The Syrian regime of President Bashar al-Assad is mobilizing civilians and turning them into paramilitary forces, according to a Syrian NGO. Reports from the ground in the war-torn country have proven notoriously unreliable, but one of the paramilitary groups – part of a newly dubbed National Defense Army – is described as a women’s brigade named as “Lionesses for National Defense.” The Syrian Observatory for Human Rights also implicated Iran in the program, noting that Tehran has “provided training to the paramilitary force’s commando fighters” in the NDA. Iran has also admitted that members of Iran’s Revolutionary Guard are active in the fighting in Syria.

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