Events in Syria

Assad losing control as 10,000 soldiers desert Syrian military

Scores killed in yesterday's clashes, including 14 troops ambushed by opposition.

By Amos Harel and Avi Issacharoff

Haaretz,

21 December, 2011

More than 10,000 soldiers have deserted the Syrian army, sources say, with as many as half the conscripts not reporting in the last three call-ups.

According to Western intelligence agencies, even though the top brass is still loyal to President Bashar Assad, lower-level officers are deserting in large numbers, and in some cases, whole units have deserted en masse.

The army is considered the main factor safeguarding Assad's regime, after mass protests began in the south in March and spread throughout the country, inspired by the demonstrations elsewhere in the Arab world.

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