The Syrian army’s collapse as told by the soldiers who fled

The constant gunfire and explosions were deafening. 

Amr, a 27-year-old conscript in the Syrian army, was stationed on the front line just north of Hama.

As he took cover, Amr quaked. The rebel offensive had taken everyone by surprise, and he was no warrior.

“My commanding officer told me to start shooting,” he recalled. “He said if you don’t start shooting the enemy, you will be considered a traitor and punished.”

So Amr began shooting – not at anyone or anything, just sporadic gunfire into nothingness to avoid punishment.

“We kept being told: ‘Don’t retreat, backup is on on the way,’” Amr said. “But everyone knew that was a lie. There was no backup.”

Over time, Amr and the rest of the troops defending Hama were pushed southwards to Salamiyah. That’s when everyone seemed to give up hope.

All around him, Amr’s fellow soldiers and officers were stripping off their uniforms and laying down their weapons. 

He decided to do the same and made his way to Damascus, exhausted, half-naked and in shock. 

Until a couple of days ago, crumpled fatigues were a common sight on the streets of Damascus: boots, trousers and jackets on the pavement or beside deserted tanks.

The Syrian army barely put up a fight when rebels charged into Aleppo on 30 November. Amr likely saw the fiercest action in Hama a week later. But the expected defence of Homs and Damascus never materialised.

‘We kept being told: ‘Don’t retreat, backup is on the way.’ But everyone knew that was a lie.’

– Amr, former Syrian army conscript

Assad’s military, estimated in 2020 to be 130,000 strong, collapsed for several reasons. 

His major backers – Russia, Iran and Hezbollah, who had previously provided punishing air strikes, strategic experience and boots on the ground – were weakened and distracted by conflicts with Ukraine and Israel. 

It also seems they had grown tired of a Syrian president who, time and again, had proved that he and his government were venal, inept and unreliable.

Quite simply, people were not prepared to fight for Assad anymore, and that included his soldiers.

The relative peace that Syria experienced since the front lines froze in 2020 had not been accompanied by a better life.

Catastrophic levels of inflation made every day a struggle for millions of Syrians. 

A conscript like Amr earned around 500,000 Syrian lira ($40) a month, barely enough to live on. Promises that salaries would be raised by 50 percent as the rebels closed in were not enough to convince troops to hold firm or even show up in the first place.

Avoiding duty

Nabil, a lieutenant in his mid-30s, was called to a meeting of officers in Damascus on the evening of 5 December.

“We were told to pick up a weapon and prepare to defend the city. Some of us refused, but the Alawi officers followed orders,” he told Middle East Eye, referring to the sect to which the Assads belong.

“I think even the ones who took up their guns didn’t really want to fight.”

Nabil had some money saved up, so he bribed his commander to let him take some leave. Ten minutes after he left, the commander called him to say he had changed his mind.

“My friends in the army told me not to come back. They said everyone was leaving and I should run away,” he said.

The lieutenant was worried about his friends. Nabil had been threatened by his commander and knew others could face trouble if they were caught deserting, so he drove to his base in the Madi neighbourhood the following night to pick some of them up and get them out.

“When I got to the base, I saw three generals fleeing in their own cars. For once, they were driving themselves,” he recalled.

At checkpoints, authorities desperately tried to turn fleeing soldiers around, threatening to shoot them if they did not return to their bases.

“Everyone just ran around them instead or showed IDs that weren’t linked to the military, like union membership,” Nabil said.

Mohammed, a 25-year-old sergeant, was on leave when the offensive began. Like many in the military, he was using his time off to make money to support his family.

‘When I got to the base, I saw three generals fleeing in their own cars. For once, they were driving themselves’

– Nabil, former Syrian army soldier

“I was told I had to mobilise as fast as I could, that there was an emergency and rebels were attacking Hama,” Mohammed told MEE.

“I said I needed to earn money to feed my children so I wouldn’t report for duty. But actually, I just didn’t want to fight. We Syrians are brothers and should not fight against each other.”

Mohammed’s commander would not take no for an answer. He said he would send a police car to his house to fetch him back to base.

“He said: ‘I consider you a traitor, and you will receive the most painful punishment in your life.’”

Looking out the window, however, it was clear to Mohammed that everything was falling apart as soldiers scurried away.

“You could hear the soldiers in the street, cursing Assad as they ran.”