with him excluding Maher from the position.

What complicated the decision and made it even more unexpected, is that Maher had just received a new promotion by his brother a few months ago. In June 2017, Maher was announced to be promoted from Brigadier General to Major General for the Daraa military campaign.

Several speculations spread about the scenarios, in particular since Maher was known to be his brother’s right hand, especially after the 2011 awakening in Syria. The rumors included that the disagreement between the two brothers led to the division of the army.

According to Sky News, the 49-year-old younger brother was reported to have lost a leg during an attack on Syria's security cabinet in Damascus in 2012. He is also named on the International Criminal Court (ICC) chemical weapons list.

Major General Talal Makhlouf was announced to take the position as a successor to Maher. According to the Syrian outlets, Makhlouf is a Russian-backed commander with high influence within the army.

From his side, the new commander excluded most of the former leaders and commanders in the army who were known to be loyal to Maher, as others were appointed.

This announcement comes shortly after the latest international reports that accused the Syrian president and his government, including Maher, with being responsible of the latest chemical attack over the town of Khan Shaykhun, Idlib in April 2017.

The investigation committee affiliated with the United Nations affirmed in its latest report that Bashar al-Assad was involved, and several governments demanded the investigation to continue.

Syria’s political situation has been deteriorating since the protests emerged with the Arab Spring revolutions in 2011, when the opposition created the Free Syrian Army to face Assad’s forces. The situation worsened when the Islamic State (IS) terrorist group began interfering in the country in 2014.

About 470,000 people have been killed since the beginning of the war, as of February 2016, according to the latest data from the U.N. Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs. Some 1.6 million Syrians have been domestically displaced, while the number of refugees has reached 4.8 million people, the data added.