Regime forces executed a number of soldiers for refusing to participate in battles in the countryside of Hama, with summary executions taking place inside Hama Airport, sources revealed.
The father of one of the executed soldiers told Al-Souria Net that the security forces had contacted him and told him to collect the body of his "traitor" son.
"When I inquired about the cause of death, he told me that my son tried to defect, but later I asked one of his fellow soldiers and he told me that he was summarily executed in Hama Airport, along with 18 other soldiers, after they refused to head towards the northern countryside of Hama, which is witnessing fierce battles between regime forces and opposition fighters,” the father said.
Al-Souria’s correspondent Yakoub ad-Daly reported soldiers deployed at military checkpoints in the city of Hama and its countryside had been gathered to be sent to the fronts.
Another local in the countryside of Hama told al-Souria Net, "three days ago, while passing through one of the regime's checkpoints, they saw many ambulances coming from the northern countryside and heading towards the hospital of Hama.
One of the cars stopped at the checkpoint, then the driver and other officers got out of it and began yelling and cursing on the soldiers at the checkpoint: ‘You are sitting here and people are being killed in the north,’ one of the officers said. One of the soldiers said these are the instructions of the leadership, but the driver of the car replied: ‘we'll see this failed leadership.’”
Sources added that shortly afterwards, "pickup" cars arrived at the scene and began collecting a number of soldiers deployed at the checkpoints in the southern countryside of Hama, then headed north.
The Hama Media Center confirmed yesterday the death toll among regime forces and the National Defense Forces militia participating in the Hama battles had reached at least 400 soldiers within a week, while at least 50 military vehicles had also been destroyed, as US-made TOW missiles continued to play a major role in the battles.
This article was translated and edited by The Syrian Observer
