The Syrian army is highly fragmented on religious grounds .

Syrian army battalion , serving a base of air defense troops near the town of Rastan , defected to the rebels , and then attacked a nearby air base , according to the Middle East blog newspaper The Guardian.The network is already there were pictures from space, showing that air base in flames , as well as videopodtverzhdenie that AFB is really on fire.Soldiers and officers who came from the authority of the regime, were taken from the warehouses of its parts a considerable quantity of arms and ammunition.The video of the parts laid out on the Internet, it is clear that in their possession were not only air missile system S -seventy-five "Dvina" , but also anti-aircraft guns , " Shilka After leaving the base , soldiers joined the rebels in the cities of Rastan and Talbisa , where battles are ongoing .Earlier, the opposition had nothing to oppose the enemy's assault helicopters , but due to recent events they have a chance to equalize the situation.Incident -based air defenses have caused concern on the part of Western observers , who fear that the various means of defense may be in the hands of terrorists.The Syrian army is highly fragmented on religious grounds .In suppressing the rebellion participate predominantly Alawite parts into which the government (also mostly alavistskoe ) can be fully relied upon.Units, dominated by Sunni Muslims , as a rule , from the arrangement of its parts do not go , because the regime is afraid of their accession to the insurrection.As previously reported, in recent days the intensity of the fighting throughout all Syria has increased significantly.Battles are on the north -west provinces of Latakia and Idlib , Homs, Hama, Dara , as well as in the east and the capital - Damascus.