According to exclusive information obtained by Al-Masdar News, some 50 exhausted insurgents decided to give up their arms over the past 48 hours in rural Latakia and accept an amnesty decree signed by Syrian President Bashar Al-Assad which allows them to avoid prosecution.

Unbeknownst to their commanders, some 50 fighters mostly from the Free Syrian Army’s (FSA) 1st and 2nd Coastal Divisions decided to abandon their post and raise the white flag after a surrender was agreed upon with a local commander of the Syrian Arab Army (SAA) over walkie-talkie.

In addition, reports emerged that several rebel factions operating in the Latakia governorate have refused to take part in military operations in northern Hama despite orders given by the jihadist leadership in Idlib.

According to a military source, the FSA fighters opted to disband over a lack of medical treatment, supplies and ammunition delivered to their units. Furthermore, one militant said their commanders had shown negligence and incompetence on the battlefield, losing many villages to the SAA last year without putting up a fight.