Beirut: Syrian authorities on Thursday sent text messages over cell phones nationwide with a message for rebels fighting President Bashar Assad’s regime: “Game over.”
The messages signed by the Syrian Arab Army also urged the rebels to surrender their weapons and warned the countdown to evict foreign fighters has begun. The texts appear to be part of the regime’s psychological battle against the rebels, but are highly unlikely to have any effect on fighters intent on toppling Assad. Syrians say they began receiving the messages a day after rebels bombed a military command center in Damascus which is a major security breach of the heavily guarded capital that highlighted the regime’s growing vulnerability in the face of a rebellion growing in confidence and capabilities. People with cellular subscriptions received the messages while those with prepaid phones did not, residents in the Syrian capital said. Despite the high-profile attack, the two sides have been locked in a stalemate after 18 months of conflict.