Syrian Army fatigued, admits Bashar Assad

DAMASCUS: Syria’s President Bashar Assad acknowledged the shrinking ranks of his government’s army in a rare public speech on Sunday, but insisted the force was still capable of beating fighters.
Speaking in Damascus, Assad also said any bid to end the conflict that was not based on fighting “terrorism” would be “meaningless.”
Syria’s army once had around 300,000 members, but has been roughly halved in size by deaths, defections and a rise in draft dodging, a fact that Assad acknowledged publicly on Sunday.
“There is a lack of human resources” in the army, he said, addressing representatives of economic organizations in a speech broadcast live on Syrian state television.
“The problem facing the military is not related to planning but to fatigue,” he added.
The rare public acknowledgement of weakness comes amid growing concern in Damascus about the state of the country’s armed forces.
In early July, a campaign was launched to encourage citizens to join the army, with billboards going up around the capital.
The government has also regularly urged Syrians to perform their military service and on Saturday Assad decreed a conditional amnesty for army deserters and draft dodgers.