The security agencies of the Assad regime continue their daily raids and arbitrary arrests targeting military-aged individuals in areas under the regime’s control, with the primary objective of filling the void left by successive defections from the regime’s army over the past years and compensating for the shortage in military units.
According to activists, the recent arrests aim to enforce mandatory military service. The Voice of the Capital news website reported that the regime’s Air Force Intelligence Branch and the Military Police jointly apprehended approximately 32 young men within a 48-hour period in several towns in the Damascus suburbs.
Notably, a specific campaign was conducted in the town of Nabak, resulting in the arrest of 12 young men over the past two days for failing to perform military service. Temporary checkpoints were set up at the entrances to al-Nabek to apprehend draft dodgers. Similar operations occurred in the towns of Yabrud and Deir Attiya, leading to the arrest of around 20 young men for compulsory conscription.
This recent enforcement activity follows a similar campaign carried out about a week ago in the towns of Qudsaya and Al-Hama, during which 20 young men were apprehended by the Military Security Branch. Additionally, on July 12, the Military Security Branch detained 12 young men in the town of Babila for evading military service.
(Source: SOC’s Media Department)