Liwa Zainabiyoun

Liwa Zainabiyoun
لواء زينبیون
Liwa Zainabiyoun; لواء زينبیون
	Official flag of the group
Also known as	Hezbollah Pakistan
Founders	Saqib Haider Karbalai; ("Haj Haider") †; Qasem Soleimani; ("Haj Soleimani") X;
Founding leader	Saqib Haider Karbalai †
Military leader	Irshad Hussain (alias "Qalandar") X;
Known Commanders	Saqib Haider Karbalai (alias "Haj Haider") †; (2012–2017); Abid Hussain Turi (alias "Tehran Turi"); (2017–2021)
Dates of operation	2012 (de facto, but officially in late 2014) – present
Split from	Liwa Fatemiyoun
Allegiance	Iran IRGC; ;
Headquarters	Iran (Mashhad and Qom)
Active regions	Syria (until 2024); Iraq (2016–2018, 2024–2025); Yemen (in Houthi territory);
Ideology	Shia Islamism; Jihadism (Shia); Khomeinism; Wilayat al Faqih; Anti-Zionism; Anti-Americanism; Anti-Salafism; Factions: Sectarianism;
Slogan	إِن يَنصُرْكُمُ ٱللَّهُ فَلَا غَالِبَ لَكُمْ [Quran 3:160]; "If Allah helps you, none can defeat you."
Status	Active
Size	~Several hundreds (est. 2014); c. 800–2400+ (est. 2019); c. 2500–4500+ (est. 2020/24); c. 2,000–5,000+ (est. 2021); c. 5,000–8,000+ (est. 2025)
Part of	Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps; Axis of Resistance
Allies	State allies: Iran; Iraq; Russia; Ba'athist Syria (until 2024); Yemen (Supreme Political Council); Non-State allies:; In Syria: ; As part of the Iranian intervention in the Syrian civil war: National Defence Forces (until 2024); Liwa Abu al-Fadhal al-Abbas (until 2024); Liwa al-Quds (until 2024); Syrian Hezbollah (until 2024); Baqir Brigade (until 2024); Islamic Resistance Front in Syria (since 2025); ; In Afghanistan:; Liwa Fatemiyoun; Hezbollah Afghanistan; In Lebanon:; Hezbollah; Amal Movement; In Azerbaijan:; Hussainiyoun/Hüseynçilər; In Yemen:; Houthis; In Iraq: Popular Mobilization Units Badr Organization; Liwa al-Tafuf; Kata'ib al-Imam Ali; Islamic Resistance in Iraq Harakat Hezbollah al-Nujaba; Kata'ib Hezbollah; Asa'ib Ahl al-Haq; Kata'ib Sayyid al-Shuhada; Mukhtar Army; Harakat Ansar Allah al-Awfiya; ; ; In Bahrain:; Al-Mukhtar Brigades; In Pakistan:; Tehreek-e-Jafaria Pakistan Sipah-e-Muhammad Pakistan; ; Ansar-ul-Hussain Khatam-ul-Anbia; ;
Opponents	State opponents: United States; Israel; Yemen (Presidential Leadership Council); Saudi Arabia; Syria (since 2024); Non-State opponents: ; In Syria:; National Front for Liberation; Free Syrian Army; Syrian National Army; Turkistan Islamic Party in Syria; Islamic Front; al-Nusra Front; Hayat Tahrir al-Sham; Islamic State; Ahrar al-Sham; Pakistani Taliban; Syrian Democratic Forces (sometimes, until 2024/25); In Pakistan:; Tehreek-e-Taliban Pakistan; Jaish ul-Adl; Lashkar-e-Jhangvi (until 2024); Sipah-e-Sahaba (until 2018); Turkistan Islamic Party (until 2015–2017); In Iran:; Ansar Al-Furqan; Jaysh ul-Adl; In Afghanistan:; Turkistan Islamic Party; Pakistani Taliban; Lashkar-e-Jhangvi (until 2024);
Battles and wars	Iran–Israel proxy conflict; Iran–Saudi Arabia proxy conflict; Syrian Civil War Battle of Aleppo (2012–2016); Aleppo offensive (October–November 2016); Aleppo offensive (November–December 2016); Siege of Deir ez-Zor (2014–2017); Palmyra offensive (2017); Hama offensive (March–April 2017); Battle of Khasham; Northwestern Syria offensive (December 2019–March 2020); ; War in Iraq (2013–2017); Yemeni Civil War; Sectarian violence in Pakistan 2007 Kurram Agency conflict; 2023 Kurram Parachinar conflict; 2024 Kurram conflict; ;
Designated as a terrorist group by	Pakistan; United States;

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The Followers of Zainab Brigade (Arabic: لِوَاء الزَّيْنَبِيُون, romanized: Liwā' az-Zaynabīyūn, Persian: لواء زينبیون, romanized: Liwa Zeinabiyoun, Urdu: لواء زينبیون, romanized: Liwa Zaynabiyoun) also known as the Zainabiyoun Brigade, Lashkar-e-Zainabiyoun, or the Zainabiyoun Division, is a Shia Khomeinist Pakistani militia group. It was actively engaged in the Syrian Civil War against ISIL. It draws recruits mainly from Shia Pakistanis living in Iran, with some also from the Shia Muslim communities living in various regions of Pakistan, as well as Shia Afghan refugees living in Pakistan. The Brigade had sent thousands of fighters to Syria, Iraq, and Yemen to fight against ISIL and other groups and factions under the support of Iran's Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps.

It was formed and trained by the Iranian Revolutionary Guards and operates under their command. Initially tasked with defending the Sayyidah Zaynab Mosque, it entered frontlines since then across Syria, until 2024. Its dead are buried primarily in Iran. A minimum of 158 of their fighters had died in Syria as of March 2019 (based on publicly announced funeral services), excluding those killed in Israeli airstrikes. According to 2019 estimates, the total number of Pakistani fighters in the brigade barely exceeded 800.

Liwa Zainabiyoun's fighters also were limitedly involved in War in Iraq (2013–2017) and Yemeni civil war under the support of IRGC’s Quds Force as the Brigade is the part of Iran's Axis of Resistance.