National Defense Force (Syria)
| National Defence Forces قوات الدفاع الوطني |
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|---|---|
 
Symbol of the NDF
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| 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 |
| Equipment | See List of NDF equipment |
| Engagements |
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| Commanders | |
 |
Brig. Gen. Hawash Mohammed |
| Insignia | |
| NDF flag |  |
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 ISIS. In late June 2015, the Syrian government began arming citizens of this governorate against ISIS, 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", with the NDF recruits receiving 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 the same 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, with some members reportedly being sent for training in Iran.
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Wikipedia