民兵在叙利亚的角色与作用

Five years in crisis. Syria is short of manpower in all areas. The government is now counting on militias to maintain stability in newly regained villages. A CCTV crew has visited one militia training camp, to see the process and to explore the militiamen's role.

A live-fire drill in Syria's Drej. It's part of the graduation ceremony at a militia training camp. The scenario simulates routine procedures of  how extremists seize a town, bomb attacks at check points, and then forced entry. Most of these volunteer trainees are local farmers or workers. And they are not young.

"I'm 54 years old. I used to be a traffic policeman. I joined the militia to help the government troops.  Then maybe we can get rid of terrorism sooner," Militia volunteer Abo Hasan said.

The training camp is in the Damascus countryside governorate, northwest of the capital. It belongs to a People’s Self-Protection Unit. The militiamen will be trained for three months. They take classes from combat and weapon usage to check point patroling. Government troops will hand over the security management to them after the army recaptures villages.

"This is the fifth batch of trainees of the self-protection units. Their major tasks are protecting civilian homes and public facilities in their own villages," Saleh Bakkour, member of Damascus contryside governorate, said.

Nationwide there are three of these training camps. Some five thousand militiamen will finish their classes within the coming month, and start their mission.

The Syrian government hopes that with their help, life in the newly regained villages will return to normal soon.