Lebanese Civil War participant Lebanese National Movement
Political groups and militias
In the run-up to the war and its early stages, militias tried to be politically orientated non-sectarian forces, but due to the sectarian nature of Lebanese society, they inevitably gained their support from the same community as their leaders came from. In the long run almost all militias openly identified with a given community. The two main alliances were the Lebanese Front, consisting of nationalist Maronites who were against Palestinian militancy in Lebanon, and the Lebanese National Movement, which consisted of pro-Palestinian Leftists. The LNM dissolved after the Israeli invasion of 1982 and was replaced by the Lebanese National Resistance Front, known as Jammoul in Arabic.
Throughout the war most or all militias operated with little regard for human rights, and the sectarian character of some battles, made non-combatant civilians a frequent target.Druze groups
The small Druze sect, strategically and dangerously seated on the Chouf in central Lebanon, had no natural allies, and so were compelled to put much effort into building alliances. Under the leadership of the Jumblatt family, first Kamal Jumblatt (the LNM leader) and then his son Walid, the Progressive Socialist Party (PSP) (الحزب التقدمي الاشتراكي, al-hizb al-taqadummi al-ishtiraki) served as an effective Druze militia, building excellent ties to the Soviet Union mainly, and with Syria upon the withdrawal of Israel to the south of the country. However, many Druze in Lebanon at the time were also members of the Syrian Social Nationalist Party.
Under the leadership of Jumblatt, the PSP was a major political element in the Lebanese National Movement (LNM) which supported Lebanon's Arab identity and sympathized with the Palestinians. Jumblatt built a militia, the People's Liberation Army, which received financial support from the USSR and Libya, and boasted around 2,500 militiamen at the start of the war, subsequently increasing to 10,000 by early 1984 during the Mountain War. The militia played a small role in the actual combat, instead limiting itself to fighting in Mount Lebanon area. Its main adversaries were the Maronite Kataeb militia, and later the Lebanese Forces militia (which absorbed the Kataeb). However, the PSP suffered a major setback after the assassination of Kamal Jumblatt, who was then succeeded by his son Walid.
From the Israeli withdrawal from the Chouf in 1983 to the end of the civil war, the PSP ran the Civil Administration of the Mountain in the area under its control. Tolls levied at PSP militia checkpoints provided a major source of income for the administration.
The PSP played an important role in the Mountain War under the lead of Walid Jumblatt. After the Israelis withdrew from Chouf, important battles took place between the PSP backed by PFLP-GC, Fatah al-Intifada and Syrian army, and the Lebanese Forces backed by Lebanese army and the Multinational Force. PSP armed members were accused of several massacres that took place during that war.