National Defence Force (Syria)

The National Defence Force (NDF; قوات الدفاع الوطني Quwat ad-Difāʿ al-Watanī) is branch of Syrian Armed Forces, formed after summer 2012 as a part-time volunteer reserve component of the Syrian military, organized by the Syrian government during the Syrian Civil War.

A civilian in an Assad regime held part of Syria has stated that "In areas under government control, there is no unified central command. They are ruled by a cluster of mafia-style gangs," which include the NDF. The NDF has looted both pro-regime and opposition areas, referring to the latter type of looting as the "Sunni market", as Sunnis are the primary victim of this criminality in opposition territory.

Formation
By the beginning of 2013, Assad 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, receives salaries and military equipment from the government. Iran has contributed to establishing this new organization, which gathered together existing neighborhood militias into a functioning hierarchy and provided them with better equipment and training.

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. Many of the recruits join the group because members of their families had been killed by rebel bands or in response to the Islamist rebels that are violently oppressing, torturing and killing non-Muslims or those unwilling to live under Islamic law. In some Alawite villages almost every military age male has joined the National Defence Force. The NDF is also popular because NDF units largely only operate in their local areas.

Unlike the Syrian Army, NDF soldiers are allowed to take loot from battlefields, which can then be sold on for extra money.

Role
The force acts in an infantry role, directly fighting against rebels on the ground and running counter-insurgency operations in coordination with the army which provides them logistical and artillery support.

The NDF is projected as a secular force. For that reason, many of their members are drawn from Syrian minorities, such as Alawites, Christians, Druzes, and Armenians. According to the Washington Post and the Wall Street Journal, the creation of the group has been successful, as it had played a crucial role in improving the military situation for the government forces in Syria from the 2012 summer, when many analysts predicted the downfall of Assad and his government.

The force is reported to be 60,000-strong as of June 2013 and is set to grow to 100,000 (reached in August 2013).

Units mostly operate in their local areas, although members can also choose to take part in army operations. Others have claimed that the NDF does most of the fighting because NDF members, as locals, have a strong knowledge of the region.

Women's Section
The force has a 500-strong women's wing called "Lionesses of National Defence", which operates checkpoints. They are mainly deployed in the Homs area.

The women are trained to use Kalashnikovs, heavy machine guns and grenades, and taught to storm and control checkpoints.

Expanding role
Struggling with reliability and issues with defections, officers of the SAA increasingly prefer the part-time volunteer reserves of the NDF, who they regard as more motivated and loyal, over regular army conscripts to conduct infantry operations. Recently they've been used as support infantry to advancing armored units.

An officer in Homs, who asked not to be identified, said the army was increasingly playing a logistical and directive role, while NDF fighters act as combatants on the ground.

Training
The period of training can vary from 2 weeks to a month depending on whether an individual is being trained for basic combat, sniping, or intelligence.

Suspected Iranian connection
The United States government has said that Syria's ally, Iran, is helping build the group on the model of its own Basij militia, with some members reportedly being sent for training in Iran.