Private military company

The Belarusian security company GuardService(Gardservis), the only one allowed to own firearms by order of Alexander Lukashenko, has increased its staff several times and is preparing to participate in military operations.

The U.S. Central Command is replacing some of its regular troops in northern Syria with employees of private military companies (PMCs), Russian Foreign Ministry spokeswoman Maria Zakharova said on Jul7 17 at a news conference in Moscow.       

A bill on the legalization of private military companies will be submitted to the Russian parliament. In recent months, they have become known as private armies and their activity has been lighted by the expansion of the Donbass conflict and the Kremlin's intervention in Syria.

A former Blackwater security guard was sentenced to life in prison and three others got 30-year terms on April 13 in the massacre of 14 unarmed Iraqi civilians at a Baghdad traffic circle in 2007, closing a case that had outraged Iraqis and inflamed anti-U.S. sentiment around the world.