The Popular Committees (also called Lijan militias; al-Lijan al-Sha'biyah, meaning "people's committees") were militias that emerged in Syria during the Syrian civil war. They originated as neighborhood vigilante groups in the Christian, Druze and Alawi and Shia Muslim quarters of Damascus and elsewhere to prevent the infiltration of Sunni-dominated rebel groups. However, the Popular Committees included a significant number of Sunni Muslims as well.