Who's who in the battle for Syria

Pro-government

1. Syrian army
Numbers: 250,000
Territory: (included on the map. Click on image above to view infographic)

Although many of its officers defected and the Syrian Minister of Defense was assassinated in 2012, the Syrian army remains a united force. However, the army has suffered a string of territorial losses in the past few months, triggering a ramping up of Russian support. Most recently the Syrian army has been completely forced out
of Idlib province.

While there are no published figures on defections and deaths of Syrian army soldiers, it has been documented that thousands of Syrians have fled to Europe as refugees, many of them in order to dodge the military draft. This shortage of manpower was acknowledged by President Bashar Al Assad in July 2015 and has prompted giant billboard ads to appear throughout major cities, encouraging young people to “join the Army.”

2. Quwat Al Difaa Al Watani
Numbers: 100,000
Territory: Damascus, Syrian coast

The group are civilians recruited and trained in combat by Syrian and Iranian experts. They were involved in light battles in the Damascus countryside and villages on the Syrian coast. Perceived as something of a National Guard, they patrol streets and administer checkpoints.

3. Al Jaish Al Shaabi
Numbers: 50,000
Territory: Damascus, Homs, Hama, Aleppo, Tartous, Latakia

A parallel army of non-combatant civilians that emerged in 2012 recruited and trained by Iran and Syria. Membership is cross-sectarian.

4. Liwaa Abu Al Fadel Al Abbas
Numbers: 10,000
Territory: Southern Syria and Damascus countryside

This group is a purely Iraqi Shiite militia trained with Iranian funds and weapons. They were dispatched to Syria under then- Iraqi Prime Minister Nouri Al Maliki on the premise of ‘protecting Shiite shrines’. They are well-trained and highly effective and well-paid.

5. Popular committees (Al Lijan Al Shaabiya)
Numbers: 7,000
Territory: Damascus, Homs, Hama, Latakia, Tartous, Sweida

Non-combatant civilians recruited by the Syrian government to patrol streets, administer checkpoints. They take orders from the Syrian army but do not carry heavy weapons. Composed of mostly young men and even some women.

6. Hezbollah
Numbers: 5,000
Territory: Qalamoun, Zabadani, Damascus countryside

A purely Lebanese Shiite militia and one of the most effective players on the Syrian battlefield. Highly organised, the group carries sophisticated weapons and has a powerful media branch. They provide the Syrian army with vital intelligence and political support. They have almost single-handedly cleared the Syrian-Lebanese border from rebel presence.

7. Fatah Al Intifada
Numbers: 3,000
Territory: Yarmouk refugee camp only

Palestinians from Syrian and Lebanese refugee camps that are armed by the Syrian government and Iran. Their military operations are restricted within the Yarmouk Refugee Camp in Damascus. Most are poor and uneducated young men who had
no choice but to take up arms to make a living.

8. Syrian Social Nationalist Party
Numbers: 1,000
Territory: Latakia, Aleppo, Homs, Qalamoun, Sweida, and Damascus

Mostly composed of Syrian Christians this group is composed of civilians trained in light warfare by the Syrian government. They are educated young men who lead normal lives by day and carry arms only when they need to protect their cities and towns.

9.Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestine
Numbers: 1,000
Territory: Yarmouk refugee camp only

Composed of entirely underprivileged Palestinian youth from the Yarmouk Camp, the PFLP have always been pro-regime having fought against the pro-Muslim Brotherhood group Hamas in the past and now the Syrian rebels. The group does not carry heavy weapons and its operations are purely restricted to the Yarmouk Camp.

10. Jaish Al Muwahideen
Numbers: 200
Territory: Druze pockets around Damascus

Concentrated only in the Druze mountains and in Druze pockets around Damascus the small band of men are funded by the Syrian government to protect its enclaves from rebel attacks.

11. Russian Army
Numbers: 200
Territory: Latakia, Tartous

Russia has been providing Syria with a steady flow of arms since 1957 and maintains a small naval base in the port city of Tartous. Arms delivery has increased since the onset of the Syrian uprising and has exponentially increased since September 2015 as the Syrian regime endured major territorial losses across the country and rebels began enclosing on the Allawite stronghold on the coastline. Reports have emerged that Russia has been building a military airbase in Latakia signaling a more permanent presence on the ground.

Anti-government

1. Islamic Front
Numbers: 70,000-
Territory: Northern Syria

This group is composed of many Islamist groups who banded together and now hold a very firm grip in the north of Syria. The Salafist group is well-trained and highly effective and gets most of its funds from Saudi Arabia. They have fought fierce battles in Aleppo against the regime as well as Daesh.

2. YPG
Numbers: 50,0000-
Territory: Northern Syria (Kobani, Tal Abyad, Qamashli, Hassakeh, Aleppo)

A purely Kurdish force that relies on funding from Kurdish donors and Iraqi Kurdistan it was originally formed in 2004 to champion Kurdish rights. The YPG has proven to the most effective counterforce to Daesh having liberated much of the Syrian northern border with Turkey. It originally avoided clashing with the Syrian army but now has been more active in cooperating with rebel groups except Daesh and Jabhat Al Nusra.

3. Free Syrian Army
Numbers 45,000-
Territory: Small pockets in Damascus countryside, Aleppo and Latakia

This army emerged as the most powerful rebel force at the beginning of the conflict and was composed of mainly Syrian army defectors--its leader Colonel Riad Al Asa’ad, was an ex-officer in the Syrian army. It received most of its funding from Turkey, Qatar, Saudi Arabia and even the US. A decrease in funding and support has led to its gradual decline while better-funded Islamist groups have thrived. Many of its members left to join other rebel groups for financial reasons. It remains the most secular rebel group on the ground.

4. Daesh
Numbers: 35,000
Territory: Most of Western Syria with Raqqa as the capital of its self-declared Caliphate , Palmyra in the middle, and pockets in the north

An ultra-extremist Islamist group that emerged as an offshoot of the Al Qaida branch in Iraq. Its leader is a shadowy figure known as Abu Bakr Al Baghdadi, an Iraqi native of Samarra. Daesh, which almost overnight became the wealthiest terrorist group in the world, stunned the world as it captured large swaths of territory in Iraq and then Syria at an astonishing speed. The group declared a so-called Islamic State in the territory it captured with its capital, Raqqa, in the east of Syria.

It has captured international headlines by crucifying, beheading, drowning, burning alive, and raping its victims. It also has destroyed many ancient monuments in Iraq and Syria, declaring them to be idols and against Islamic teachings. The group’s beliefs and tactics have been widely condemned by mainstream Muslim groups. It has targeted minority groups and shrines but has also been responsible for killing many Sunnis as well. It fights not only against the Syrian regime but also other rebel groups. While the emergence of Daesh led to a military campaign against it by a US-led coalition, it is still only responsible for a fraction of the overall deaths in the conflict compared to the Syrian regime.

5. Ahrar Al Sham
Numbers: 30,000-
Territory: Idlib province

Funded by Turkey, Qatar and donors from Kuwait, this group also got many of its weapons and equipment from the Syrian army through battlefield victories. It is composed of 83 separate brigades, with its most powerful one coming from those who defected from the Free Syrian Army. They are highly effective and espouse a Salafi doctrine.

6. Jaish Al Islam
Numbers: 25,000-
Territory: Damascus suburbs (Ghouta & Douma)

The group was founded in 2013 by Zahran Alloush, the son of Saudi-based Syrian cleric, but originated from an earlier group called Liwaa Al Islam back in 2011. The group claimed an attack at a security complex in Damascus killing the Minister of Defense and several top officials. The revamp of the army came at the behest of Saudi Arabia which wanted to create a counterforce in the Damascus countryside to challenge both the Syrian army and Jabhat Al Nusra. It also received support from Turkey although many of its weapons come from the Syrian army through battlefield victories.

7. Al Ittihad Al Islami Li Anjad Al Sham
Numbers: 15,000-
Territory: Ghouta in Damascus suburbs

Composed of 53 powerful combat brigades and gets most of its weapons from battlefield victories. Founded in 2013, it is viewed as a counterweight to Jaish Al Islam.

8. Jabhat Thuwar Souria
Numbers: 15,000-
Territory: Idlib province

Founded as a merger of Free Syrian Army units in response to the creation of the Islamic Front, the group played a very critical role in the Syrian role against the Syrian army and also Jabhat Al Nusra and Daesh. It receives funds from Saudi Arabia ,Turkey and non-lethal aid from the US.

9. Asala Wa Al Tanmiya
Numbers: 13,000-
Territory: Countryside of Aleppo, Damascus, Homs and Hama

The group has 36 brigades and was created in 2012 as a moderate counterforce to Daesh. Most of its members are defectors from the Syrian army, Islamists and civilians trained in combat. The group has stolen its weapons from other players on the ground.

10. Syrian Martyr's Brigade
Numbers: 12,000-
Territory: Idlib Province

This group is a coalition of locally-recruited civilians who were brought together by Jamal Maarouf and given arms to fight the Syrian army in Idlib and the countryside. After the Syrian army were kicked out of Idlib, the group shifted its focus on fighting more radical groups such as Daesh and Jabhat Al Nusra. They were generally embraced by the local population being an all-Syrian force with no foreigners. Some of its funds come from Saudi Arabia but mostly it comes from the locals of Idlib and battlefield spoils.

11. Jabhat Al Nusra
Numbers: 10,000-
Territory: Idlib province

Founded in 2012 by Deir Al Zor native Abu Mohammad Al Jolani, the group is an off-shoot of Al Qaida and receive most of its funds from Salafi donors in the Arab and Muslim world. Many of its members are former disciples of the Syrian Al Qaida leader Abu Musa’ab Al Souri, a former associate of Osama Bin Laden from his days in Afghanistan. The group, though small in numbers, is one of the three most powerful militias on the Syrian battlefield. It has its own military and shura council and a powerful media branch. It fights the regime but also Daesh and also wants to create an Islamic state in Syria eventually.

12. Jabhat Al Akrad
Numbers 7,000-
Territory: Kurdish cities in the north and Aleppo

This Kurdish group was expelled from the Free Syrian Army over its ties to the PKK Iraqi Kurdish guerilla force. It is also close to the PYD, the Turkish Kurdish group. In 2014, the group reconciled with the FSA with the common aim of fighting Daesh.

13. Yarmouk Army
Numbers: 3,000-
Territory: Daraa and Al Qunaitra in south of Syria

This group which was founded in 2011 is mainly focused in Dera’a and Al Quneitra in the south of Syria. It is considered a moderate Islamic group founded by Syrian army defectors. It cooperates with the Free Syrian Army but its fighting capacity has been greatly reduced by more powerful Islamist units in the south.

14. Jaish Al Mujahideen
Numbers: 5,000-
Territory: Aleppo countryside

This group founded in 2014 by Mohammad Shakerdi and Shaikh Tawfik Shihab Al Deen is funded purely by the US and receives its training in Qatar. It has 10 brigades and operates mostly in the Aleppo countryside, especially along the roads leading to Turkey. Its main focus is combating Daesh rather than the Syrian army and the group has no links to the Free Syrian Army.

15. Liwa Shuhada Idlib
Numbers: 800-
Territory: Idlib province

Founded in 2012 as a loose coalition of civilians who took up arms to fight the Syrian army in Idlib, it has cooperated with the Free Syrian Army and fought both Daesh and Jabhat Al Nusra. It has also been engaged in battles with Hezbollah.

16. Haraket Sham Al Islam
Numbers: 500-
Territory: Aleppo and Latakia countrysides

This group is a foreign militia composed purely of North Africans. It has collaborated with Daesh.

17. Dawn of Freedom Brigades
Numbers: 400-
Territory: Aleppo and Raqqa province

Founded in 2012, the group of mostly civilians operate in Aleppo and the Raqqa province and fight both Daesh and the Syrian army.

18. Hazm Movement
Number: 400-
Territory: Northern and Western Syria

Founded in 2013, the group is funded by the US and Qatar. Considered as a moderate force, it is fighting both Daesh and Jabhat Al Nusra in Idlib.

19. Failak Al Sham
Number: 300-
Territory: Homs, Hama and Idlib

Founded by a Syrian cleric who fled to Sweden in the 80s, many members belong to the outlawed Syrian Muslim Brotherhood.