Post-Assad Syria: Former soldiers give up their weapons for papers

On the night of 6 December, Mohammed el-Nadaf, a soldier in the Syrian army, was at his position in Homs.

As rebels led by Hayat Tahrir al-Sham (HTS) pushed into the city, days after they had seized control of Aleppo and Hama in a lightning offensive, Mohammed decided he didn’t want to fight.

“We had no orders, no information. I took off my uniform, left my weapons, and started to make my way to my village in Tartous,” he said.

At around the same time, Mohammed Ramadan was at a position on the outskirts of the capital, Damascus.

“There was no one to give orders to us. Many of our commanders fled before us. So I thought, why should I die and fight for someone who didn’t even give me enough of a salary to be able to feed my family?

“For our daily rations as soldiers we got just one egg and one potato.”

The next morning, he also left his position and went home.

The testimony of the soldiers provides an insight into the rapid collapse of ousted President Bashar al-Assad’s regime.

For many of his demoralised and poorly paid forces on the ground, the speed at which their defence disintegrated in the face of the rebel offensive did not come as a surprise.

Many soldiers told us they were paid less than $35 (£28) a month and had to do other jobs to get by in a country where that would only cover a fraction of basic living costs.

Mohammed Ramadan was clutching the Kalashnikov rifle he’d been previously assigned when we met him and several others in Damascus more than two weeks after the regime fell, at a “reconciliation centre” run by HTS.

At the centre, former military, police and intelligence officers, as well as anyone who was part of pro-Assad militia groups, can register for a temporary civilian identity card and deposit their weapons.

HTS has announced a general amnesty for those who worked for the former regime.

Waleed Abdrabuh, a member of the group looking after the reconciliation centres in Damascus, said: “The goal is to have the weapons issued by the former regime to be returned to the state. And for the members of the forces to get a civilian ID so that they can be re-integrated into society.”

Under Assad, conscription into the army was mandatory for adult males. Conscripts had to hand in their civilian IDs and were given military IDs instead.

Without a civilian ID it would be hard to get a job or move around freely in the country, which partly explains why tens of thousands have showed up at centres in various cities.

At the centre in Damascus, formerly an office of Assad’s Baath Party, hundreds of men were thronging to the gate, hankering to be let in.

Many of them were keen to distance themselves from the crimes of the regime.

“I didn’t participate in any of their bad deeds. I consider them despicable acts. I did everything to avoid being a part of massacres and crimes against Syrians,” Mohammed al-Nadaf said.

“I even tried to leave the military twice because I knew I was on the wrong side. But it was not possible to escape. The military had all my civilian documents.”

Somar al-Hamwi, who served in the military for 24 years, said: “Most people don’t know anything, OK? For me, I don’t know what happened in Saydnaya or any of the prisons.”

The BBC cannot independently verify their claims.

Anger at the regime and Assad’s decision to flee to Russia on 7 December as the rebels approached Damascus was also palpable.

“He [Bashar al-Assad] took a lot of money and ran away. He left all these people, all of us military to our own destiny,” said Somar.

There were many worried faces among the crowds at the reconciliation centre, but the environment appeared relatively amicable despite the 13-year civil war that left more than half a million people dead.

“Everyone told me it is safe, and to go and make a settlement at the centre. The safety assurance made by HTS has made a big difference,” said Mohammed al-Nadaf.

But from different parts of Syria, reports of suspected revenge attacks involving killing, kidnapping and arson are increasingly coming in. There are no reliable statistics confirming how many attacks have taken place but dozens have been reported on social media.

In the past week, three judges who arbitrated property-related matters in the previously regime-controlled town of Masyaf in north-western Syria – Mounzer Hassan, Mohammed Mahmoud and Youssef Ghanoum – were killed. Sources from the hospital where their bodies were examined have told the BBC they were struck in the head by a sharp object.

We went to Alamerea village to visit the home of Mounzer Hassan. It was bare, cold, and looked like it needed repairs.

Mounzer’s wife, Nadine Abdullah, told us she believed her husband was targeted because he was an Alawite – the minority sect from which the Assad family originates, and to which many of the former regime’s political and military elite belonged.

“Since they were civil, not criminal court judges, I think they were killed simply because they were Alawites. All Alawites did not benefit from Bashar al-Assad. Those who worked for the regime were forced to follow orders, otherwise brutal measures would be imposed on them,” Nadine said.

Mounzer’s brother Nazir said: “This is a crime against an innocent person. It’s unacceptable. Those being killed had no connection to the politics of the regime. They were just working to support their poor families.”

Mounzer was the father of four young children, and was the only wage earner in his family, also looking after his ailing father and brother.

His family said they were speaking out because they want such deaths prevented in future.

“Everyone says HTS did not commit the crime. But as the governing authority now, they must find out who did it. They have to ensure protection for all of us,” Nadine said.

HTS’s interim government has condemned the killing of the judges and said it will find the perpetrators. It has also denied being involved in any reprisal killings.

Protests were held in Masyaf following the killing of the judges, and many Alawites have told the BBC they are now worried for their safety.

While HTS has announced an amnesty for Assad’s forces, they have also said those involved in torture and killing will be held to account. That will be a difficult balance to strike.

A few weeks since the fall of the regime, it is a delicate moment for Syria.

Additional reporting by Aamir Peerzada and Sanjay Ganguly.