The defections in Deir a-Zor

Private sources from Deir a-Zour said the cities of al-Bukhmal, al-Ashra, Sobikhan and al-Myadin had witnessed the defection of more than 25 gunmen (most of them from al-Myadin) over the past two weeks. Most of them went to the SDF-controlled territories through smuggling crossings, and some simply disappeared.

According to informed sources, the reasons for the defection are due to repeated attacks on Iranian sites in the area by unmanned aircraft and ISIS cells - the state organization, and the payment of the "Revolutionary Guards" militia to local Iranian elements.

Sources added that Iranian militias demanded that the families of these "local" elements reveal the whereabouts of the defectors, punishing anyone who hid information about the whereabouts of a relative, while Iranian militias began raiding friends' homes and relatives on and off to search for them.

Sources noted that the defecting local Iranian militias left their weapons and left their positions.

The defections in the a-Raqqa area

In the a-Raqqa district, a special source explained to the Syrian television website that 3 members of the "4th Division", including a lieutenant officer, defected from the ranks of the regime forces and moved to the "SDF" areas and from there to Turkey.

The source said the defectors fled the al-Sabha checkpoint, east of the city of al-Raqqa, during a sick leave, having previously managed to send their families first to the SDF-controlled rural area of Deir a-Zor, before continuing on their way to Turkey so they would not be harmed.

He noted that regime forces had issued a search and arrest warrant against the opposition, mainly a lieutenant (Shahin al-Than), and this morning, Thursday morning, raided his home located in the al-Ta'as neighborhood of the eastern city of Madan a-Raqqa.

The three fighters defected, at dawn yesterday, Wednesday, from the al-Sabha checkpoint towards the village of Mugla Kabira, and from there to areas controlled by SDF, where they crossed the Euphrates River with a smuggler, to continue on their way to the "Aviv Hashalom" areas controlled by the Syrian national army. Turkish later.

A large number of National Defense militia members and Assad regime forces have defected in the past, some joining the "Syrian Democratic Forces" while others are still in hiding.