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National Defence Force (Syria)

National Defence Forces
قوات الدفاع الوطني
National Defense Force SSI.svg
National Defence Force Syria Logo.jpg
Symbol of the NDF
Active 1 November 2012 – present
Country Syria
Allegiance Syrian Arab Republic
Type Infantry (militia)
Role Reserve Army
Counter-insurgency
Size 90,000–100,000
Part of Syrian Armed Forces
Garrison/HQ 3002 Damascus, Syria (main HQ)
With elements in:
Aleppo Governorate
Hama Governorate
Latakia Governorate
Tartus Governorate
Homs Governorate
al-Hasakah Governorate
Damascus Governorate
As-Suwayda Governorate
Deir ez-Zor Governorate
Equipment See List of NDF equipment
Engagements

Syrian Civil War:

Commanders
Syria-Amid.jpg Brig. Gen. Hawash Mohammed
Insignia
NDF flag Flag of the National Defence Force Syria.svg
National Defence Forces
Quwāt ad-Difāʿ al-Watanī
Participant in the Syrian Civil War
Active 1 November 2012 – present
Ideology Syrian nationalism
Groups
Headquarters Damascus
Area of operations Syria
Allies
Opponents

Syrian Civil War:

The National Defence Forces (NDF) (Arabic: قوات الدفاع الوطني‎‎ Quwāt ad-Difāʿ al-Watanī) is a pro-government militia, formed after summer 2012 and organized by the Syrian government during the Syrian Civil War as a part-time volunteer reserve component of the Syrian military. The NDF is made of units across various Syrian provinces, each of them consists of local volunteers willing to fight against rebels for various reasons.

By the beginning of 2013, the Syrian government took steps to formalize and professionalize hundreds of Popular Committee militias under a new group dubbed the National Defence Forces.

The goal was to form an effective, locally based, highly motivated force out of pro-government militias. The NDF, in contrast with the Shabiha forces, received salaries and military equipment from the government. Since the formation of the NDF, Shabiha members have been incorporated into its structure.

Young and unemployed men join the NDF, which some see as more attractive than the Syrian Army, considered by many of them to be infiltrated by rebels, overstretched and underfunded. A number of recruits say they joined the group because members of their families had been killed by rebel groups. In some Alawite villages almost every military-age male has joined the National Defence Force.

Others, like the Druze people of Al-Suwayda Governorate, join to protect their land from the Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant (ISIL). In late June 2015, the Syrian government began arming citizens of this governorate against ISIL, who were harassing the local population with abductions, executions, and plundering. The locals became a large and powerful NDF contingent in the governorate, including the prominent Golan Regiment.

The creation of the NDF was personally overseen by Iranian Quds Force commander Qasem Suleimani. Syrian security officials stated that they received assistance from Iran and Hezbollah, who both "played a key role in the formalization of the NDF along the model of the Iranian 'Basij' militia". The NDF recruits received training in urban guerilla warfare from Army of the Guardians of the Islamic Revolution (IRGC) and Hezbollah instructors at facilities inside Syria, Lebanon, and Iran, with this partnership remaining in place as of April 2015. Iran has contributed to gathering together existing neighborhood militias into a functioning hierarchy and provided them with better equipment and training. The United States government has also stated that Iran is helping build the group on the model of its own Basij militia, and that some members are being sent for training in Iran.


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