Dozens of Syrian army soldiers 'defect' in Damascus

Syrian army soldiers are seen deployed in the Jobar neighbourhood of Damascus on August 24, 2013. (AFP)

Around 55 Syrian army soldiers have announced their defection, activists at the Local Coordinating Committees in Syria reported on Monday.
An army officer from the Raqqa province was among the defectors, who were mostly based in Damascus suburbs.
The move comes amid Western hesitation over a strike on Syrian regime bases, in response to last month's chemical weapons attack against civilians in the crisis-torn country.
In June, AFP news agency reported that more than 70 Syrian military officers, including six generals and 22 colonels, deserted President Bashar Assad's army and crossed the border into Turkey. It was the biggest such defection in months, according to AFP.