Syrian army has enough manpower and military equipment to defend the country for many years

The Syrian army has enough manpower and equipment to defend the country for many years to come, a pro-government paper cited an official source as saying Tuesday, March 12, 2013, noting however that the citizens should start to take part in defending their areas.

A soldier loyal to Syrian President Bashar al-Assad walks toward a BMP-1 Russian-made armoured infantry fighting vehicle in an area near Aleppo, March 6, 2013. The Syrian army is equipped more than 5,000 main battle tanks and 2,500 infantry fighting vehicles.

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