Current Edition About Subscribe The Jerusalem Center

Daily Alert Archive

Every Daily Alert Since 2002

Search

Search more than 90,000 news items by topic, author, or source.
Use " " to search for multiple words and phrases.

Trending Topics

October 28, 2011       Share:    

Source: http://www.economist.com/node/21534827

Defections from Bashar Assad's Armed Forces Are Growing

(Economist-UK) The glue and the guts of Syrian President Bashar Assad's regime are the army and its allies in the police and the Mukhabarat, the intelligence service. So far they have generally stayed loyal. But defectors are growing in number and are getting better organized. Since the start of the uprising in March there have been defections, mainly from the ranks of Sunni conscripts. Some flee the country, others hide among civilians. In July, Riad al-Asaad, a colonel in his 50s, left for Turkey and announced the formation of the Free Syrian Army. Another group, calling itself the Free Officers' Movement, also emerged. The Free Syrian Army says it has 22 "battalions" across the country, with field leaders taking orders from a central command in Turkey. These include the Khalid bin Walid battalion in Homs, where clashes with loyalist forces have been fiercest. In the past few weeks, fighting has also broken out in Idlib, in the northwest, and al-Bukamal, on the border with Iraq. The role of defectors is changing. "Defected soldiers initially just fled, then they came out with weapons behind protesters just to ensure they were safe to go out," says a man who received military training and took part in Free Syrian Army actions. Now he says the army defectors are becoming more belligerent, attacking checkpoints, armed pro-regime gangs and military equipment.

View the full edition of Daily Alert

Back to Archive

Subscribe to Daily Alert: