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Russia, Iran compete for influence in Syria via private security companies

Private security companies in Syria with ties to Russian and Iranian forces are busily recruiting young men with attractive salaries.
A man watches as Russian troops escort a convoy of Syrian civilians leaving the town of Tal Tamr in the northeastern Hasakeh province, to return to their homes in the northern town of Ain Issa in the countryside of the Raqqa region, via the strategic M4 highway, on January 10, 2021. - The town of Tal Tamr is on the front line between the Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF) and the Syrian factions supported by Turkey. 
Civilians stranded on both sides of the line because of heavy fighting, have been able to retur
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Russia and Iran are taking every opportunity to increase their influence in Syria. They recently urged private security companies to open offices across Syria, offering young men large amounts of money to work for them amid deteriorating economic conditions and a lack of job opportunities in the Syrian regime-controlled areas.

The Syrian government had stopped issuing licenses to private security companies when the civil war broke out in 2011, but resumed the authorizations in 2013.

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