A growing number of activists in Syria are taking up arms to protect themselves from the government's violent crackdown that has claimed thousands of civilians' lives since March. <br /><br />They have begun setting up military councils in provinces across the country to create an organised command structure. <br /><br />And the Syrian National Council, a leading opposition group, says it is ready to logistically back the armed uprising to prevent more civilians from being killed. <br /><br />Al Jazeera's Zeina Khodr reports from Beirut.
