As Damascus faces manpower shortages in its armed forces, officials have moved towards freeing up troops to fight in the frontlines north of Hama.
BEIRUT – The Bashar al-Assad
regime has purportedly planned to redeploy local militiamen guarding the
Hama town of Salamiyah from the threat of an ISIS attack, sparking
protests in the important center for Syria’s Ismaili minority community.
On November 19, residents of Salamiyah rallied outside a security building to demonstrate against the alleged decision to send young men from the town to the frontlines in northern Hama, where rebels have pressed an offensive against regime forces.
“Salamiya locals held a sit in in front of the popular army [headquarters] to criticize the decision to withdraw 600 fighters from the Berri [al-Sharqi] and Tel Darra battalion,” a Facebook page covering developments in the eastern Hama town said.
The protest erupted the same time that local pro-Assad outlets reported that ISIS had attacked regime troops in several locations east of Salamiyah in an attempt to open a new front outside the village of Berri al-Sharqi.
A local opposition activist spoke to All4Syria news on the protests in the regime-controlled town of Salamiyah, which hosts the largest population of Ismailis in the Middle East as well as a mix of Alawite, Shiite and Sunni residents.
Salamiyah Rebels Union member Khaled al-Salem explained that the Assad regime had enticed young men avoiding military service to join pro-regime forces by promising them they could enlist to only defend their town.
However, he added that the regime broke this agreement by calling for the immediate transfer of local militiamen to fight against rebels near Morek, a town north of Hama seized by rebels on November 4.
“This has driven those young man and their families to hold a sit in calling on the regime to back down and keep their sons who have volunteered in the regime’s ranks at are their side,” Salem told All4Syria in an article published Wednesday.
He claimed that the protesters threatened that militia members in the town would “throw down their weapons and stay in their houses.”
“In order to quell their anger the regime has adjusted [its] position, saying that [news] of their transfer to Morek was no more than a rumor and that it will not force anyone to leave the town.”
The official page for the Baath Brigades in the town claimed that the decree was no more than a rumor and said that “Bashar al-Assad will not allow one [militia] member to be moved out of the area, which confronts terrorists on a daily basis.”
Manpower shortages
As the Syrian regime faces manpower shortages in its armed forces, officials have moved towards freeing up troops to fight in the frontlines north of Hama.
Orient News on November 17 broadcast a report claiming that the pro-rebel outlet had acquired a leaked version of a draft of a decree to replace soldiers serving at checkpoints in the province, which has witnessed fierce back-and-forth fighting between government and rebel forces.
“A study that is currently being worked on calls for the withdrawal of all servicemen from checkpoints, especially on fronts in northern Hama countryside,” the report said.
According to Orient, the unfinished decree calls for the replacement of these militiamen “with civilian male public sector workers whose ages range from 25 to 55 years old.”
In a separate report on the story, a local activist told pro-rebel All4Syria that the Syrian authorities intend to begin the replacement of servicemen manning checkpoints in the city with state employees “at the beginning of 2016.”
“The regime is training around 400 [of its civil service] volunteers and some Baath Party members, [all of] whom are under 40 years old,” Baraa al-Hamawi said.
The Syrian regime has faced serious manpower shortages for its armed forces in recent months, relying on foreign troops—including Hezbollah, Afghans, Iraqi militiamen as well as Iranian servicemen—to bolster its campaigns across the war-torn country.
A flurry of reports have emerged in recent weeks that the Syrian regime has conducted a campaign in Damascus to round-up young men and press them into military service.
In late May, the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights noted that 70,000 young men have skipped compulsory military service in provinces that are either fully or partially controlled by the regime.
On November 19, residents of Salamiyah rallied outside a security building to demonstrate against the alleged decision to send young men from the town to the frontlines in northern Hama, where rebels have pressed an offensive against regime forces.
“Salamiya locals held a sit in in front of the popular army [headquarters] to criticize the decision to withdraw 600 fighters from the Berri [al-Sharqi] and Tel Darra battalion,” a Facebook page covering developments in the eastern Hama town said.
The protest erupted the same time that local pro-Assad outlets reported that ISIS had attacked regime troops in several locations east of Salamiyah in an attempt to open a new front outside the village of Berri al-Sharqi.
A local opposition activist spoke to All4Syria news on the protests in the regime-controlled town of Salamiyah, which hosts the largest population of Ismailis in the Middle East as well as a mix of Alawite, Shiite and Sunni residents.
Salamiyah Rebels Union member Khaled al-Salem explained that the Assad regime had enticed young men avoiding military service to join pro-regime forces by promising them they could enlist to only defend their town.
However, he added that the regime broke this agreement by calling for the immediate transfer of local militiamen to fight against rebels near Morek, a town north of Hama seized by rebels on November 4.
“This has driven those young man and their families to hold a sit in calling on the regime to back down and keep their sons who have volunteered in the regime’s ranks at are their side,” Salem told All4Syria in an article published Wednesday.
He claimed that the protesters threatened that militia members in the town would “throw down their weapons and stay in their houses.”
“In order to quell their anger the regime has adjusted [its] position, saying that [news] of their transfer to Morek was no more than a rumor and that it will not force anyone to leave the town.”
The official page for the Baath Brigades in the town claimed that the decree was no more than a rumor and said that “Bashar al-Assad will not allow one [militia] member to be moved out of the area, which confronts terrorists on a daily basis.”
Manpower shortages
As the Syrian regime faces manpower shortages in its armed forces, officials have moved towards freeing up troops to fight in the frontlines north of Hama.
Orient News on November 17 broadcast a report claiming that the pro-rebel outlet had acquired a leaked version of a draft of a decree to replace soldiers serving at checkpoints in the province, which has witnessed fierce back-and-forth fighting between government and rebel forces.
“A study that is currently being worked on calls for the withdrawal of all servicemen from checkpoints, especially on fronts in northern Hama countryside,” the report said.
According to Orient, the unfinished decree calls for the replacement of these militiamen “with civilian male public sector workers whose ages range from 25 to 55 years old.”
In a separate report on the story, a local activist told pro-rebel All4Syria that the Syrian authorities intend to begin the replacement of servicemen manning checkpoints in the city with state employees “at the beginning of 2016.”
“The regime is training around 400 [of its civil service] volunteers and some Baath Party members, [all of] whom are under 40 years old,” Baraa al-Hamawi said.
The Syrian regime has faced serious manpower shortages for its armed forces in recent months, relying on foreign troops—including Hezbollah, Afghans, Iraqi militiamen as well as Iranian servicemen—to bolster its campaigns across the war-torn country.
A flurry of reports have emerged in recent weeks that the Syrian regime has conducted a campaign in Damascus to round-up young men and press them into military service.
In late May, the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights noted that 70,000 young men have skipped compulsory military service in provinces that are either fully or partially controlled by the regime.
