02/20/2013 - #Syria - Syrian navy soldiers announce defection in Latakia

A video filmed by Syrian rebels purports to show Syrian navy soldiers announcing their defection from the Syrian regime.

The YouTube video reportedly shows a group of soldiers in Qordaha in Latakia announcing, one by one, that they had defected the regime of Syrian President Bashar al-Assad and joined the rebel Free Syrian Army.

Syria is witnessing a violent uprising against the regime of President Bashar al-Assad, which has so far killed more than 70,000 people since its outbreak in March 2011, according to figures released by the United Nations.

Officials at Turkey’s Foreign Ministry say two Syrian air force generals have defected and crossed the border.

The defection comes as rebels besiege the military air base of Mannagh near the Turkish border. 

The officials said Friday the two generals were “regional Syrian Air Force commanders” and are now in a camp where army defectors stay in Turkey.

They refused to give the generals’ identities or say how they escaped from Syria. They spoke anonymously as they were not authorised to talk to the press.

The defection comes days after the commander of Syria’s military police Maj. Gen. Abdul-Aziz Jassem al-Shallal defected to Turkey.

Al-Shallal is among the most senior members of Assad’s military to defect.

Dozens of Syrian generals have defected since the country’s crisis began in March 2011.

December 28, 2012

The head of Syria’s military police has defected from the army and declared allegiance to the uprising against President Bashar al-Assad, according to a video and a Syrian security source.

The high-level defection, while not a strategically significant development in the 21-month-old conflict, will be a blow to morale for Assad’s forces, which are hitting back at a string of rebel advances across the country.

“I am General Abdelaziz Jassim al-Shalal, head of the military police. I have defected because of the deviation of the army from its primary duty of protecting the country and its transformation into gangs of killing and destruction,” the officer said in a video published on YouTube.

A Syrian security source confirmed the defection but played down its significance.

“Shalal did defect but he was due to retire in a month and he only defected to play hero,” the source said.

Wearing a camouflage uniform with red officer insignia on the shoulder, Shalal spoke from a desk in a room in an undisclosed location. Some rebel sources said he had fled to Turkey. It was not clear when Shalal had changed sides. “The army has destroyed cities and villages and has committed massacres against an unarmed population that took to the streets to demand freedom,” he said. “Long live free Syria.”

 Wed Dec 26, 2012 5:43am EST

16/12/2012 - Alaeddin al-Sabbagh, former head of public relations in the Syrian intelligence defected - #Syria

13/12/12 - #Syria - Daraa - Al-Hraak - 15 Soldiers Defect from the 52nd Battalion to join FSA

11/12/2012 - #Syria - 70 Syrian Army Soldiers defect at infantry school in Aleppo

08/10/12

Foreign Minister Bob Carr says a major military defection and an assassination seem to be pre-conditions of movement towards peace in Syria.

Senator Carr says while there is nothing to suggest it is about to happen, the battle between president Bashar al-Assad’s regime and opposition fighters has become more even.

He has told the ABC’s Four Corners program it seems to be the pre-condition for movement towards peace.

“I think we’d know the conflict has evened up if there is a major defection from the Assad government, especially a defection that takes part of its armed forces with it,” he said.

“This sounds brutal and callous, perhaps an assassination combined with a major defection, taking a large part of its military, is what is required to get one; a ceasefire and two; political negotiations.

“I know of no intelligence data - none has flowed across my desk - that suggests this is about to happen but it would seem to be a pre-condition of movement towards what Kofi Annan said was essential and that is a ceasefire and two negotiations between all sides towards what was laid out at the Geneva conference in June.”

Senator Carr says Mr Assad’s military regime has not accommodated the desire for change among Syrians, which has resulted in the bloodshed.

“We’ve got nothing to do but trust the spirit of the Arab Spring,” he said.

“We do know there is a body of opinion in the Arab world running strongly that says ‘we do not want extremism, we want democracy denied to us for so long’.”

Senator Carr says it is unclear to what extent Islamic extremists like Al Qaeda are involved in the conflict.

Tens of thousands of people have fled Syria since an uprising against Mr Assad’s regime began more than 18 months ago.

Opposition activists estimate 30,000 people have been killed in the conflict which has developed into a full-scale civil war.

While opposition forces lack the strength to defeat the government forces outright, the military struggles to maintain control of many areas in the city - resulting in significant loss of life.

#Syria - Jebleh Police Chief Defects - Denounces Assad - Joins Freedom Fighters 9-15-12 

18/08/2012 #Syria: Marines Colonel Muhammad Mokhbat defected and joined the FSA - the joint Military command of the Syrian revolution.

15/08/2012 #Syria: Defection of senior officers in Idlib among them Colonel Abdul Qadir Al Sheikh Abu Al Majd, the head of code department and the security of documentation.

13/08/2012 Damascus, #Syria: Bara’a Yusef al-Bushi, a 24 year old from Hama graduated in 2010 with a degree in Journalism. Bara’a was doing his military service at the rank of Lt. when the revolution started. After his defection he became one of the best media activists working for the revolution, even appearing on Arab satellite channels like Al-Arabiya. Bara’a was killed on 11/08/2012 while covering the shelling of al-Tal in the suburbs of Damascus.

14/08/2012

DAMASCUS (AFP) - Grisly footage of apparent atrocities in Syria triggered outrage Monday, as regime forces bombarded rebel strongholds around Damascus and launched a mass raid in the historic heart of the capital.

The graphic videos posted on YouTube showed what appeared to be rebels callously throwing bodies off a post office building in a city near the northern metropolis of Aleppo, while another showed a man, blindfolded and bound, as his throat was savagely cut.

Fighting was also raging in the northern metropolis of Aleppo, where security forces were advancing on an opposition-held district but where all communications have reportedly been cut.

With the international community deadlocked over how to end 17 months of bloodshed, the opposition umbrella group the Syrian National Council appealed for the establishment of no-fly zones.

And in a new blow for embattled President Bashar al-Assad, Syria’s top representative at the UN Human Rights Council said he has defected, the latest in a line of senior officials to flee the regime.

International concern is mounting over how to end a conflict that has triggered a major humanitarian crisis and sent hundreds of thousands of Syrians fleeing, with at least 100 people being killed daily.

Foreign ministers of Muslim states hold talks in Saudi Arabia Monday while the UN Security Council — which has so far failed to reach a consensus on how to stop the bloodshed — meets on Thursday to debate the future of its mission.

In one shocking amateur video posted Monday, several bodies were seen crumpled on the ground outside a post office building in Al-Bab city before another three are hurled from the rooftop as the crowd cries “This is a shabiha,” referring to the pro-government militia.

In another, a group of men forced a blindfolded man, with his hands tied behind his back, down to the ground in Aleppo while an assailant forced what appeared to be a small knife repeatedly across his throat as his blood spurted.

“If these videos are confirmed, such atrocities harm the revolution. They only benefit the regime and the enemies of the revolution,” Syrian Observatory for Human Rights director Rami Abdel Rahman told AFP.

Both sides in the increasingly vicious conflict have been accused of human rights violations as reports of cold-blooded killings mount, although the authenticity of the latest videos could not be verified.

Also Monday, security forces arrested residents in a major operation in the heart of Damascus, including the historic Old City, while shells slammed into rebel strongholds around the capital from before dawn, according to the Britain-based Observatory.

It was biggest operation of its kind in the city since the launch of the uprising against Assad, the Observatory said.

It said 21 people had been arrested and that security forces also swept into a graveyard “under the pretext of searching for weapons”, while other activists said the troops had broken down the doors of shops closed in a show of defiance against the regime.

The Observatory said 50 people had been killed on Monday, including 28 civilians in violence across the country.

In Aleppo Monday, government troops were advancing on the southwestern rebel stronghold of Sukari, security sources in Damascus said. The Observatory meanwhile said opposition fighters attacked a key air force intelligence branch in the western Zahraa district.

Fighting also broke out in the southwestern district of Salaheddin, which rebels fled last week but has seen continued clashes since, it said.

The fate of Aleppo — Syria’s largest city — is seen as potential turning point in the conflict whose outcome will have major repercussions for Syria’s neighbours and the military and geopolitical balance of power in the region

More than 21,000 people have been killed across Syria since Assad’s regime launched its brutal crackdown on dissent, with fighting escalating after the failure of former envoy Kofi Annan’s peace plan.

Abdel Basset Sayda, who heads the opposition Syrian National Council, told AFP that the rebels wanted “two no-fly zones, one in the north, close to the Turkish border, and another in the south, close to the border with Jordan,” in addition to “safe places for refugees and humanitarian corridors.”

US Secretary of State Hillary Clinton held talks in Turkey at the weekend, after Washington imposed a new round of sanctions on Syria, saying their “number one goal” was to hasten the end of Assad’s regime.

Foreign ministers of Muslim states were meeting Monday in Jeddah ahead of an Islamic summit Tuesday hosted by regional powerhouse Saudi Arabia on the Syria crisis.

UN humanitarian chief Valerie Amos said she will visit Syria and Lebanon from Tuesday.

‘There will be no winner in #Syria,’ UN chief warns, as refugee crisis grows

After months of protests and violent crackdowns, a look back at the violence that has overtaken the country.

10/08/2012

U.N. Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon warned Friday “there will be no winner in Syria,” as the world body said nearly 150,000 refugees fleeing the 17-month-old conflict had registered in neighboring countries.

In Aleppo, rebels fighting in the Salaheddine district, a southern gateway to the commercial hub, said they had been forced to fall back from frontline positions on Thursday by a fierce bombardment which had reduced buildings to rubble.

“There have been some withdrawals of Free Syrian Army fighters from Salaheddine,” rebel commander Abu Ali told Reuters. Others said the main frontlines in the area, which had been held by rebels for more than a week, were now deserted.

The center of the district, near Salaheddine mosque, was abandoned when Reuters journalists visited on Thursday. The only sound was the constant echo of artillery shelling. There were no rebels, no security forces, and only a few residents darting in and out to pick up belongings — while evading army snipers.

All-consumed fighting
President Bashar Assad, engaged in an all-consuming fight with his mostly Sunni opponents, appointed a Sunni as his new prime minister on Thursday after his predecessor fled Monday in the highest-level defection so far in an uprising that has killed around 20,000 people.

Wael Nader al-Halqi, from the southern province of Daraa where the revolt began, replaces Riyad Hijab, who had spent only two months in the job before making a dramatic escape across the border to Jordan.

Assad’s authority was shaken by the assassination last month of four of his top security officials and by rebel gains in Damascus, Aleppo and swathes of rural Syria.
But he has persevered with a crackdown on opponents seeking to end half a century of Baathist rule and topple a system dominated by members of the president’s minority Alawite sect.

Video (top): Rebels say minority Shiite and Alawite Muslims, the groups that have ruled Syria for decades, are being left alone in the carnage inflicted by Syrian troops. NBC’s Richard Engel reports.

As the battle for Aleppo raged, Iran, Assad’s closest foreign backer, called for “serious and inclusive” negotiations between the Syrian government and opposition.

Assad replaces fugitive PM, deals blow to rebels in key Aleppo district

Assad has repeatedly said he is ready for dialogue, but he has vowed to crush the armed rebels he says are terrorists. His opponents say he must step aside before any talks, arguing negotiations would be meaningless while the bloodshed persists.

Machine guns operated by motorcycle brakes? Get a glimpse at the rebels fighting against Assad’s forces in Syria’s mountainous Jabal al-Zawiya area.

Iran made the call after gathering diplomats from like-minded states in Tehran for talks on the conflict not attended by Western and most Middle Eastern states, which have demanded Assad end his family’s 40-year rule.

‘Long-term civil war’
The violence has already shown elements of a proxy war between Sunni and Shiite Islam.

“There will be no winner in Syria,” Ban said in a statement read by a U.N. representative to the conference in Tehran.

“Now, we face the grim possibility of long-term civil war destroying Syria’s rich tapestry of interwoven communities,” it said.

Refugees pour across borders
In Geneva, Adrian Edwards, spokesman of the U.N. High Commissioner for Refugees, told a news briefing that the number of registered Syrian refugees in four neighboring countries continued to grow.

‘Situation is desperate’ at makeshift hospitals on Syrian-Turkish border

The total includes 50,227 recorded in Turkey, where more than 6,000 Syrians arrived this week alone, the United Nations said.

“There certainly in the past week has been a sharp increase in the numbers arriving in Turkey, and there many of the people are coming from Aleppo and surrounding villages,” Edwards said.

People resisting the army of President Bashar al-Assad in northern Syria cope with loss and prepare for fighting.

“Now if you look at other areas, I think that the situation is more of a steady and continued increase, but where fighting happens we tend to see the consequences,” he said.

As of Thursday night, there were 45,869 Syrian refugees registered in Jordan, 36,841 in Lebanon and 13,587 in Iraq — which has also seen the return of 23,228 Iraqis from Syria since July 18, according to the agency.

Complete international coverage on NBCNews.com

“In several countries we know there to be substantial refugee numbers who have not yet registered,” Edwards said.

Some Syrian refugees have also turned up in other countries including Algeria, Egypt and Morocco, and Evros, the Greek region that borders Turkey, he said, adding that the numbers were “really tiny” compared to the flows to Syria’s neighbors.

Reuters contributed to this report.