| People's Popular Committees Lijan militias اللجان الشعبية al-Lijan al-Sha'biyah | |
|---|---|
| اللجان الشعبية | |
%2c_Flag_of_Syria_(1980%25E2%2580%25932024).svg) Flag of Ba'athist Syria | |
| Dates of operation | 2012 |
| Merged into |  NDF |
| Active regions | Syria |
| Ideology | Neo-Ba'athism Assadism |
| Size | 2,000–5,000 |
| Allies |  Syrian Arab Armed ForcesShabiha  Liwa Abu al-Fadhal al-Abbas |
| Opponents |  Free Syrian Army Liwa al-Islam Ahrar al-Sham Al-Nusra Front People's Defense Units |
| Wars | theSyrian Civil War |
ThePopular Committees (also calledLijan militias;Arabic:اللجان الشعبيةal-Lijan al-Sha'biyah, meaning "people's committees") were militias that emerged inSyria during theSyrian Civil War. They originated as neighborhoodvigilante groups in theChristian,Druze andAlawi and Shia Muslim quarters of Damascus and elsewhere to prevent the infiltration ofSunni-dominatedrebel groups.[4] However, the Popular Committees included a significant number of pro-regimeSunni Muslims as well.
The Popular Committees were armed by the Syrian government and manned checkpoints around their districts.[4] They have been accused of carrying out extrajudicial executions and revenge killings.[4] Reuters quoted a Druze resident ofJaramana: "[The government] say the Lijans help us protect ourselves, but really they just wanted to light the sectarian fuse in Damascus".[4]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".[5] Tony Badran ofNow 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".[6]Iran has assisted in setting up and training Shia militias in Syria.[7]
InAleppo, some residents claimed that the Syrian Army organized a Christian militia during fighting there in August 2012.[8] In theJdeideh quarter, the Christian militia was allegedly the first to fight against rebels.[9] The day after a bombing killed four government officials, including the Greek Orthodox Christian Syrian Minister of Defence, GeneralDawoud Rajiha, it was reported by residents that at least 200AK-47s were handed out in a Christian neighborhood of Damascus.[10]
From around mid-2012, hundreds of Popular Committees and other irregular paramilitary groups were merged into what became theNational Defence Forces, bringing more organisation to the groups and subordinating them within the Syrian security structures.[11]
After thefall of the Assad regime in late 2024, theSyrian transitional government began prosecute individuals who had committed crimes during the Syrian civil war. Ahmed Taama (alias "Abu Wassim al-Ruz"), "a prominent figure in the Popular Committees", was arrested over "criminal acts against civilians" in several SyrianPalestinian refugee camps in January 2025.[12]
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