DAMASCUS, Syria, Dec. 9 (UPI) -- Defections from Syrian military intelligence units are on the rise as morale is sinking and faith in the regime falters, a former army officer said.
The United Nations estimates at least 4,000 people, including hundreds of children, were killed during the uprising against Syrian President Bashar Assad's regime that began in mid-March.
A former army officer who joined the rebel Free Syrian Army told London's pan-Arab daily Asharq al-Awsat that a number of intelligence officers defected from the Syrian air force during the weekend with little resistance.
Assad this week offered a narrative of the conflict in his country to ABC News that prompted the U.S. State Department to suggest he was out of touch with events in Syria.
"The regime's claims are nothing more than an attempt to conceal the fact that more and more Syrian soldiers and security officers are defecting, day by day, from the Assad regime," the former army officer said on condition of anonymity.
He added that Syrian forces are become more aware that battles are being waged against members of the Free Syrian Army and not terrorists, as the regime claims. Morale among the Syrian troops, he added, is declining.
U.N. High Commissioner for Human Rights Navi Pillay, in statements before the U.N. Human Rights Council in Geneva last week, noted attacks by the Free Syrian Army on members of state security forces are escalating.
"The Syrian authorities' continual ruthless repression, if not stopped now, can drive the country into a full-fledged civil war," she warned.
