Syrian military forces killed 27 people on Saturday, including 23 soldiers, apparently defectors. On the other side, the "Free Syrian Army" (FSA) -- Syrian army defectors -- reportedly killed four security personnel in Idlib, the pan-Arab Al Jazeera satellite news network reported.
FSA leader Colonel Riyad al-Assad told the A-sharq Al-Awsat newspaper that his forces would resume military operations against the Assad regime on Sunday.
The FSA allegedly suspended its activities Wednesday after the Assad regime announced its agreement to the Arab League deal for a settlement with opposition forces, al-Assad said. However, “in light of the continued operations of the regime forces, the FSA will now return to the field,” he said.
Government forces killed at least 13 people Friday after thousands of protesters rallied across the country “to test the government's acceptance of the Arab League peace initiative,” the FSA commander noted.
The agreement worked out with the Arab League had called for the Assad government to immediately withdraw its security forces from the streets, stop violence against protesters, and release all detainees arrested since the uprising began in March.
“We gave the Syrian regime two days... in order to reveal its lies and maneuvering,” he told A-sharq Al-Awsat. “Today, after its true intentions have been exposed, we will resume... and I will work to establish a military council as soon as possible.”
Al-Assad confirmed that the FSA members are “defectors from the Syrian army, and have the right to militarily defend ourselves and our people. Anyone who thinks that this Syrian regime will be toppled by peaceful protests is dreaming – therefore we reject this path of peaceful revolution.”
He claimed that the FSA includes more than 15,000 soldiers, but denied that there was any security coordination with Turkey. “The support that we have received is limited to humanitarian assistance,” he told the newspaper.
According to the British “Daily Telegraph” newspaper, Riyad al-Assad is living in Ankara, however, and the FSA is operating with the quiet approval of Turkish authorities.
Although the United Nations has estimated that more than 3,000 people have died since the uprising began, the National Organization for Human Rights in Syria puts the figure much higher – higher than 4,000.