Every time one of the conflicting forces controls the province in the Syrian east, exploiting the human reservoir and using its youth as fuel in the fighting is one of its main objectives.
Over the past few weeks, forced recruitment has intensified in Deir Ezzor and its suburbs, both within the regime-controlled areas and Iranian-backed militias, or within areas controlled by the SDF.
As the ISIS has done before, the steps of the system and the SDF have accelerated to feed their forces with more elements, whether voluntarily or unwillingly, and through different approaches and behavior.
The areas under the Assad regime and the militias, namely Deir Ezzor and the eastern and western provinces of the island, where many civilians were arrested after the expulsion of the ISIS, in order to force them to fight in the ranks of the regime.
The information obtained by the” Euphrates Post” indicates that forced recruitment opened a door for mercenaries and bribery of the regime’s officers by collecting money from those wishing to escape from compulsory or reserve service.
In this context, as documented in the cases of Deir Ezzor and its villages, the regime’s officers devised a new method of collecting money, which is to grant those wishing to escape recruitment,
A military identity belonging to a local militia affiliated with the regime forces claiming to be a volunteer in its ranks after paying about one million lira to the donors of this card, which facilitates movement within its area or when passing through security and military barriers.
In addition, attempts are being made to push a large number of the region’s people to volunteer in the ranks of its local militia or pro-national militias, including hundreds of children.
The figures obtained by the “Euphrates Post” from a special source indicate that since the expulsion of the ISIS from Deir al-Zour, more than 300 children have been recruited by its local militias (the National Defense) and its security branches or in Hezbollah or Baqir “And other militia backed by Iran.
In the SDF, the Euphrates Post documented the recruitment of more than 500 children in the ranks of the coalition-supported forces after the expulsion of ISIS from Raqqa and Deir Ezzor.
In a related context, the regime has played on the material side, by narrowing the population economically, leading them to volunteer in the ranks of one of its militias, which offers attractive salaries compared to current income rates.
For salaries of volunteers in the ranks of the regime’s forces or an allied militia, our sources say that Hezbollah and al-Baqir are the highest among their counterparts from other militias,
Because they give each volunteer in their ranks a salary ranging from 60 to 100 thousand Syrian pounds, while the security branches are given each volunteer 50 thousand pounds per month, while the salary of the enrolled in the ranks of the regime forces the barrier of 40,000 pounds.
The fact is that some militias try to entice those who wish to volunteer (in addition to their salary) through a material incentive, such as theft, by giving the element the freedom to steal from civilian homes within any area under control,Or to put it at checkpoints and crossings while ignoring the money they receive from civilians and the owners of the vehicles passing through. Thus, the salary is a “sum of money,” as some of the people of this road claim. The other doors to collect money are theft of houses,robbery in crossings and checkpoints ) Remains more important to him.
Those who volunteer in local militias, such as the National Defense,
It is not sent to other areas as the regime forces do, and these advantages are promoted by these militias to encourage young people to join their ranks.
“SDF” in turn, tried to take advantage of civilians in areas that expelled the organization, In order to support the ranks of fighters, so they took the barriers a major way to arrest the young and forced to join them,
but at the same time, tried to avoid doing so within the large tribal areas.
This is a matter of the physical extortion of the population, and if the officers of the system require the payment of one million liras to the draftees, within the areas under the “SDF” must pay between 2000 and 3000 thousand dollars,To those arrested on the pretext of recruitment, even if released.
Finally, it is worth noting that both sides accepted in SDF – the regime – with former ISIS volunteers. Euphrates Post documented dozens of Syrian ISIS members who had joined regime or “SDF”.