Syrian army defectors vow to continue battle to topple Assad regime

HATAY (A.A) - March 12, 2012 - Syrian army defectors have renewed commitment to keep on fighting Bashar al-Assad until his regime was overthrown as reports of casualties escalate each day in the Syrian government's violent 11-month crackdown on opposition protestors. "We will fight our war until the Syrian regime is ousted," Ibrahim Toto, commander of the Al-Hurriyah battalion of the Free Syrian Army, told an Anadolu Agency correspondent who was allowed to enter a heavily concealed military camp in a mountainous and forested area near the Turkish-Syrian border. Toto said his unit was of one of nearly 70 others deployed in the area and waged a coordinated fight on al-Assad's army which Syrian rebels said was responsible for "massacres against civilians." United Nations has said number of casualties in Syria had exceeded 7,500 as the Syrian army continues with its deadly attacks, the latest of which on Friday killed around 50 civilians, activists said. "We have limited weapons and munitions and if we can't receive aid there will be much deadlier massacres," said Toto, who also accused pro-government forces to prevent humanitarian aid from reaching areas where they were needed desperately such as the restive city of Homs, the scene of a fierce assault on civilians.  "We are trying to protect our people with our weapons but we can't prevent them from starving to death," Toto said.    Another defector, who identified himself as Abu Mohammad, defied accusations that Syrian rebel forces sought to divide the country along sectarian lines, saying their only target was the forces loyal to Assad. "We do not discriminate any religion, sect or race. This is our people and we have vowed to protect them against Assad's cruelty. There are even Alawites and Christians who took shelter with the Free Syrian Army," Mohammad said.