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

... in conjunction with units of the 14th and 15th Special Forces Divisions, thus providing armoured support to them . Lebanese Hezbollah detachments were subsequently used as an infantry component of the 4th Mechanized Infantry Division on a regular basis.... ... defending so-called “Useful Syria”. It is unlikely that the SAA numbers more than about 70,000 – 80,000 troops at present. Shabiha and the National Defence Forces The regime has not been able to restore full combat-readiness to the SAA due to the fact ...