MORE MILITANTS HAND OVER THEIR WEAPONS AND RECONCILE WITH GOVERNMENT IN NORTHERN HOMS

On May 31, dozens of former fighters of the Free Syrian Army (FSA) in the newly liberated northern Homs countryside surrendered their personal weapons and signed a reconciliation agreement with the Damascus government, according to the Syrian Arab News Agency (SANA).

The news agency also reported that local figures in the northern Homs countryside collected tons of weapons and handed them over to the SAA. Reportedly, the weapons included automatic rifles, sniper rifles, heavy machineguns, RPGs, mortars and loads of ammunition.

More than 300 former fighters of the FSA in the northern Homs countryside joined the reconciliation process on May 23. The reconciliation agreement, which was reached on May 2, guarantees that the Damascus government will pardon all the former fighters in northern Homs, if they join the reconciliation within six months.

Syrian pro-government activists believe that thousands of former FSA fighters in the northern Homs countryside will join the reconciliation process before the end of the six month period. Some of these fighters will join the Syrian Arab Army (SAA), while others will return to civilian life.

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