By Samah Abdul Fattah | 2025-03-16

While it was in power, the Syrian regime used the military's 4th Division, led by Bashar al-Assad's brother Maher, as a tool of repression and a key source of funding for its operations, activists and experts said.

Though the fall of the regime put an end to the 4th Division, some have expressed concern that former members have gone underground and may cause trouble in the future by financing acts of violence against Syria's new rulers.

A fresh round of deadly violence on Syria's Mediterranean coast came shortly after a former 4th Division general, Ghiath Dalla, announced on social media the formation of a "military council for the liberation of Syria," AFP reported.

The 4th Division came to prominence as an instrument of the regime's repression after the uprising of 2011, when it began to act openly after a period of clandestine operations, said Syrian media activist Mohammed al-Beik.

Maher al-Assad directed operations, as the Syrian president did not want his name to be directly associated with the 4th Division's "dirty work," he said.

This included repression, "massacres, theft, looting, smuggling and the manufacture and export of narcotics, especially Captagon pills," he added.

In return for their services, Maher al-Assad and those close to him were given broad powers that enabled them to control many Syrian regions, he said.

4th Division's economic legacy

The 4th Division’s actions over the course of more than a decade struck at the bedrock of the Syrian economy, said Syrian economist and University of Damascus lecturer Mahmoud Mustafa.

"What the former Syrian regime did, through its repressive and financial tool represented by the 4th Division, will take a long time to repair," he said.

"Maher al-Assad built a financial empire that controlled all economic facilities without exception," he explained.

Maher al-Assad and the circle around him "controlled most commercial and economic activities directly or by imposing exorbitant fees to allow activities to be carried out," Mustafa said.

While al-Assad remained in power, "the 4th Division was able to benefit from the events and fighting through the organized looting of homes whose owners had fled, and the extraction of iron and copper," he said.

But the fall of the Syrian regime dealt a blow to the 4th Division and to its key ally, Lebanese Hizbullah.

The revenue streams of both groups were sharply curtailed as a result of the closure of the border crossings with Iraq and Lebanon and the tightening of control over airspace and coastal areas to put an end to smuggling, he said.