Some Syrian regime fighters defecting when forced to front lines
With renewed fighting in northern Syria, regime officers are transferring conscripted young men from Daraa in the south to the front lines of the battles, leading to defections.
DARAA, Syria — Clashes continue between Syrian regime forces and armed volunteers on one hand and opposition fighters on the other in Daraa province in Syria’s deep south.
The Russian military police intervened in the Daraa clashes and brokered an agreement under which opposition fighters would hand over their weapons and the weapons of the volunteer groups would be withdrawn. Opposition members who refused to abide by the agreement were moved to Idlib in the north, escorted by Russia forces and members of the humanitarian group Red Crescent. They arrived in Idlib March 5 and joined the opposition there.
This agreement is similar to the Russian-sponsored reconciliation agreement reached in July 2018 between the regime and the opposition in southern Syria. Back then as well, those who refused the agreement’s terms were moved, with their families, to Idlib, where most of them joined opposition factions there.
Meanwhile, those who remained joined the regime’s ranks under so-called reconciliation factions to avoid being pursued by security forces. The regime promised those men they would be able to conduct their military service in southern Syria only. But when the fighting escalated in northern Syria in February of this year, regime officers deployed them to the front lines in eastern Idlib.
