BREAKING NEWS

Seventy insurgents defect to Syrian army in Damascus suburb

By REUTERS

MARCH 11, 2015 19:44

AMMAN- Around seventy Syrian rebels have fled from an opposition held suburb south of the Syrian capital and surrendered with their light arms to the Syrian army, a monitoring group and an army source said on Wednesday.

The head of the Anfal brigade took advantage of rebel infighting to slip with some of his fighters over lines in the south west of the capital, the British-based Syrian Observatory for Human Rights said.

The incident occurred four days ago.

A Syrian army source said the defection was a sign insurgents who are battling to overthrow President Bashar Assad's government were losing ground.

"It's now very clear the army has begun advancing much more and there are some (insurgents) who are not able to flee outside Syria and are thinking of reaching a settlement (with the army)," the source told Reuters.

The authorities say thousands of insurgents have surrendered to over the last year under an amnesty offer. Some rebels have switched sides and joined government-allied militias and others have given up fighting altogether.

The Anfal group, which has several hundred fighters, had been fighting in recent months against Syria's al Qaeda branch Al Nusra and other factions mainly in south western suburbs of Damascus, according to the Observatory that tracks violence across the country.

High school teachers to strike for two hours on Thursday

By JERUSALEM POST STAFF

04/30/2024 07:50 PM

Blinken says he will bring list of Gaza aid measures to Israel

By REUTERS

04/30/2024 07:07 PM

Israeli offensive on Rafah is bad idea, French FM tells PM Netanyahu

By REUTERS

04/30/2024 06:34 PM

Netanyahu says ICC arrest warrants would be scandal on historic

By REUTERS

04/30/2024 06:10 PM