Tartous province has seen demonstrations against the Assad regime’s recruitment of the young people over the past two days, with protesters saying they are no longer willing to fight for Assad in the battles raging in various areas across Syria.
Local activists said that the Assad regime has recently launched a large-scale recruitment campaign targeting the military-aged people as part of preparations for the battle of Dara’a. Regime forces have been severely depleted by seven years of war. Activists said that demonstrations were followed by a large-scale arrests campaign by the Assad regime’s intelligence and security services.
Protesters called for stopping the forced recruitment of the young men, calling on Bashar al-Assad to recruit sons of the regime’s senior officials instead. “We have no blood left to sacrifice for you to cling to the throne. We ask you to send the sons of ministers and senior officials to defend you and your throne instead,” protestors said.
There were reports on social media that the Assad regime’s security services detained three people in response to protests they held to express their refusal to send the young people of the province to fight “and die in the battle of Dara’a.”
Activists said that Assad’s security forces arrested lawyer Nidal Mohammed Aslan, professor Saleh Saqr, and Linda Aziz Khair Beik. “Our province sacrificed thousands of its sons to defend Assad’s throne. The province has became the capital of martyrs who died for Assad and his clique,” activists added. (Source: Syrian Coalition’s Media Department)
