More soldiers have been defecting from the Syrian army and forming squadrons to protect civilians in a bid to become the military wing of the country's opposition Colonel Riyad Al-Assad, leader of what has come to be known as the Free Syrian Army (FSA), called on the international community last week to supply his troops with weapons to overthrow the Syrian regime and urged an aerial and maritime blockade on Syria, Bassel Oudat writes. "Anyone who thinks that this regime can be toppled through peaceful demonstrations is delusional," al-Assad said in a statement. "The regime is built on force, and anyone who is familiar with it knows that it can only be toppled by force." Al-Assad also asked that the FSA be formally recognised as the military wing of the Syrian opposition. The number of FSA forces who have defected from the Syrian army is unknown, but the number of combat squadrons has now reached 12, according to opposition estimates. Each squadron is comprised of between 300 and 1,000 officers and soldiers, bringing the tally of this military bloc to between 3,500 and 12,000 combatants. Al-Assad declared in the Turkish capital Ankara, where he has sought refuge, that fighters number more than 15,000 and that their numbers "are climbing despite the difficulties facing defectors, most prominently concerns about their families." FSA leaders reject the militarisation of the Syrian uprising or the arming of civilians, saying that the regime would use this as a pretext to escalate its violence against the demonstrators. The purpose of the FSA, its leaders say, is to defend the Syrian people until they are able to battle the regime on their own. The FSA has not received any outside military or financial support, they say. Three months after the launch of the Syrian uprising in March this year, the brutal actions carried out by regime forces against peaceful protesters convinced some elements in the army to defect. The number of defections then rose, with group defections becoming more common and army personnel of different ranks defecting from the army in groups of between three and ten men at a time. Lieutenant-colonel Hussein Harmoush announced his defection from the Syrian army and the formation of the Free Officers on 9 June, describing the Officers' mandate as being a defensive one to protect protesters from regime death squads and anyone issuing orders to kill. One month later, defecting officers declared the creation of the FSA, and its leader Riyad al-Assad called on all army personnel to defect and join the ranks of his squadrons. "Any members of the security forces who kill civilians and put cities under siege will be considered legitimate targets by the FSA anywhere in Syria," Al-Assad said. More defections followed, while opposition websites and anti-regime media uploaded video clips on a near daily basis from officers and soldiers who had defected from the army. There have been no defections en masse thus far. Over recent months, the FSA has formed squadrons and deployed them in Syrian cities, naming them according to the locations in which they have been stationed. The Khaled bin Al-Walid squadron is deployed around the city of Homs and is the largest squadron. The Omar bin Al-Khattab squadron is near the town of Deir Al-Zur, the Muawiya bin Aba Sofyan squadron is in Damascus, and the Aba Obayda bin Al-Jarah squadron is outside Damascus. The Hamza Al-Khatib squadron is deployed in Edleb, and the Allahu Akbar squadron is in Albu Kamal. Meanwhile, FSA central command is headquartered on the northern Syrian border with Turkey, where thick forests block access by the Syrian army and security forces. Harmoush was kidnapped from Turkey by the Syrian regime in August in a stealth operation, and his fate is unknown. However, this did not affect the wave of defections, and demonstrators have raised banners during protests in solidarity with Harmoush and his brigade, describing them as national heroes. The town of Albu Kamal on the border with Iraq has also witnessed defections, and four tanks were returned to the Syrian army by local tribal leaders in return for the safety of the defecting soldiers. On 24 September, the FSA joined ranks with the Free Officers Movement, and captain Ibrahim Majbour, a founding officer of the FSA, said that the defecting soldiers were carrying out specific missions against the security forces. Civilian and opposition activists in Syria have described daily confrontations between army defectors and security and military forces in the country. Over the past three weeks, the city of Homs was the scene of confrontations between defectors and the security forces, with the security forces shelling dozens of homes and killing hundreds of civilians in attempts to crush the defectors, according to local observers. The Syrian authorities have accused armed groups funded from abroad of attacking the security forces, refusing to admit that there have been any defections from the army. For its part, the country's opposition says that hundreds of Syrian army officers have fled to Turkey and a similar number have escaped to Jordan and Lebanon. The defecting officers have called on Turkey to create a buffer zone from which defecting troops can launch military attacks in Syria. They have also urged the imposition of a no-fly zone over Syria that would encourage more army defections. Some observers believe that the growing number of defections from the Syrian army will soon become a turning point after eight months of confrontations between the regime and the protesters. The defectors may soon gain international recognition as the military wing of the opposition, opening the door to possible military assistance.
