Syrian Civil War: Faction guide part 1 out of 4, Syrian National government

For the one's following the war in the Syria-Iraq region, it can be hard to distinguish all the different factions. We clearly see the major news outlet screw up many times. I still remember when the "secular" FSA was a blanket term that included Jabbah Al Nusrah, also known as Al-quaeda in Syria.

Iv'e decided to make a few faction guide. This is by no means an exhaustive list of all the allies of the Syrian National Government, which is under the control of Bashar Al-Assad, but it is a starting point.

Syria:
Syrian National Government: Government under the control of the Baath Party of Syria, headed by Bashar Al Asaad

Armed Force Under their control:

- Syrian Arab Army: National Army, has 250,000 soldiers, Minister of Defense: Fahd Jassem al-Freij Chief of Staff of the Armed Force: Ali Abdullah Ayyoub. Allegedly possesses chemical weapons.

Notable active Front: Deir Azzor, Aleppo, Damascus, Homs, Ghouta, Idlib

- National Defense Force: Reserve Army organised for the sake of the Syrian Civil War, 80,000 to 100,000 fighters.

Notable front: Aleppo, Hama, Homs, Damascus.

- Baath Brigade: Primarily Sunni Baath Militia, Headed by Brigadier General Muhammad Kaddour, estimated fighters: 7000

Active Front: Aleppo, Damascus, Lakatia

Non-government organized militia:
Some may believe they are better off under government protection and aligned themselves with the government of Syria through their own militias.

Jaysh al-Muwahhideen: Druze Militia, set up to defend the Druze minority in the wakes of attack

Qamishli Sootoro: Christian Militia, currently active only in the city of  Qamishli, relatively peaceful city.

Syrian Resistance: Marxist-Leninist Militia, Led by Mihraç Ural, Syrian of Turkish Alawite origin, has been accused of being an Alawite Militia by the FSA. Espouse a communist ideology mixed with Syrian nationalism.

Front: Latakia, Idlib, Aleppo, and Homs

Lebanese group:
Some of the Baathist government close allies in Lebanon is fighting by the side of the Assad government.

Lebanese government: While the Lebanese government isn't align with Assad, they did clash with ISIS more than once.

Hezbollah: Considered a terrorist group by most of the Western countries, one of the best guerrilla fighter group in the world. Apparently trained the some members of the NDF. 15000 to 30000 fighters.

Highly active in: Homs, the Lebanese-Syrian Border, Aleppo, allegedly Iraq.

Republic of Iran: 
One of Syria's closest allies, they are trying to became a regional power.

Basij forces: Shia Islamic militia under the control of the government of Iran, believed to have thousands of fighters in Syria,

Qud forces: Special forces of the Iranian revolutionary guard.

60 to 70 military commander on the ground at all times, 3 battalion deployed in Syria.

International forces:
Arab National Guard: Espouse a Pan-Arabic, Anti-colonialist movement, is also anti-Israeli. estimated fighter: 1000

Active in Damascus, Homs, Aleppo

Mission statement

While I do operate a food blog, this blog would be about my other passion in life: politics, international relations and public policy. This blog will be about life, war, economics, and the ideas and policies behind them.