Syria seeks to integrate myriad paramilitaries
The Syrian government faces a "what now?" dilemma as it struggles to deal with all the militant groups it recruited to fight for the regime, along with rebels who have surrendered.
Syria appears to have way too much of a "good" thing. The regime finds itself flooded with numerous paramilitary networks originally created to support its war against the opposition. That yearslong civil war seems to be winding down, though peace talks have been anything but smooth.
The government is working to stabilize security in the areas under its control, in part by reintegrating the paramilitary groups into its forces. These thousands of militants include former rebels who have surrendered. So far, it's been a small-scale effort conducted by superficial means. The regime needs to develop a long-term, institutionalized plan.
At the onset of the Syrian revolution, President Bashar al-Assad's regime was faced with massive manpower problems, with soldiers defecting for political reasons or because they were reluctant to fight outside their home regions as the conflict escalated. Before the war began in 2011, the Syrian army boasted around 300,000 troops, primarily young conscripts. By 2015, that number had dwindled to fewer than 100,000.
Over the years, the regime confronted the problem by outsourcing some of its security needs to militias, which allowed conscripts to fight in local areas. Deserters were able to sort out their military status, meaning they could be granted a kind of amnesty for the time being. Large formations such as the National Defense Forces (NDF), the Local Defense Forces (LDF) and a number of paramilitary groups linked to various intelligence services marked the Syrian security landscape.
