Syrian Civil Defence Forces

Syrian Civil Defence Forces
PurposeCivil defence
Region served
Syria
Official languages
Syrian Arabic
Volunteers
50,000[1]

The Syrian Civil Defence Forces, also known as Self-Protection Squads,[2] is a civil defence organisation that operates in Syria.[3] It is also known as The People's Army.[4] Directors-General of the organisation have included Brigadier General Abdel-Chani Jamal.[5] The forces are divided into units or squads.[6]

The Syrian Civil Defence Forces have been part of the ICDO (International Civil Defence Organisation) from 1972 onward,[7] when there were around 50,000 volunteers.[1]

They are not connected to, and should not be confused with, the White Helmets / Syria Civil Defence (SCD).

  1. ^ a b Institute for Defence Studies and Analyses (1972). News Review on West Asia.
  2. ^ "First batch of self-protection squads in Damascus Countryside finishes training". SANA. 13 August 2013.
  3. ^ BBC. Monitoring Service (1981). Summary of World Broadcasts: Non-Arab Africa.
  4. ^ Seale, Patrick (January 1990). Asad of Syria: The Struggle for the Middle East. University of California Press. pp. 158–. ISBN 978-0-520-06976-3.
  5. ^ ARR: Arab Report and Record. Economic Features, Limited. 1977.
  6. ^ Beattie, Andrew; Pepper, Timothy (2001). The Rough Guide to Syria. Rough Guides. pp. 2–. ISBN 978-1-85828-718-8.
  7. ^ "ICDO website". ICDO. Archived from the original on 15 May 2017. Retrieved 13 May 2017.