Although government forces have won back control of several areas previously held by the
opposition fighters, a growing number of its troops are deserting to join the opposition.

In an exclusice report, one defector tells Al Jazeera's Sue Turton that while he was afraid at first, he says what he found was that opposition fighters were not "terrorists" as President Bashar al-Assad has been referrint them, but people, "defending their homes."

Al Jazeera's Sue Turton reports from Quaraytayn, a town where a number of defectors have gone to join the opposition fighters.