SyriaU.S. has been secretly training Syrian rebels for months

Published 24 June 2013

Since late last year, CIA operatives and U.S. Special Forces have been secretly training Syrian rebels to used anti-tank and anti-aircraft weapons. the training is being conducted at U.S. bases in Jordan and Turkey, and involves fighters from the Free Syrian Army, a loose confederation of mostly secular rebel groups – many of who deserters from the Syrian military — fighting to take down Syrian President Bashar al-Assad.

Reports claim Syrian rebels trained by CIA in Jordan // Source: njdaily.cn

Since late last year, CIA operatives and U.S. Special Forces have been secretly training Syrian rebels to use anti-tank and anti-aircraft weapons.

The L.A. Times reports that  the training is being conducted  at U.S. bases in Jordan and Turkey, and involves fighters from the Free Syrian Army, a loose confederation of mostly secular rebel groups – many of who deserters from the Syrian military — fighting to take down Syrian President Bashar al-Assad.

U.S. officials say the United States and its allies may soon begin to provide anti-tank weapons to rebel forces, but are less likely to provide advanced weaponry such as portable anti-aircraft missiles (MANPADs) because of fears these weapons will fall into the hands of the al Qaeda-affiliated Al Nursa group, the largest of the Islamist militias fighting in Syria. The United States has designated Al Nusra a terrorist organization..

Brigadier General Yahya Bittar, who defected as a fighter pilot from Assad’s air force last year and is now head of intelligence for the Free Syrian Army, the training has been conducted by American, Jordanian, and French operatives, and it focused on rockets and anti-tank and anti-aircraft weaponry.

The number of rebels attending the secret training sessions could not be determined, but a rebel commander said the training at the Jordan base involved twenty to forty-five insurgents at a time, and that so far about 100 rebels have attended four courses. Rebels from Damascus have attended three courses.

The training began last November when U.S. special operations teams set up regional supply lines to provide rebels with medical aid, uniforms, radios, and other non-lethal equipment. The two week sessions included training with Russian –designed 14.5 millimeter anti-tank rifles, anti-tank missiles and 23-millimeter anti-aircraft weapons.

“Those from the CIA, we would sit and talk with them during breaks from training and afterward, they would try to get information on the situation inside” Syria, the rebel commander told the L.A. Times.

CIA and White House officials have declined to comment on the report, but other U.S. officials have confirmed the training has been going on.

Foreign ministers of the Friends of Syria group, meeting in Qatar this weekend, have agreed to provide urgent support to rebels who are fighting the Assad government.

The Friends of Syria group includes the United States, Britain, France, and Germany as well as Saudi Arabia, Turkey, Egypt, and Jordan.

The BBC reports that the group’s joint statement said the members had agreed to “provide urgently all necessary materiel and equipment to the opposition on the ground, each country in its own way in order to enable them to counter brutal attacks by the regime and its allies.”

Support would be channeled through the Western-backed rebel military command.

The group also called on the immediate withdrawal of Lebanese Hezbollah and Iranian fighters from Syria.

Qatar’s prime minister Sheikh Hamad bin Jassim bin Jaber al-Thani said that “failure to reach an agreement in the UN Security Council will not stop us moving forward.”

He said that moral support for the rebels was not sufficient, adding: “A balance must be achieved on the ground so the regime can accept negotiations.”