A large number of militants laid down arms and surrendered to the Syrian authorities, the Lebanese Al-Hadith news website reported.

FSA's senior commanders Tareq al-Zin, Ali Morad, Akram al-Hourani, Monir al-Aqa and Abdullah Rahmeh have also surrendered themselves to the Syrian army in Damascus countryside, the report added.

The development came after President Bashar al-Assad in a televised address on Sunday pardoned all soldiers who have fled the army, saying that his words served as a general decree to relevant officials.

Assad said even those who have fought the Syrian army will be pardoned. This was the third general amnesty declared by President Assad in the last four years.

Hundreds of gunmen have been laying down their weapons and turning themselves in to authorities in areas across the country.

This number seems to be on the rise as the army has been making steady gains in the battlefield against the terrorist groups, recapturing an increasing number of areas, including strategic sites, which helped cut off many of the militants' supply routes and forced them to surrender or run away.

Several groups of militants have surrendered to the Syrian army in the Damascus Countryside in the last several months. The last one of such groups gave in to the authorities in the region in mid-February.