The Collapse of Assad’s Army: How Syria’s Regime Crumbled
The Syrian civil war, which began in 2011, had seemingly endless. For years, Bashar al-Assad’s regime had relied on foreign allies, particularly Iran and its militias, to hold onto power. But in recent weeks, the Syrian army’s strength, once feared, has been revealed as hollowed out by years of corruption, reliance on foreign allies, and growing anger among the ranks.
Syrian army had come to depend heavily on allied Iranian and Iran-funded Lebanese and Iraqi forces to provide the best fighting units in Syria.
But many of the Iranian military advisors had left this spring after Israeli air strikes on Damascus, and the rest departed last week, said Iraqi militia commanders who worked alongside them.
Hezbollah fighters and commanders had already mostly left in October to focus on escalating war in Lebanon with Israel, a source familiar with Hezbollah’s thinking said.
Syria’s army’s own central command center no longer functioned well after the Iranian and Hezbollah officers left, and the military lacked a defense strategy, particularly for Aleppo, a Syrian colonel, two security sources and a Lebanese security source familiar with the Syrian military said.
In contrast, rebels in the northwest, on paper numerically far weaker than the army, had spent years consolidating under a single operations room that coordinated their groups and units in battle, an International Crisis Group report said after the fall of Aleppo.
Reuters was unable to contact a current representative of the armed forces.
Syrian army sources described officers and troops alike as demoralized by pay that was consistently low even after painful military victories earlier in the war and reports, which Reuters could not verify, that Assad’s family were growing immensely rich.
on November 28, the General Command of the Army and Armed Forces, issued telegram, ordering all troops to be on combat readiness, according to military document found by Reuters at an Air Intelligence office in Damascus.
In a sign the regime was desperate, Syria’
Despite the orders and threats, increasing numbers of soldiers and officers began to, all the sources said. Instead of confronting the rebels, or unarmed protesters, soldiers were seen by residents of Syrian cities, and in videos that began circulating online.
Reuters journalists entering Syria on Sunday found uniforms still strewn across Damascus streets.
Syria’s army sources described officers and anger had been building particularly in recent years, saying there was “growing resentment against Assad, including among core high-ranking supporters from his community.
Khouli’s military illustrated the army’s problems – and helps explain his lack of loyalty.
He was drafted for the obligatory 18-month service at age19, after having paid-off an officer to delay his service for a year. When his period expired, he was ordered to remain in the indefinitely. He was paid500,000000, and rations were often
Comrades with money would pay officers to get out of, said. Khouli,
A former described the use of
Hezbollah and militias regarded the Syrian forces with little more than contempt, the sources
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Russia conducted air on rebels, but unlike in earlier phases, there were no
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Syrian army’s central command center no longer functioned well after the Iranian officers left, and the military lacked a defense strategy, particularly for
In contrast, rebels in the northwest, on paper
In the
