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WEEKLY NEWSLETTER
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Lebanon
Index
The Eighth Brigade, commanded by Colonel Salim Kassis, was the
strongest, best equipped, best trained, and most elite unit in the
Lebanese Army in 1987. It was regarded as loyal to the president
and the government. It consisted of 2,000 men, about 80 percent of
whom were Christians from the northern region of Akkar, with the
remaining 20 percent Sunni Muslims. It included a mechanized
battalion equipped with ninety United States-made armored personnel
carriers, an armored battalion with thirty-three United States-made
M-48 tanks, and a missile battalion equipped with eighteen pieces
of field artillery. It was stationed at the Presidential Palace at
Babda and at the Ministry of Defense in the Yarzah section of
Beirut. In 1983 the Eighth Brigade bore the brunt of fighting
against Druze militia in Suq al Gharb and against leftist militia
in West Beirut.
Data as of December 1987
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