Syria to reintegrate volunteer defected officers into army very soon

Syria's defense authorities announced Wednesday that it will soon begin accepting applications from "defected" non-commissioned officers (NCOs) willing to rejoin the army, state news agency SANA reported.



The door will be opened "very soon" for those volunteer NCOs who have "defected" from the army of Bashar al-Assad's government to rejoin the ranks of the new Syrian army, SANA quoted Assem Ghlyoun, head of the authorities' media and communications department, as saying.



The decision followed the near completion of administrative procedures concerning "defected" NCOs, Ghlyoun said.



"The delay was only due to the need to finalize essential procedures that paved the way for this decision," he added, without specifying the start date of the acceptance.



A civil war erupted in Syria in 2011. In December 2024, Ahmed al-Sharaa, now Syria's interim leader, seized power from al-Assad, the former Syrian president.