(Zaman Al Wasl)- Well-informed sources in Homs province reported that most of the sectarian militias fighting alongside Assad's estimated to be 10,000 troops, have not been paid for six months, and that about half of them have joined the regime army in the last few weeks .
The sources added that the National Defense militia especially in the eastern Homs countryside was finally dissolved, leaving very small number stationed at the checkpoints surrounding al-Houla area and the northern Homs countryside.
Zaman al-Wasl learned that large numbers of al-Bustan Association militia tributed to businessman Rami Makhlouf have joined the regime army since the beginning of 2018 because of the lack of salaries and defrauding as well as regime checkpoints harrasement of the militia members who are considered runaways from compulsory and reserve service.
Alaa Hamdan, a former member of the National Defense militia said, "I lost vision and half my hearing in the battles, my right arm was amputed, my body was splintered, I fought on most fronts until I was paralyzed, but I did not receive my salary for 6 months , and there is no income for me and my children except for the salary. "
Zaman al-Wasl has previously published a report in clrafiying that most of these problems are the result of sharp differences between the thugs leader and their founder in Homs, Saqr Rustam and the current militia leader Khaldoun Abu Ali. Recent events show that Saqr Rustam won the battle with the help of his brother in the palace Bassam Merhej.
Sources said the suspension of salaries of the National Defense militia and giving one month's salary every three months to the rest of the militias, especially the Desert Hawks and the Bustan Association has several reasons.
The first is the financial strain of the militias amid expectation of ending their mission in Homs province, where they no longer have any role in light of the decline of fighting with Islamic State in the eastern Homs countryside and Badiya of Palmyra, according to sources.
A number of regime loyalists, especially those with the dead and wounded, demanded accountability of the leaders of the militias who stole millions of Syrian pounds, while the elements paid their lives to defend them and the Assad regime.
Colonel Hossam al-Zeer, from the Central Region Recruiting Division in Syria said that those who are killed or wounded by the paramilitary forces are not considered martyrs and their family is not entitled to claim compensation or salary after their death.
Al-Zeer said in an interview with local radio in the city of Homs,"regime army considers members of the paramilitary forces fugitives from military or reserve duty if he does not join the regular army."
He revealed that about 5400 troops joined the army during the past two months, mostly from the paramilitary forces in the eastern Homs countryside, where two centers were opened in Homs to attract them. The first is in the town of al-Farqlas, which is dedicated to the eastern Homs countryside and the second is al-Hasan Bin al-Haytham or Homs city and westren countryside.
More than 119,000 pro-regime forces have been killed, including 62,000 troops, tens of thousands of loyalist militiamen, and 1,556 fighters from Hezbollah, according to a new estimate by the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights.
The Alawites-dominated areas still the main manpower supply for Bashar al-Assad's regime. The mourning posters and statements have been sweeping the streets and social media pages.
More than 470,000 people have been killed and 12 millions have been driven from their homes since Syria's revolution erupted in 2011.
Zaman Al Wasl
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