Earlier, the Russian Defence Ministry's Centre for Syrian Reconciliation confirmed that over two dozen militants trained at a US military base in Syria had surrendered to the Syrian Army after breaking out of the US-controlled At-Tanf area and engaging in a shootout with other militia members.
28 militants and six drivers from the Jaysh Maghawir al-Thawra (‘Revolutionary Commando Army') rebel group arrived in Palmyra, handed over all their weapons and equipment and surrendered to take advantage of the Syrian government's recent amnesty decrees, SANA has reported, citing a source said to be involved in the process.
The group's evacuation from the At-Tanf area, a blob of US-held territory in southern Syria near the Jordanian and Iraqi border, was facilitated following over four months of planning, according to authorities.
SANA's source said that the haul of surrendered equipment included eight vehicles, some of them fitted with heavy machine guns, along with a small number of automatic weapons, sniper rifles, 2 RPG launchers and a grenade launcher, along with communications equipment and binoculars.
Ghannam Samir al-Khedair, the group's leader, said he and his comrades had been displaced from Sweida by Daesh (ISIS)* and crossed the border into Jordan, where they were trained, after which they were sent to guard the Rukban refugee camp. Al-Khedair also revealed that his men were demoralised…
