In an apparent attempt to show diversity is Syria’s military, President Bashar al-Assad is recruiting female units to fight on the front lines of Aleppo — the five-year civil war’s deadliest battle.
The female recruits will deploy to the city’s western gates, where Assad’s Syrian Arab Army (SAA) is currently embroiled in an extended fight with opposition groups and terrorist elements, reported Syria’s al-Masdar news Monday.
More than five years of fighting has left the SAA strapped when it comes to manpower, despite support from Lebanon’s Hezbollah terrorist group, the Islamic Republic of Iran and Russia.
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Assad’s SAA has previously deployed female units to combat zones. An entire female battalion from the elite Republican Guard has fought in the Darayya suburb in the capital of Damascus.
SAA women are apparently not limited in what roles they can play. Female soldiers fight in tank battalions, sniper units and infantry squads, according to Syrian propaganda videos.
Syria’s first major female recruiting push came in 2013, when it drafted 500 women into the “Lionesses for National Defense.” At the time, Assad was hemorrhaging troops due to both casualties and defections. The “Lionesses” were initially tasked with stationing guard posts and engaging in other security procedures so their male counterparts could be sent to the front.
Female fighters have become increasingly common on both sides of Syria’s ongoing five-year civil war.
Rebel opposition groups have also made use of female fighters. The Free Syrian Army (FSA), the main rebel force in Syria, has frequently recruited women to fight Assad’s army. Um Radwan, a female fighter who fought in Aleppo, joined after her husband was killed fighting with the FSA. The Kurdish People’s Protection United, and Christian and Yazidi militias have also brought in female fighters in the fight against ISIS.
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