The Lebanese Civil War

In early September 1983, under the command of Colonel Nayef Kallas, Fourth Brigade's units were deployed at the towns of Khalde,^[12] Aramoun, Kabr Chmoun and Shahhar – where they relieved the Christian Lebanese Forces (LF) militia garrisons that had repulsed the first wave of ground assaults by the Druze People's Liberation Army (PLA) militia led by Walid Jumblatt and were running out of supplies – in the Chouf District, being entrusted with the mission of defending the southern approaches of Beirut.^[13] Like their colleagues of the Eighth Brigade led by Colonel Michel Aoun at Souk El Gharb, the Fourth Brigade bore the brunt of the Druze PLA attacks for three days, until it began to show signs of a confessional split in the ranks, since its Druze soldiers were reluctant to fight their coreligionists.

On February 13, 1984, a Shi'ite Amal Movement force succeeded in driving out other Lebanese Army units from their positions in the southern approaches to west Beirut, seizing Khalde (with the exception of the adjoining International Airport, still being held by the U.S. Marines' contingent of the Multinational Force in Lebanon), tightening the noose around the beleaguered Fourth Brigade.^[12] Lebanese Air Force Hawker Hunter jets flew their last combat sortie over the Chouf, carrying out air strikes against advancing Druze PLA forces on the western portion of the Shahhar region in support of the Fourth Brigade's units reinforced by the 101st Ranger Battalion from the 10th Airmobile Brigade^[14] fighting desperately to retain their positions at Aabey, Kfar Matta, Ain Ksour, and Al-Bennay, which achieved little success due to poor planning and lack of coordination with Lebanese Army units fighting on the ground. This situation was exacerbated by the fact that Lebanese National Salvation Front (LNSF) militias managed to intercept, alter, and retransmit Lebanese Army radio communications, which allowed them to impersonate the LAF command in east Beirut by ordering Fourth Brigade units to retreat to safer positions. Simultaneously, they ordered Lebanese Army's artillery units positioned at east Beirut to shell their own troops' positions in the western Chouf, which wreaked havoc among Fourth Brigade units and forced them to fall back in disorder towards the coast while being subjected to friendly fire.^[14]

On February 14, after linking up at Khalde with their Shi'ite Amal Movement allies, the Druze PLA militia forces drove the Fourth Brigade from their remaining positions in the western Shahhar region 3½ miles (about 4 km) south to the vicinity of Damour and Es-Saadiyat, in the Iqlim al-Kharrub coastal enclave, as they attempted to create a salient from Aley to the coast at Khalde, south of Beirut.^[12] Surrounded and badly mauled, the Brigade disintegrated when approximately 900 Druze enlisted men, plus 60 Officers and NCOs, deserted to join their coreligionists of Jumblatt's PLA or Syrian Social Nationalist Party (SSNP) militias.^[12][15] The remainder 1,000 or so Maronite Christian Officers' and men either withdrew to the coast, regrouping at the Damour – Es-Saadiyat area or fled south across the Awali River, seeking protection behind Israeli lines while leaving behind some US-made Tanks and APCs, Jeeps, trucks, Howitzers, and ammunition.^[16] After reaching Damour and Sidon, the soldiers were evacuated by sea under the auspices of the Lebanese Navy to east Beirut, where they enrolled in the 10th Airmobile Brigade^[17] and other Christian-dominated army units.^[12][18]

Most of the Fourth Brigade's abandoned equipment was shared by several Lebanese militias, namely the Lebanese Forces (LF), the Druze PSP/PLA, the Shia Amal Movement^[14] and the South Lebanon Army (SLA). According to a CIA report, at least a total of twenty-seven M48A5 MBTs, fourteen M113 APCs and thirty-four trucks were reportedly sighted stored at several locations north of the Awali River, including a quarry east of Al-Harah and other places along the coastal road between that river and Damour.^[19] The LF salvaged seven M48A5 MBTs,^{[20][21][22][23]} five AMX-13 light tanks,^[20] twelve Panhard AML-90 armoured cars,^[20][24] some M113 APCs,^[25] and a number of FH-70 155mm Howitzers, while the Druze militias seized forty-three M113 APCs^[8][26][27] and AMX-13 light tanks^[6] and seven M48A5 MBTs,^[6][28][7] as well as some M101A1 105mm towed field howitzers. Amal seized a number of Panhard AML-90 armoured cars,^[29] AMX-13 light tanks, and AMX-VCI and M113 APCs,^[30] whilst the SLA also captured eight M113 APCs and a few AMX-VCI APCs and seven M48A5 tanks. The SLA, LF, Amal and the PSP/PLA also seized all the defunct Brigade's liaison and transport vehicles, which the latter three militias turned into technicals by re-arming them with heavy machine guns, recoilless rifles and anti-aircraft autocannons.^[31][32]