Pro-Government Militias

Pro-Government Militia Website

Documentation for People's Army (al-Jaysh al Sha'bi)

Nov. 23, 2011
UN Commission of Inquiry on Syria A/HRC/S-17/2/Add.1

"The militia includes the Shabbiha, which is composed of an estimated 10,000
civilians, who are armed by the Government and are widely used to crush anti-Government
demonstrations alongside national security forces; and the People’s Army, a Baath party
militia with an estimated 100,000 reservists, designed to provide additional security and
protection in cities in times of war" (p. 6).

Dec. 11, 2012
U.S. Department of the Treasury Press Release

"Jaysh al-Sha'bi is a militia controlled by the Syrian government and has conducted unilateral and joint operations with Syrian military and security elements against the Syrian opposition that have resulted in the deaths and injuries of Syrian opposition members.
Jaysh al-Sha'bi operates throughout Syria and has been particularly active in Damascus and Aleppo, where the militia has supplemented Syrian government forces' operations against the opposition.
Iran has helped establish and train the Jaysh al-Sha'bi militia in Syria to support the Asad regime and relieve pressure on Syrian government forces. Since mid-2012, Iran’s Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps-Qods Force (IRGC-QF) and Hizballah have provided training, advice, and weapons and equipment for Jaysh al-Sha'bi. Iran has also provided routine funding worth millions of dollars to the militia.
Iran's IRGC Commander Mohamad Ali Jafari also claimed that the militia, which he claimed has 50,000 members, was modeled after Iran's own Basij, a paramilitary force subordinate to the IRGC that has been heavily involved in the violent crackdowns and serious human rights abuses occurring in Iran since the June 2009 contested presidential election."

Dec. 12, 2012
The International Herald Tribune

"In a related move, the Treasury Department announced that it had also taken similar action against two pro-Assad militias: the Jaysh al-Sha'bi and the Shabiha.
''Jaysh al-Sha'bi was created, and continues to be maintained, with support from Iran and Hizballah and is modeled after the Iranian Basij militia, which has proven itself effective at using violence and intimidation to suppress political dissent within Iran,'' the Treasury said in a statement."

Feb. 11, 2013
The Washington Post

"Tehran's interest in preserving a Syrian base partly explains why the financially strapped Iranian government continues to lavish resources on groups such as Jaysh al-Sha'bi, an alliance of local Shiite and Alawite militias that receives weapons and cash from Iran, according to U.S. and Middle Eastern officials who have studied the organization. The groups are receiving military training from officers from Hezbollah and Iran's Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC)."

March 1, 2013
Holliday, Joseph. "Middle East Security Report 8 - The Assad Regime." The Institute for the Study of War (ISW)

"The rapid emergence of pro-Assad militias was predictable at the outset of the uprising, given the regime’s history of using paramilitary forces in domestic conflict. Hafez al-Assad relied heavily on the Ba‘ath-affiliated Popular Organizations, or munazzamat sha‘biya, during the early 1980s. By the mid-1980s, the Ba‘ath party referred to its institutional militia as the Jaysh al-Sha‘bi, or People’s Army, and in 2011 the Jaysh al-Sha‘bi included an estimated 100,000 paramilitaries."

Sept. 5, 2013
Scarborough, Rowan. “Proxy war: A U.S. strike on Syria is a haymaker at Iran.” The Washington Times. Available at http://www.washingtontimes.com/news/2013/sep/5/a-us-strike-on-syria-would-amount-to-a-first-slap-/?page=all

"In the meantime, the Iranian Revolutionary Guard Corps’ conventional force has helped organize a pro-Assad militia — Jaysh al-Shabi, or the People’s Army — that Iran says numbers 50,000."

June 9, 2014
Sadjadpour , Karim. “Iran: Syria’s Lone Regional Ally.” Carnegie Endowment. Available at http://carnegieendowment.org/2014/06/09/syria-s-lone-regional-ally-iran

“In conjunction with Hezbollah, Iran provides Syria with military aid and intelligence training to help crush the rebellion. In June 2013, Hezbollah fighters—estimated to be as many as 5,000 in Syria—played a critical role in recapturing the strategic border town of Qusayr. Tehran has also reportedly helped create a 50,000-strong Syrian paramilitary group known as Jaysh al-Shabi (the People’s Army) to aid Syrian government forces.”