Former Syrian soldiers say low wages, rampant bribery, desertions, and declining morale have caused the military to collapse quickly when under attack.

Farhan al-Khouli, a 23-year-old Syrian army soldier, was assigned to guard a frontline outpost near Idlib, a city in northwestern Syria close to opposition-controlled areas. His squad was supposed to have nine soldiers but only three remained.

The others had bribed their commanders to avoid deployment to the post. Of the two soldiers still with Khouli, one was deemed mentally unstable by commanders and should not have been armed.

Previously, Khouli’s post was relatively quiet as the Hayat Tahrir al-Sham (HTS) Islamist group controlling Idlib conducted few military operations. However, by late November, HTS began probing attacks on Syrian government positions. On November 27, Khouli’s superiors called to inform him that an opposition convoy was approaching and ordered his unit to hold their position and fight.

But Khouli, disillusioned and earning a meager salary, did not obey. He turned his phone to airplane mode, changed into civilian clothes, abandoned his weapon, and fled. Walking south, he encountered many other soldiers doing the same.

"When one person runs, others drop their weapons and follow," Khouli told Reuters. His story, now working at a horse stable in Damascus, illustrates why Syrian soldiers are reluctant to fight for the government.

Khouli was conscripted at 19 after delaying enlistment for a year by bribing a recruitment officer. However, after his mandatory 18-month service ended, he was forced to continue indefinitely. He attempted to desert but was caught and jailed for 52 days before being sent to the frontline near Idlib.

Earning 500,000 Syrian pounds (around $40) per month, Khouli often had to spend his entire salary on food, as rations were regularly skimmed by corrupt officers.

Wealthier soldiers in his squad typically paid $100 to commanders to be discharged. While Khouli’s company was supposed to have 80 soldiers, it only had 60. He also complained of mistreatment, such as being forced to dig trenches regardless of weather conditions.

A former Syrian army major described the forced conscription policy as a "fatal mistake" by the armed forces.

Zuhair, a 28-year-old former logistics soldier, witnessed officers selling unit generators and fuel for personal profit. "All they care about is using their position to enrich themselves," Zuhair said.

He fought for President Bashar al-Assad’s regime for years, even as some relatives joined the opposition. When the opposition attacked, Zuhair said he celebrated. "I can’t describe how happy I was," he said.

Makhlouf Makhlouf, who served in an engineering brigade, stated that complaints about corruption often led to court-martial. He experienced this multiple times before deserting his post in Hama, shortly before it fell to opposition forces on December 5.

Corruption and declining morale have deeply infiltrated the Syrian army. Many officers feel that their sacrifices and victories have not translated into higher pay or better resources.

Meanwhile, Syria’s economy has been battered by U.S. sanctions and dwindling foreign aid, according to Aron Lund, a researcher at the U.S.-based Century International think tank specializing in the Middle East. Inflation has skyrocketed.

"Things have deteriorated for everyone, except the elite and cronies close to Assad," Lund said.

In 2020, the Syrian army had 130,000 soldiers, according to the International Institute for Strategic Studies (IISS). The report described the military as weakened by years of civil war, resembling an irregular militia with an inconsistent organizational structure.

In 2021, Assad signed a decree nearly doubling military salaries to keep up with over 100% inflation from the previous year. However, the Syrian pound had already lost significant purchasing power.

Discontent surged over the past year, spreading even among Assad’s traditionally loyal Alawite minority, according to a senior Syrian intelligence officer. The army relied heavily on support from allies like Russia, Iran, and Iranian-backed militias from Iraq and Lebanon to fend off opposition forces. The operational command structure was largely managed by Iranian military advisors and allied forces.

Many Iranian military advisors left Syria earlier this year after Israel intensified airstrikes on Damascus. Other militias, like Hezbollah, withdrew to Lebanon in October to address rising tensions with Israel. This left the Syrian army ineffective and without a cohesive defense strategy, particularly in Aleppo, Syria's second-largest city.

Meanwhile, the opposition in northwest Syria, though smaller in number, has consolidated forces, according to a report from the Brussels-based International Crisis Group.

When opposition forces launched their offensive on Aleppo in late November, Syrian army units there lacked clear battle or defense strategies. They were ordered to either devise their own plans or retreat to the strategic city of Homs.

The main Syrian army units defending Aleppo chose the latter, hastily executing a "tactical retreat." By November 29, two days after the opposition’s offensive began, Aleppo had fallen.

The collapse shocked the Syrian military, which by then had devolved into disjointed and poorly coordinated units. Many units were left without personnel because commanders accepted bribes to discharge soldiers or allowed them to stay home while still receiving pay.

A U.S. official revealed that days before the Assad government’s collapse, Washington received reports of widespread desertions and defections among Syrian soldiers. Some even fled to Iraq. On December 6, Turki Al-Mahlawi, mayor of Iraq’s border town Al-Qaim, confirmed that around 2,000 Syrian soldiers had crossed the border seeking asylum.

Rampant desertions, corruption, and heavy reliance on foreign support reduced Syria’s once-formidable army to a hollow force. Within just 11 days, opposition forces captured Damascus, toppled Assad’s government, and ended the nearly 14-year civil war.

Iraqi militias sent reinforcements to Syria last week but discovered that communication channels with Iranian military advisors had been severed, according to an Iraqi militia commander. On December 6, after opposition forces took control of Hama, the Iraqi militias were ordered to withdraw.

"The war for Syria was lost from the very first day," the militia commander said.

(Sources: Reuters, Yahoo News, AP)