A statement by Syria’s grand mufti has citizens of the war-torn country fearing that a full military draft may be in the offing:

The statement was issued by the Syrian government’s top cleric, Grand Mufti Ahmad Badredeen al-Hassoun, on behalf of the country’s Supreme Fatwa Council and said: “Military service is a national, faith duty that we should keep to protect the blood of innocents and sanctity of the land.”… it is from an important religious source and is unprecedented. It may also be a sign that the regime of Bashar al-Assad is looking to enforce mandatory military service. Certainly, this is the interpretation among Syrian anti-regime activists and commentators on social-media websites.

The statement may have been aimed at Syrian army soldiers contemplating defection — and, more to the point, at ones inclined to join comrades who have taken themselves and their arms to the other side — but it is being read alongside evidence that the Syrian army is suffering a manpower crisis.

Some 70,000 people have been killed in Syria and more than a million have been displaced. On Wednesday, the European Union announced a member of its delegation in Syria had been killed by a rocket attack.

The chaos and death toll are fueling calls inside the E.U. for actions that will break the stalemate between rebel groups and the regime. U.K. Prime Minister David Cameron said today that Britain has not foreclosed sending arms to opposition groups, a move that would see the U.K. bypass the E.U. arms embargo on the conflict. The Arab League recently gave an official green light to supplying the groups with lethal aid.

Western nations have thus far resisted such calls, in part out of worries that the opposition has become increasingly dominated by Al Qaeda-linked groups. Jihadist groups in Syria threatened in recent days to invade Israel, and IDF Chief of Staff Lt. Gen. Benny Gantz this week outlined the possibility that those groups will capture and then use against Israel parts of Syria’s chemical and biological weapons arsenal.

[Photo: james_gordon_losangeles / Flickr]