ALEPPO, Syria — In the battles against the armed opposition in the northern Hama countryside, south of Idlib province, the Syrian regime is recruiting fighters of opposition factions who have reconciled with Damascus in recent years, some from the southern provinces of Daraa, Damascus and Quneitra, and others from Homs province in central Syria.
The Syrian government forces have recruited thousands of fighters of the Free Syrian Army (FSA) factions who have reached settlements with the regime in the areas where the opposition was defeated in 2017-18, namely in eastern Ghouta in Rif Dimashq and in the provinces of Daraa, Quneitra and Homs.
Just a few days after Syrian government forces stepped up its offensive against the opposition in Idlib on May 6, many former FSA fighters fighting alongside it were killed. On May 9, regime forces delivered a number of bodies to their relatives in Quneitra. On May 11-13, some of these former FSA fighters from Rif Dimashq were killed in battles, while four others from Douma in eastern Ghouta were killed in battles in the Hama countryside on May 23.
On May 27, the regime handed over the bodies of two former FSA fighters to their relatives in Rastan in the northern Homs countryside. They were killed in the battles of Hama and their bodies were placed in the government's military hospital in Hama before being delivered to the families.
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