Syrian intelligence services have arrested five pro-regime activists, four from the coastal region and one from the city of Damascus, a monitoring group said.
The Syrian Observatory for Human Rights (SOHR) said the activists were covering news of the military operations by regime forces as well as the news of the regime bombardment and aerial strikes on Syrian territory.
The Observatory said the activists were arrested due to a campaign demanding details of the fates of hundreds of regime soldiers who were killed in clashes with the Islamic State at Division17, Brigade 93, at the Tabqa airbase in the province of al Raqqa, as well as the gas field of Shaaer in the eastern countryside of Homs.
The activists launched the campaign demanding to know the fate of the fighters, regime soldiers and members of the National Defense Forces who were left to their destinies in the IS-held areas. The campaign coincided with increasing resentment in the villages and towns that are loyal to the Syrian regime, and where most of the regime’s militiamen come from, due to the regime’s heavy casualites at the bases and among the regiment of Melabeyi, where 1,000 soldiers were reportedly killed and beheaded.
Some pro-regime activists and young people organized demonstrations and campaigns on social networking sites demanding the dismissal of the Defense Minister and some offices of the army and intelligence services they said are responsible for the defeats. However, they decided not to go ahead with the demonstrations after promises from the Media Office at the Republican Palace that the Defense Minister will not be included in the new formation of the government, while the officers responsible for the defeat will be investigated. So far none of these promises have been met.
Translated and edited by The Syrian Observer
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