Syrian rebels buying arms from army defectors

GlobalPost

Anti-regime forces in Syria are buying arms from officers in the Syrian military who are betraying the regime, Al Jazeera reported. In a video interview with members of the Free Syrian Army, rebels detailed acts of alleged torture and murder at the hands of military officers.

“We are here to protect our people from the Assad brigades,” said one member of the FSA. “If we die for the regime we would have died for a traitor,” he continued.

Another said that the military that is still loyal to the government is trying hard to stem a wave of defections. The man said – though Jazeera noted it was unable to independently verify the claim – that he had seen bodies of defectors stacked in refrigerators in an army facility, shot from behind for defecting. Other defectors were forced to urinate into an electrified water tank, he said.

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Syria heavily restricts visits by outside journalists, so reports of defections and murders are difficult to verify.

See the video here: 

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Meanwhile, the Associated Press reported Monday that regime forces shot at protesters in a Homs neighborhood while Arab League monitors were visiting. The report said it is not clear if the observers witnessed the shooting.

Majd Amer, an activist in Homs, said the shooting started after thousands of protesters surrounded a group of observers, urging them to go to Khaldiyeh, where anti-regime protesters are known to be active. The observers' Syrian escorts wanted to take them to the nearby Abbassiyah neighborhood, where many regime supporters live, he said.

The League mission arrived December 21 and is supposed ensure Syria abides by its agreement to stop killing protesters and loosen political restrictions. Rights groups say nearly 500 have been killed since then, according to the AP.

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In another report, CNN broadcast footage of protests near Damascus, saying that Syria is “more divided” now than it was a few months ago.

In Damascus, a large pro-government rally felt like a celebration, with a festival atmosphere as demonstrators hailed President Bashar al-Assad.

Meanwhile, just outside the capital, a funeral procession and anti-Assad rally was filled with anger. Participants showed CNN what they said were gunshot wounds from forces loyal to al-Assad.

Loyalty to Assad is still high in areas of Syria, with anti-government protests rocking some of its second cities such as Homs, Daraa and Aleppo.

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