Military police told the BBC there had been no coordination between security forces and Abu Khalid. Some also said that government security forces had battled violent and extremist factions to protect Alawite villagers from attack. "I turned the camera on him and told him to sit down," Abu Khalid told me. Abu Khalid expressed bitterness over the former regime's attacksBut the video Abu Khalid filmed of the shooting - its location and timing verified by the BBC - does not support his account. There has been rapid recruitment to fill the ranks of a new civilian police and the General Security Forces.