DAMASCUS (Sputnik) — A group of 153 Syrian militants have laid down their arms, deciding to use the program of national reconciliation to gain amnesty and return to civilian life, an informed source in the Homs province told Sputnik Sunday.
"A total of 153 people from the vicinity of Homs laid down their arms and received an amnesty through the 'program of national reconciliation,'" the source said.
The Syrian Ministry for National Reconciliation Affairs negotiates through intermediaries with Syrian citizens fighting on the side of illegal armed formations within the framework of the state program.
As part of the program, the country's leadership offered Syrian citizens to surrender their weapons and undergo a rehabilitation process to return to peaceful life, having received an amnesty in accordance with the decree of Syrian President Bashar Assad.
The most notable example of the program's success happened in the city of Homs in 2014, when about 1,500 militants, who had captured the center of the city, laid down their arms.
