Updated

The police force of Syria, engulfed in a bitter civil war, is looking for recruits — for its musical band.

The advertisement, carried on the website of the state news agency SANA, asks youth with high school degrees and musical qualifications to sign up at a police college building on Nov. 20.

The government of President Bashar Assad works hard to keep up the appearance of business-as-usual in the country. Many Syrians also find meaning in the trappings of normal life, despite a three-year civil war that has killed over 100,000, displaced millions, and cleaved the country along sectarian lines.