Syrian Troops, General Defect to Turkey

إقرأ هذا الخبر بالعربية W460

A group of some 20 Syrian soldiers including a general defected from the army Tuesday and fled to Turkey, joining hundreds of other ex-troops from Syria's military, a Turkish diplomat told Agence France Presse.

"The soldiers who fled to Turkey include a general, three colonels and several other officers," the source said on condition of anonymity.

Some 40 people, including defectors and family members, crossed the border into the southern Turkish province of Hatay. They were taken to the Apaydin refugee camp, which holds all Syria's defected soldiers, Turkey's state-run Anatolia news agency reported.

Since the start of the civil war between Syrian President Bashar Assad's regime and rebel forces, dozens of senior army officers including some 40 generals have defected and headed to Turkey.

Turkish authorities have refused to give the exact number of Syrian defectors, who typically join the anti-Assad Free Syrian Army.

Turkey, which supports the insurgency, is housing a total of some 150,000 Syrian refugees at camps near the border.

Comments 2
Missing gabby12 01 January 2013, 22:30

More, and more, and more and more. Soon a full division will join the FSA. ASSad will stay too long and get what Qaddafi got.

Missing mohammad_ca 02 January 2013, 14:56

Long Live the Revolution!