Head of the political security branch in Raqqa, Syria, Lt. Colonel Omar Abu Rukba in addition to 22 personnel have defected from the ruling regime in protest of the security forces\' daily attacks against anti-regime protesters, the local coordination committees said Sunday. They noted that Al-Raqqa area was a scene of massive anti-regime protests which were confronted by security forces who were shooting randomly at the demonstrators. The committees said the number of people killed by government forces rose to 41.