The Popular Committees (also called Lijan militias; ar, اللجان الشعبية ''al-Lijan al-Sha'biyah'', meaning "people's committees") were militias that emerged in Syria during the Syrian Civil War. They originated as neighborhood

vigilante Vigilantism () is the act of preventing, investigating and punishing perceived offenses and crimes without legal authority. A vigilante (from Spanish, Italian and Portuguese “vigilante”, which means "sentinel" or "watcher") is a person who ...

groups in the

Christian Christians () are people who follow or adhere to Christianity, a monotheistic Abrahamic religion based on the life and teachings of Jesus Christ. The words '' Christ'' and ''Christian'' derive from the Koine Greek title ''Christós'' (Χρ ...

Druze The Druze (; ar, دَرْزِيٌّ, ' or ', , ') are an Arabic-speaking esoteric ethnoreligious group from Western Asia who adhere to the Druze faith, an Abrahamic, monotheistic, syncretic, and ethnic religion based on the teachings o ...

and Alawi and Shia Muslim quarters of Damascus and elsewhere to prevent the infiltration of Sunni-dominated

rebel groups Rebellion, uprising, or insurrection is a refusal of obedience or order. It refers to the open resistance against the orders of an established authority. A rebellion originates from a sentiment of indignation and disapproval of a situation and ...

. However, the Popular Committees included a significant number of pro-regime

Sunni Muslims Sunni Islam () is the largest branch of Islam, followed by 85–90% of the world's Muslims. Its name comes from the word ''Sunnah'', referring to the tradition of Muhammad. The differences between Sunni and Shia Muslims arose from a disagr ...

as well. The Popular Committees were armed by the Syrian government and manned checkpoints around their districts. They have been accused of carrying out extrajudicial executions and revenge killings. Reuters quoted a Druze resident of

Jaramana Jaramana ( ar, جرمانا) is a city in southern Syria, administratively part of the Rif Dimashq Governorate in the Ghouta plain. Its location, 3 kilometers southeast of the Syrian capital, makes it a bustling town in the greater Damascus metr ...

: " he governmentsay the Lijans help us protect ourselves, but really they just wanted to light the sectarian fuse in Damascus". '' StrategyPage'' claimed that the Syrian Army offered weapons to minority communities in contested cities: "if the minorities will form self-defense militias and keep rebels out, the Army will not fire artillery at those neighborhoods"."The Bloody Long Shot"
''StrategyPage'', 14 September 2012. Tony Badran of ''Now Lebanon'' commented: "Assad seeks to assemble the minorities around him in order to present himself as the sole and unavoidable interlocutor on behalf of these segments of Syrian society, where he has cultivated loyal patches".Badran, Tony
"The minority strategy"
''Now Lebanon'', 8 September 2012.

Iran Iran, officially the Islamic Republic of Iran, and also called Persia, is a country located in Western Asia. It is bordered by Iraq and Turkey to the west, by Azerbaijan and Armenia to the northwest, by the Caspian Sea and Turkm ...

has assisted in setting up and training Shia militias in Syria. In Aleppo, some residents claimed that the Syrian Army organized a Christian militia during fighting there in August 2012. In the

Jdeideh Jdeideh ( ar, جديدة المتن Romanization of Arabic, translit. al-Judaydat), also Jdayde, Jdaideh and Jdeidet el-Matn, is a coastal municipality and the administrative capital of the Matn District in the Mount Lebanon Governorate. Jdeideh ...

quarter, the Christian militia was allegedly the first to fight against rebels. The day after a bombing killed four government officials, including the Greek Orthodox Christian Syrian Minister of Defence, General Dawoud Rajiha, it was reported by residents that at least 200

AK-47s The AK-47, officially known as the ''Avtomat Kalashnikova'' (; also known as the Kalashnikov or just AK), is a gas operated, gas-operated assault rifle that is chambered for the 7.62×39mm cartridge. Developed in the Soviet Union by Russian s ...

were handed out in a Christian neighborhood of Damascus. From around mid-2012, hundreds of Popular Committees and other irregular paramilitary groups were merged into what became the National Defence Force, bringing more organisation to the groups and subordinating them within the Syrian security structures.

References

{{Syrian civil war Pro-government factions of the Syrian civil war Axis of Resistance

See also

References