Fatemiyoun Brigade is a militia of Afghan refugees fighting with Assad in Syria. It was established in 1980 under the name “Abu Dharr Brigade” Its name changed to “Fatemimiyoun” when it participated alongside the Syrian regime to suppress the revolution in 2013.
The brigade consists mainly of the second generation of refugees who took refuge in Iran after the Soviet invasion of Afghanistan in 1979. Estimates indicate that more than 5,000 fighters from the brigade were either killed or went missing during the fighting in Syria since 2013.