We stopped them and we killed them but Christian guys from Saidnaya also died in the battle… The Syrian government protects and provides Christian people with weapons and ammunition because they are loyal to Syria

Sari was driving through the Ghouta region east of Damascus last year delivering car parts to a customer when his car was stopped by several armed men. He was forced out of the vehicle, which was driven away along with his wares.

That was the moment the 25-year-old Christian from Saidnaya, 30km north of Syria’s capital, Damascus, decided to join the National Defence Forces – locally based pro-government militia groups armed by the Syrian regime.

Today, he’s a paid militia member operating as a frontline responder to rebel attacks on his mostly Christian-populated town – cannon fodder in a war that has drawn in international powers across the region.

“I wanted to fight because I love my country and I want to defend my town, where they [opposition fighters] used to kidnap people and ask for ransom,” he told The Irish Times.

“In the past, the armed people used to fire mortars into Saidnaya but we attacked their areas and killed a lot of their men and took their weapons. We succeeded in making Saidnaya safe from the mortars.”
With all but two national army divisions (the Alawite-dominated fourth division and the Republican Guard) long since diverted from the front lines to prevent defections, the Syrian regime has become increasingly reliant on civilians from minority religious groups to fight rebels.

Christian militias have been fighting on the side of the Syrian government since 2012, fearing an onslaught from the jihadi groups that emerged from the instability that accompanied the 2011 revolution.

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The recapturing of Maaloula and Yabroud – both areas with large Christian populations close to the Lebanese border – was crucial in preventing opposition forces from moving weapons and supplies between Syria and Lebanon. It also means Hizbullah, the Lebanese Shia militia fighting in support of President Bashar al-Assad, has control of important border regions in both countries.

As more Christians die fighting for the regime, the community is set to become further involved in the conflict. Pictures of Sari and his friends on Facebook show them holding guns and dressed in fatigues, while notes mourning friends killed in fighting are also commonplace on social media websites.
Still, he says, there are opportunities for compromise.

“If the armed people want to face us with killing or with negotiations we are ready . . . But we in Saidnaya all have weapons and we fight with the government,” he said.

Using a local expression, he said: “We’re going to protect Saidnaya for as long as women give birth.”