Syrian man says FSA killed his baby son to recruit him

A former Syrian soldier says so-called moderate rebels from the Free Syrian Army (FSA) killed his infant son in efforts to force him to join them. The man had to flee to a refugee camp to take the rest of his family to safety.

For safety reasons, RT will not disclose the man’s identity, and will refer to him as ‘Abdel.’

“When they learned that I served at the checkpoint of the state army, the Free Syrian Army wanted me to join them. They kidnapped my little son, who was just 45 days old at that time, and told me that I had 72 hours to leave the military and become a Free Syrian Army soldier,” Abdel told RT’s Maria Finoshina.

He added that to pressure him further the kidnappers were sending him pictures of his son Ibrahim over the 72 hours they gave him: first, of the boy alive and wrapped in a blanket. Next – an odious caricature in the form of a beheaded doll, and last – a half-naked Ibrahim with a sword next to him.

“At midnight they brought a black plastic bag to my porch – there was my son’s body there, his head and arms were cut,” he says.

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The day after the horrid delivery, Abdel says he received a phone call warning that his other two children would suffer the same fate as little Ibrahim if their father further rejects the offer of the FSA, the first organized armed opposition group in the Syrian conflict. He added that at that point he realized he was cornered – equally afraid to join the FSA and to leave the government forces. So he took his family and fled to a refugee camp on Turkish-Syrian border, hoping to find some refuge there.

“They will kidnap your loved ones and blackmail you. And if you don't comply they will kill your son, mother or sister. There is no difference for them. They can bring you your [loved one dead]. If they want somebody they will use any means.”

It all happened in 2012, but Abdel says he still feels trapped. Speaking of his hardships for the first time in four years, he hopes this will draw attention to his story and help him solve visa errors which stop him from getting his family out of the refugee camp.

Abdel claims the people who brought him so much grief were members of the FSA. Dubbed ‘moderate opposition,’ this group and the likes of it are vastly supported, both financially and militarily, and called ‘legitimate’ by Western politicians. Yet, according to the former soldier, the FSA has never been moderate in when trying to lure Assad army members into their ranks.