צפו גם בכתבה המעניינת על המיליציה העלווית המתעצמת והחורבן באזור הסוני של חומס

http://online.wsj.com/article/SB100...3412487708.html

The ranks of the force approach 100,000 members, and the organization is still growing, the security officials said. Rebels now see the force as a formidable adversary. On Aug. 1 rebels fired rockets at an unfinished sports auditorium in Homs city used by the defense force as an ammunition depot, causing massive secondary explosions that killed and wounded scores in a mostly Alawite neighborhood.

Nowhere has the defense force played a more prominent role than in Homs. Syria's largest and most strategic province, Homs is a symbolic place for Mr. Assad's opponents who have christened it the "cradle of the revolution." Homs has seen some of the most vicious sectarian-motivated killings committed by both sides in the civil war.

Rebel fighters in Homs say the involvement of the defense force gives a big boost to the regime because—unlike the average Syrian soldier—its members are driven by sectarian zeal. "They storm in ready to kill or be killed," says one rebel.


The defense force is part of a metamorphosis the Assad regime has undergone in the caldron of war. The regime has mobilized state resources—money, arms, control over key commodities such as wheat, fuel and even international aid—to fortify its core Alawite constituency and allied minority groups for what it believes will be a protracted sectarian battle.

סרט של PRESS TV האירנית המתאר את הפיכתה של המיליציה העלווית לכוח צבאי לכל דבר בשם ה NDF דרך סיפורם של מספר מתנדבים ללחימה בחזית חאלב. כפי שנכתב במקום אחר באשכול, חונכים ומדריכים של כוח קודס וחיזבאללה הם בין האחראים למהפך הזה, שמפצה במידה רבה על חולשתו של הצבא הסורי הסדיר.



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