The Syrian Armed Forces Seven Years into the Conflict: From a Regular Army to Volunteer Corps

... resilient in battles within cities and in the defence of village settlements than the SAA. Contrary to popular belief, not all Shabiha groups are Alawites . Some are made up of Sunnis. For example, in Aleppo the role of Shabihi was played by the Sunni ... ... period. They have since become an integral part of the regime’s armed forces. The most famous of these groups are Lebanon’s Hezbollah and numerous Iraqi groups, such as Liwa al-Zulfiqar and Liwa Asadullah al-Ghalib, which emerged as the followers of the Shiite jihad “pioneers” ...