In 20, Hezbollah was active in gaining control of territory in the Al-Qusayr District of Syria, by May 2013 publicly collaborating with the Syrian Army and taking 60 percent of Qusayr by the end of 14 May. Nasrallah said that Hezbollah fighters have died in Syria doing their "jihadist duties". In February 2013, former secretary general of Hezbollah, Sheikh Subhi al-Tufayli, confirmed that Hezbollah was fighting for the Syrian Army, which in October 2012, General Secretary Hassan Nasrallah had still denied was happening on a large scale, except to admit that Hezbollah fighters helped the Assad government "retain control of some 23 strategically located villages inhabited by Shiites of Lebanese citizenship". Main article: Hezbollah involvement in the Syrian Civil War As with the shabiha, the vast majority of Jaysh al-Sha'bi members are Alawite and Shi'ite volunteers. In 2012, the Assad government created a more organized official militia known as the Jaysh al-Sha'bi, allegedly with help from Iran and Hezbollah. Despite the group's image as an Alawite militia, some shabiha operating in Aleppo have been reported to be Sunnis. Shabiha have been described as "a notorious Alawite paramilitary, who are accused of acting as unofficial enforcers for Assad's government" "gunmen loyal to Assad", and, according to the Qatar-based Arab Center for Research and Policy Studies, "semi-criminal gangs comprised of thugs close to the government". īassel al-Assad is reported to have created the shabiha in the 1980s for government use in times of crisis. In December 2012, the shabiha were designated a terrorist organization by the United States. The opposition blames the shabiha for the many violent excesses committed against anti-government protesters and opposition sympathizers, as well as looting and destruction. As the protests escalated into an armed conflict, the opposition started using the term shabiha to describe civilians they suspected of supporting Bashar al-Assad and the Syrian government and clashing with pro-opposition demonstrators. Since the uprising, the Baathist Syrian government has been accused of using shabiha to break up protests and enforce laws in restive neighborhoods. The Shabiha are unofficial pro-government militias drawn largely from Syria's Alawite minority group. Sensing that they depend on the largely secular government, many of the militias of Syrian Christians (like Sootoro in Al-Hasakah) fight on the Baathist Syrian government's side and seek to defend their ancient towns, villages and farmsteads from ISIL (see also Christian Militias in Syria). NDF members, like regular army soldiers, are allowed to loot the battlefields (but only if they participate in raids with the army), and can sell the loot for extra money. The force has a 500-strong women's wing called " Lionesses of National Defense" which operates checkpoints. The force acts in an infantry role, directly fighting against rebels on the ground and running counter-insurgency operations in coordination with the army, who provides them with logistical and artillery support. They receive their salaries and military equipment from the government, and in 2013 numbered around 100,000 troops. The Syrian NDF was formed out of pro-government militias. Main article: National Defence Forces (Syria)