Special to WorldTribune.com

WASHINGTON — Deserters from the Syrian military have sought to
protect Sunni cities from attacks by the regime of President Bashar Assad, a report said.

Human Rights Watch asserted that the estimated 15,000 deserters from
Assad’s military and security forces were responding to regime operations
against strongholds of the Sunni revolt.

In a report titled “We Live As In War,” HRW said deserters have appeared with light and other weapons to attack Assad forces in such cities as Hama, Homs, Rastan and other Sunni cities, Middle East Newsline reported.

“According to witnesses and local activists, some protesters and army defectors have used force, including lethal force, against Syrian security forces,” the report, released on Nov. 11, said.

On Nov. 14, 34 soldiers and security officers were killed in an attack by army deserters, the Syrian Organization for Human Rights said. The London-based opposition group said the attack on an army convoy took place near the Syrian border with Jordan. Two days later, the opposition reported an even larger attack on a Syrian Air Force base outside Damascus.

HRW said squads of armed deserters have been organized in
neighborhoods of Sunni cities. Quoting opposition sources, The report said
the number of deserters has increased since July, and that in Homs up to 20
former soldiers would intervene when regime forces opened fire against
anti-Assad protesters.

In Dara, Jisr Al Shughur and Tal Kalakh, deserters helped torch the
buildings and vehicles of Assad’s security forces. Witnesses said the
deserters also killed Assad troops who had opened fire on civilians.

The report said deserters have also organized militia squads to protect
Sunni neighborhoods from the Assad-sponsored Shabiha, deemed the bloodiest
of the security forces. In Homs, the militias, called local defense
committees, have been equipped with machine guns and rocket-propelled
grenades.

“These committees that are formed by neighborhood youths are here to
protect us from the Shabiha shooting randomly at us, to ensure that
security forces do not kill us while we protest,” a Syrian witness told HRW.

One militia comprised of deserters was identified as Khaled Bin Al Walid
Brigade. The report said the brigade, named after an Islamic military
commander, was based in Homs, particularly in Rastan.

“The decision of some protesters and defectors to arm themselves and
fight back, shooting at security forces, shows that the strategy adopted by
Syria’s authorities has dangerously provoked escalation in the level of
violence, and highlights the need for an immediate cessation of lethal force
against peaceful protests lest the country slip into bloodier conflict,” the
report said.

  Bashar Assad, Defectors use lethal force to protect Sunni cities against Assad’s forces, Hama, Homs, Human Rights Watch, Khaled Bin Al Walid, Rastan, Shabiha, Sunni, Syrian Organization for Human Rights