Malhama Tactical Company - the world's first Islamic PMC

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The magazine AST “Arms Exports” No. 1'2017 (January-February) published a rather interesting article by Akram Kharefa on the first Islamic PMC Malhama Tactical, which deals with the preparation of Islamists, operating in Syria. We offer our readers to get acquainted with the material.


MalhamaTactical (Aleppo) strike group (c) Twitter @MalhamaT



The war in Syria was recently marked by a landmark event - the number of days of hostilities exceeded the duration of the Second World War. This civil war, which has now become a mini-world war, involved tens of thousands of fighters from more than 30 countries and regular armies of six states.

It is normal that such wars give rise to real monsters, but for some time their logic tends to balance the opposing forces and “level off” their tactics and methods of warfare.

This explains the recent appearance of the first private military company (PMC) in the Islamic world, which is symbolically called Malhama Tactical.

In Arabic, malhama means a bloody battle or a face-to-face battle. But the reason why PMCs took this particular name may be related to the place where it was created - in the north of Syria, near the village of Dabik. This small village, which does not mean anything strategically, is a symbol of the apocalypse for Muslims. In the context of the war in the Middle East, it also has a theological and mystical significance. Theological in the sense that from the point of view of the teaching of the afterlife in Islam, Malhama is the last battle between Muslims and Romaeans, who are Christians from Byzantium (for some they are Russians, for others it’s Americans), which will eventually overthrow the world.

In the Hadith (a legend about the words and actions of the Prophet Muhammad), in the version set forth by Abu Muslim, these events are described in even greater detail: “The last hour will not come until the Byzantines attack Dabik. The army of Muslims will be assembled from the best warriors on earth and sent from Medina for their counterattack. When the two armies come together, the Byzantines will cry out: "Let us fight with those like us who converted to Islam." And Muslims will answer: "In the name of Allah, we will never abandon our brothers." Then the Malhama battle will continue. One-third admit defeat. Allah will never forgive them. One third will die. They will be the best martyrs in the eyes of Allah. And one third will win. They will never again be put to the test, and they will seize Constantinople. ”

Given this name, how can you determine that this is not just an armed Islamist group, of which there are more than 50 in the region, but a real PMC?

The answer is simple - it has a specific location where training is being conducted and support is provided for any group of Islamists. Moreover, on the social network Twitter, PMC invites qualified instructors, promising a good salary, one day off per week, a stable and interesting job. The requirements for future candidates are that they must be Muslims, have experience as instructors, and also know the tactics of modern warfare.

This PMC is very active on social networks (Vkontakte, Twitter, Youtube), and basically the company publishes content in Russian. The head of the group calls himself Abu Rofik, he is most likely Uzbek by nationality, and, in his own words, he served in the Russian Airborne Forces. His six assistants also speak Russian, and most likely they are also Uzbeks, although at least one person looks like a native of the Caucasus.


Screenshot of Steyr AUG automatic rifle video review from Malhama Tactical (c) YouTube

This group, which was an organic part of the Jabhat Ahrar Asham group (formerly Front Nusra), was created in 2016 in Northern Aleppo and actively participated in the preparation and training of militants from various factions of the Jabhat Ahrar Asham and other groups, participated in the battle for Aleppo.

They were directly involved in the planning and capture of 6 August 2016, the artillery base in Ramushesh and the Artillery Academy, which were located in the south of Aleppo. This attack allowed the Islamists to break through the blockade of the city and connect with reinforcements marching from the south.

Malhama Tactical also slightly participated in the training of militants of the Islamic Party of Turkestan in Latakia at the beginning of 2016, as well as in Aleppo, most likely in April-May of 2016.

Only after the capture of Aleppo by the Syrian government army did this group declare its desire to be reformatted into PMCs, offering its services to other groups of the same kind, both in training militants and as an elite combat unit for operations in the Middle East and Africa. Abu Rofiq gave an interview to the journalist of the ForeignPolicy, in which he said that the company did not forget about the Muslims in Myanmar and Xinjiang, as well as that it would be possible to return to Russia to conduct jihad in it.

Before this, the group demonstrated its capabilities as instructors by organizing a series of video trainings intended for improvised or beginner groupings. These videos were adapted to the conditions of the Syrian conflict, and they allowed to apply the skills they saw in open space or in enclosed spaces. The group created a target complex, and its fighters showed how to storm a building or a fortified position. In a series of training programs, it was demonstrated how to reduce losses by providing first aid using modern means, primarily individual dressing bags of western production, used by both orderly nurses and individually by fighters. In other educational films it was shown how to use the most popular on the battlefield. weapon - Steyr AUG, M16, M4 automatic rifles, while not questioning the traditional weapons in the region - AKM machine gun. Also from the clips you can learn how to make weapons from abandoned ammunition, for example, to convert an VOG-17 grenade automatic grenade into a hand grenade.


"Our team successfully continues its work towards the training of rebels, large and small groups" (c) vk.com

In this case, the level of training offered by Malhama Tactical allows militant groups to get out of the usual war of attrition, which is very popular among Islamists because of their numbers and which involves fighting until ammunition runs out and then dies. Among the dozens of videos that Malhama Tactical has publicly demonstrated, not one has suicide training personnel or the development of a kamikaze attack, they are all based on tactical superiority and the ability to survive on the battlefield through teamwork and coordination of their actions. It can also serve as evidence of a decrease in the influx of foreign fighters and the increasing reluctance of the local population to join the fighters.

It seems that the Russian military is aware of the activities of this group, which was monitored by intercepting radio communications and signals from GSM devices of members of Malhama Tactical. As a result of February 7 2017, the head of the Abu Rofic group was subjected to an air strike in Idlib. It seems that he accidentally managed to survive, since he left his refuge some time before the attack. His wife and child died in an air strike.

Today it is difficult to say whether the economic model of Islamic PMCs will be able to prove its viability, but as the conflict moves to a less active and longer phase, the need for groups offering instructor services will only increase.
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19 comments
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  1. +3
    April 1 2017 05: 45
    Although Malhama Tactical was the first PMC to work exclusively with radical groups, its colleagues have long been involved in the Syrian war. This conflict, which lasts almost six years and claimed the lives of more than 400 thousand people, has become a real find for mercenaries. In the midst of chaos in which the Islamic State, Kurdish self-defense units, Fatah al-Sham and other parties are fighting a fierce territorial and symbolic struggle, private military organizations only rub their hands. They work from all sides and in all camps.
    The first PMC in Syria was the Slavic Corps, a Hong Kong-registered group of retired Russian military personnel who, according to Interpreter, briefly supported government forces in 2013. But it turned out to be difficult to work for the Assad regime. The Syrian military stole equipment from the fighters of the Slavic Corps, they were never paid, and a Syrian helicopter tangled in wires fell on their convoy (one mercenary was wounded). The mishaps of the corps ended in October 2013 in a desert in eastern Syria after the victory of the rebels at As-Sukhna. The group was disbanded, and the mercenaries returned to Moscow, where the FSB quickly detained them for illegal military activities.
    1. +1
      April 1 2017 09: 21
      Suppose Muslims have captured Constantinople long ago, and now they need? belay
      1. 0
        April 1 2017 09: 59
        Quote: siberalt
        Suppose Muslims have captured Constantinople long ago, and now they need?

        This is not true. Istanbul was never Constantinople, historians have brazenly deceived us.
        1. +1
          April 1 2017 10: 58
          Wow. But this is already interesting. Then what is Constantinople and what is Istanbul?
          1. 0
            April 1 2017 11: 16
            Quote: CT-55_11-9009
            Then what is Constantinople

            Near the mouth of the Danube there is a city - Constanta - which in Greek will sound like Constantinople. Earlier, when coasting was the only one on the sea, and there were no railways, the Danube was the main transport artery of Europe. And Constantinople was the gateway to Europe.
            Not for nothing that the Rurikovichs wanted to gain a foothold in this place - in order to control trade with Europe.
            1. 0
              April 3 2017 15: 35
              do not smack nonsense, Constance is Toms
              1. 0
                April 3 2017 15: 54
                Quote: cherrybuster
                do not smack nonsense, Constance is Toms

                You cannot know this.
                What i wrote
                Quote: KaPToC
                Earlier, when coasting was the only one on the sea, and there were no railways, the Danube was the main transport artery of Europe.

                these are natural causes. And this "volume" of yours is the invention of historians.
                1. +1
                  April 6 2017 21: 00
                  Yes, historians like Gumilyov got divorced ... Then who and when founded Istanbul? Ottomans in 1453? Or the crusaders in 1201? And they immediately navigated him.
                  1. 0
                    April 6 2017 21: 45
                    Quote: CT-55_11-9009
                    Then who and when founded Istanbul?

                    It doesn't matter at all.
    2. 0
      April 1 2017 17: 01
      It was in that year .. In the summer of vkrbovpl one me comrade ... Unknown to me and
  2. 0
    April 1 2017 08: 30
    Come on, inflate the elephant. Donkeys
  3. 0
    April 1 2017 10: 21
    It seems to me that if you scratch here and there, then the hairy ears of the state PMCs will come out in this righteous matter.
  4. +3
    April 1 2017 11: 06
    PMCs are not PMCs, but since they help in preparing the radicals and themselves take part in military operations, it means a direct enemy and must be destroyed. Moreover, they declare their return to Russia to continue jihad.
  5. 0
    April 1 2017 11: 16
    by intercepting radio communications and signals of GSM devices members of Malhama Tactical.

    Can someone explain to me how to intercept the "GSM device signal"?
  6. 0
    April 1 2017 11: 42
    PMC is a commercial organization, and where is Islam, to take money to protect Muslims, it's like haram. rave. Why pay money (a priori large) when in the Near and Middle East Doher bosots in sandals, ready for one dollar to cut their mother.
  7. 0
    April 1 2017 13: 51
    The group leader calls himself Abu Rofik, he is most likely an ethnic Uzbek, and, in his own words, he served in the Russian Airborne Forces. Six of his assistants also speak Russian, and most likely also Uzbeks, although at least one person looks like a native of the Caucasus.

    They got into the army whoever got into the country who got hit "after all, former citizens", d ...
  8. 0
    April 1 2017 17: 43
    In short. These devils are not to be let into Russia. Let them die outside of Russia.
  9. 0
    April 1 2017 19: 14
    Quote: Rich
    The first PMC in Syria was the Slavic Corps,

    They performed the role of escort and protection. They arrived without weapons and equipment. As a resort. Weapons were given out by junk and, as a result, after the first attack of the militants, they were wounded. they didn’t create, they have one end in Syria, to the gourii in paradise!
  10. 0
    April 3 2017 08: 11
    Well, America has not been discovered. In Syria there are at least half a dozen full-fledged PMCs from Iran, Saudi Arabia, Qatar, Turkey and, in fact, Syria
  11. The comment was deleted.

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