(Washington Institute for Near East Policy) Jeffrey White - The Free Syrian Army (FSA) is now engaged in combat in at least six of the country's fourteen governorates. Both its ranks and its popular support are growing, and its forces have the types of weapons they need for the kind of warfare they are conducting. The militia has at least temporarily forced government troops out of some areas, including near the capital. Regime security and military personnel continue to defect to the FSA, primarily in small groups of five to twenty men, though mass defections of a hundred or more soldiers have been reported as well. These incoming forces feed the strength of existing FSA battalions and spur the formation of new units. Most of the defectors are motivated by a desire to avoid killing civilians, fear of retribution for refusing to do so, and broader opposition to the regime itself. Certain units may simply be autonomous local defense groups operating under the FSA's name. The writer is a defense fellow at The Washington Institute.
2012-01-31 00:00:00Full ArticleBACK Visit the Daily Alert Archive