Syrian Free Army threatens to escalate campaign

The commander of Syria’s ‘Free Army’ — made up of deserters — has warned the regime his men are about to escalate their offensive against the regular army.

On Tuesday activists claimed at least 18 soldiers had been killed when they opened fire on heavily-armed former comrades in Deraa as they were deserting.

Streets in conflict-hit towns across the country are almost deserted as the army continues to enforce its crackdown, but the Syrian Free Army’s Colonel Riad al-Assad expressed his dissatisfaction with the performance of the Arab League observers.

Speaking to the international press from Turkey he warned that if they were not “serious” within a week at most, his forces “would take a decision that will surprise the regime and the whole world.” Activists claim at least 390 civilians were killed in the first week of the observer’s mission in Syria, but this figure is unconfirmed.

The Arab League has called a meeting for this weekend to assess the observer mission.

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