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Battered by War, Syrian Army Creates Its Own Replacement

(Reuters) In Syria, for scores of men called each month to join the army for deadly combat, there is a more attractive alternative: stay home, join a loyalist paramilitary group, and get a share of the loot in raids on President Assad's enemies. Army officers belonging mainly to the minority Alawite sect sit uncomfortably in charge of a conscript army of men who are mostly from Syria's majority Sunni Muslims. Officers wary of their own recruits say they can create a more reliable force out of irregular loyalist militias spread across the country. Pro-Assad militias used to be called shabiha. These once shadowy groups are being reorganized, trained and transformed into a volunteer reserve army - the National Defence Forces (NDF). NDF fighters say the military even pays their salary. Most NDF fighters are Alawites, but many Christians and Druze have joined as well. For many fighters, the main attraction is fighting for their own home towns and the chance to accumulate extra wealth at a time when the country's economy is collapsing. Unlike soldiers, they say they are allowed and even encouraged to loot houses when attacking rebel-held areas.
2013-04-25 00:00:00
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