BEIRUT – A Syrian general was among the latest defectors from the Syrian military, officials said Monday, after dozens of Syrian soldiers fled overnight to Turkey, crossing the border with their families.

The general defected in recent days, Turkish officials said. Then, according to the state-run Anadolu news agency, 33 soldiers crossed the border overnight, including a second general and two colonels.

But a Turkish government official, who spoke on condition of anonymity in line with government rules, said the group included three colonels, and there was no general.