Why does insurgent mobilization vary within the same ethnic group? And why does such a process oftentimes take shape along different vectors at the same locality? This paper reassesses the role of the social structure of ethnic groups by positioning it along two important and theoretically underdeveloped variables: the influence of leading figures of local, meso-level groups, and the conditions enabled by the built environment in which they operate. Under such framework, the paper foregrounds the multiplicity of group memberships and their spatial denominators in reinforcing (or undermining) the formation of insurgent groups. To test this empirically, we develop two social network models in the local context of the Damascene countryside during the first year of the revolution: the first on the set of pre-uprising relationships in two towns that experienced rapid urbanization in the decades prior to insurgency, and the second on the relationships of the armed factions in the same locations. We develop unique local data to quantitatively account for variables relating to the spatial, socioeconomic, and ideological characters that could explain the discrepancies between the two patterns. This is complemented by semi-structured interviews with local leaders and members of said social networks to specify the modalities through which recruitment took place. Ultimately, the study introduces a more nuanced reading of the causal mechanisms underlying variance in highly fragmented localities and new indicators that capture these conceptual intersections.