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Syria Calls Reserves as It Strains to Crush Revolt

(Reuters) Syria is calling up reservists to active army service in growing numbers, a sign of the strain of efforts to crush the revolt against President Assad. Several fleeing reservists and a serving army officer told Reuters that thousands of men had been called up in the past two months, and many are failing to report for duty. "We have two choices: Stay and kill fellow Syrians, or desert, and be on the run from military courts," said one reservist summoned for duty. One army officer in Homs said he believed that only half of those called up in recent months had reported for duty. "There is a shortage of men. A lot of fighters have been killed, and we have desertions," he said.
2012-09-07 00:00:00
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