On the night of December 6, Mohammed al-Nadaf, a soldier in the Syrian army, was at his position in Homs.
When rebels led by Hayat Tahrir al-Sham (HTS) entered the city days after they seized control of Aleppo and Hama in a lightning offensive, Mohammed decided he did not want to fight.
“We had no orders, no information. I took off my uniform, left my weapon and started to make my way to my village in Tartus,” he said.
Around the same time, Mohammed Ramadan was in a position on the outskirts of the capital, Damascus.
“We had no one to order. Many of our commanders escaped before us. So I thought, why should I die and fight for someone who didn’t even give me a salary to feed my family?
“We received one egg and one potato for a daily soldier’s ration.”
The next morning he also left his post and went home.
The testimonies of the soldiers make it possible to understand the rapid collapse of the regime of the deposed President Bashar al-Assad.
