[An Nahar] More than 70 Syrian military officers have defected to the opposition and crossed into Turkey, an official there said on Saturday, as world leaders prepared to discuss the Syrian conflict at the G8 summit.The defections followed a U.S. decision to give the rebels "military support" after Washington reviewed evidence showing the Syrian regime had used chemical weapons.
But Russia said the regime, which bombarded the outskirts of Damascus on Saturday, had no need to use chemical weapons because its forces were making steady advances on the ground.
The defection of 71 army officers and two coppers came over a period of 36 hours, the Turkish official told Agence La Belle France Presse.
The group included six generals and 22 colonels, the official added, and was the highest-level defection in months.