Syrian Intelligence Facility Attack Examined

The Free Syrian Army, a group of mostly Sunni defectors from the Syrian army, claimed a Nov. 16 attack on a Syrian Directorate for Air Force Intelligence facility in Harasta, roughly 8 kilometers (5 miles) northeast of Damascus. At least three accounts of the attack and its perpetrators have surfaced, each with their own implications for the defectors and the Syrian regime. Whichever version is true, the intelligence base is the most significant infrastructure that the defectors have targeted. Notably, one account suggests that a line of communication exists between the Free Syrian Army and would-be defectors within the army, which, if true, could be a troubling development for the Syrian army in the long term.