Syria leader tells podcast thousands joining new army

DAMASCUS: Syrian interim President Ahmed al-Sharaa said in an interview released Monday that “thousands” of people were joining the country’s new army following the overthrow of Bashar al-Assad and the dissolution of his military.

“I did not impose mandatory conscription in Syria. Instead, I opted for voluntary enlistment, and today thousands are joining the new Syrian army,” Sharaa told “The Rest is Politics” podcast, hosted by Alastair Campbell, former spokesman for British leader Tony Blair, and Rory Stewart, an ex-Conservative minister.

Since the fall of longtime ruler Assad in December, Syria’s authorities have dissolved the former military and security services, and have set up centres for personnel who served under the ousted government to settle their status.

In the Syrian civil war’s early years, experts said a combination of casualties, defections and draft-dodging saw the military lose around half of its 300,000-strong force.

It was propped up by support from Assad allies Russia and Iran, as well as fighters from Iran-backed groups including Lebanon’s Hezbollah.

But as that support faltered, the military effectively collapsed in the face of November’s rebel advance, led by Sharaa’s Islamist group Hayat Tahrir al-Sham (HTS).

Sharaa, who was appointed interim president last month, noted that “a large number of young men” had fled Syria to escape mandatory military conscription.

“There were many defected former officers who are now gradually rejoining the current ministry of defence,” Sharaa added in the interview, which was dubbed into English.

Syria’s new authorities have said that armed groups active in the country would integrate into the national army, at a time when security remains tenuous.

Pro-Turkish fighters are still battling with the US-backed, Kurdish-led Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF), the de facto army of a semi-autonomous Kurdish administration in the country’s northeast.

Sharaa, who has been urging countries to lift sanctions on Syria, noted the measures “were imposed on the previous regime during its systematic crimes”.

“Now that we have dismantled the regime and its prisons, these sanctions should be lifted, as there is no justification for them after the fall of the regime,” he said.

Syria’s conflict broke out in 2011 after Assad brutally repressed anti-government protests, sparking a complex conflict that has killed more than 500,000 people and displaced millions.

Sharaa, who has been giving interviews to