The head of Syria’s military police, Lt Gen Abulaziz al-Shalal has defected from Bashar al-Assad’s government and is reported to have fled to Turkey.
In a video released on YouTube, Lt Gen al-Shalal said that the army has turned into "gangs of murderers” and had failed to protect Syrian citizens.
"I declare my defection from the army because of its deviation from its fundamental mission to protect the nation and transformation into gangs of murder and destruction,"
"Definitely, there are other high-ranking officers who want to defect but the situation is not suitable for them to declare defection," he said.
See the general’s video message with English translation here.
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