Israel Matzav

Report: Rebel forces trained by US, Israel and Jordan on their way to Damascus

In an earlier post, based on a report in the French newspaper Le Figaro, I reported that American and Israeli troops were in Syria. That may well be (and likely is) true. But it may not have been what was written in the Le Figaro story. JPost is now reporting, based on a report (the same report?) in Le Figaro, that 300 Syrian rebel troops trained by the US, Israel and Jordan are headed for Damascus and that may have been the reason behind Wednesday's chemical weapons attack.

Guerrilla fighters trained by the West began moving towards Damascus in mid-August, French newspaper La Figaro reported on Thursday.

La Figaro reported that this is the reason behind the Assad regime's alleged chemical weapons attack in Damascus on Wednesday morning, as UN inspectors were allowed into the country to investigate allegations of WMD use.

The rebels were trained for several months in a training camp on the Jordanian-Syrian border by CIA operatives, as well as Jordanian and Israeli commandos, the paper said.

The first group of 300 handpicked Free Syrian Army soldiers crossed the border on August 17 into the Deraa region, and a second group was deployed on August 19, the paper reported.
The paper quoted a researcher at the French Institute for Strategic Analysis as saying the trained rebels group was passing through Ghouta, on their way to Damascus.

...

The United States has left about 700 combat-equipped troops in Jordan after a training exercise there, at the request of the Jordanian government, US President Barack Obama said on Friday.

"This detachment that participated in the exercise and remained in Jordan includes Patriot missile systems, fighter aircraft, and related support, command, control, and communications personnel and systems," Obama said.

 Hmmm.

Labels: al-Qaeda, Bashar al-Assad, chemical weapons, Free Syrian Army, Nusra Front, Syria, Syrian army

posted by Carl in Jerusalem @ 12:41 PM