The Abu al-Fadhel al-Abbas Brigade is a pro-government shi'ite militia active in the syrian civil war. The group is named after Abbas ibn Ali, the some of Imam Ali and important figure in shi'a islam in his own right. The official reason for its formation was to defend Shi'a holy sites against desecretion by members of ISIS as the later view shrines and similar sites as being a form of idolatry.