page_title: Mercenary
section_title: Syrian Civil War
hierarchical_section_title: Mercenary / History / Middle East / Syrian Civil War
caption_attribution_description: English: A banner on the wall of the office of (Al-Mehdi Army) in Al-Diwania, Iraq announcing the killing of one of the militia members in Syria
context_page_description: A mercenary, sometimes known as a soldier of fortune, is an individual who takes part in military conflict for personal profit, is otherwise an outsider to the conflict, and is not a member of any other official military. Mercenaries fight for money or other forms of payment rather than for political interests. Beginning in the 20th century, mercenaries have increasingly come to be seen as less entitled to protections by rules of war than non-mercenaries. Indeed, the Geneva Conventions declare that mercenaries are not recognized as legitimate combatants and do not have to be granted the same legal protections as captured service personnel of a regular army. In practice, whether or not a person is a mercenary may be a matter of degree, as financial and political interests may overlap, as was often the case in all of history.
context_section_description: The Free Syrian Army claimed the Bashar al-Assad regime recruited mercenaries from Iran, Hezbollah militia and the Iraqi Mahdi Army militia during the Syrian Civil War. The Russian government had approved of the deployment in 2016 of the Wagner Group mercenaries to fight for the al-Assad regime. The Wagner Group is reported to have played an important role in helping to turn the tide of the Syrian civil war in favor of the regime, which in 2015 appeared to be close to collapse. On 7 February 2018, the Wagner Group mercenaries were reported to have attacked an American base in Syria together with a pro-Assad militia in what is known as the Battle of Khasham.
caption: A banner on the wall of the office of the Mahdi Army in Al Diwaniyah, Iraq announcing the killing of one of the militia members in Syria
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