Syrian rebels get 400-ton shipment of arms

Share:

free Syrian army DefGulf-based supporters have sent a 400-ton shipment of arms to Syria’s outgunned rebels, one of the biggest to reach them in their two-year-old uprising, opposition sources said on Sunday.

The consignment – mostly ammunition for shoulder-fired weapons and anti-aircraft machine guns – came into northern Syria via the Turkish province of Hatay in the past 24 hours, and was already being handed out, the sources added.

One rebel officer told Reuters the flow of arms bound for rebels had increased since opposition groups accused the government of launching deadly chemical weapons attacks in Damascus on Wednesday.

“Twenty trailers crossed from Turkey and are being distributed to arms depots for several brigades across the north,” said rebel official Mohammad Salam, who told Reuters he saw the weapons come over the border.

Syria’s conflict, pitting mostly Sunni Muslim insurgents against President Bashar al-Assad, whose Alawite sect follows an offshoot of Shi’ite Islam, has ignited sectarian tensions across the region.

Qatar and other Sunni-led Gulf states have backed the insurgents, while Shi’ite power Iran remains one of Assad’s main allies.

Rebel units operating in northern Syria range from moderate Islamists to hardline jihadists and include Liwa al-Islam (The Division of Islam), Sukur al-Sham (The Hawks of Syria), The Free Martyrs of Syria, Ahfad al-Rasul (The Grandsons of the Prophet) and Ahrar al-Sham (The Freemen of Syria).

Analysts say they have struggled to hold onto advances against Assad’s Iranian and Russian-armed forces and his monopoly on air power.

A senior officer in the Gulf and Western-backed Supreme Military Council, an umbrella group for rebel units, said there had been an increase in rebel-bound arms shipments coming into Turkey, particularly since the reports of a chemical assault.

The government has dismissed Syrian opposition accusations that it killed well over 1,000 civilians with poison gas in Damascus suburbs on Wednesday.

Weapons still waiting to cross into Syria included more sophisticated anti-tank guided weapons, the officer added, without elaborating.

He, and other sources, said money for the shipments came from the Gulf, without naming countries.

Western diplomats fear some of the increasing flow of Gulf-financed weapons could end up in the hands of groups linked to al Qaeda.

Reuters

Share:

Comments

16 responses to “Syrian rebels get 400-ton shipment of arms”

  1. 5thDrawer Avatar
    5thDrawer

    Significant input.

  2. 5thDrawer Avatar
    5thDrawer

    Significant input.

  3. Maborlz Ez-Hari Avatar
    Maborlz Ez-Hari

    Yeah, smart move give them reason to get excited about killing more of their countrymen. These people need protection from responsible powers in authority not vigilante rebel brigades. The blood is on the hands of every one, and real help is required sooner rather than later.

    1. wargame1 Avatar

      You dont have any solution. The people need arms to defend against the armed enemy. The enemy has much more high tech weapon. So you need to accept a fair fight. These arms will bring some protection but isnt it easy to kill unarmed people? specially with chemical and scud missile and aerial bombing? So what is real help ?

  4. Maborlz Ez-Hari Avatar
    Maborlz Ez-Hari

    Yeah, smart move give them reason to get excited about killing more of their countrymen. These people need protection from responsible powers in authority not vigilante rebel brigades. The blood is on the hands of every one, and real help is required sooner rather than later.

    1. wargame1 Avatar

      You dont have any solution. The people need arms to defend against the armed enemy. The enemy has much more high tech weapon. So you need to accept a fair fight. These arms will bring some protection but isnt it easy to kill unarmed people? specially with chemical and scud missile and aerial bombing? So what is real help ?

  5. Patience2 Avatar
    Patience2

    Boy, will it be interesting to see WHAT they do with this!

    1. Peaceforleb Avatar
      Peaceforleb

      Interesting indeed. As for what they will do with it, well simple, they will continue to cause havoc and kill innocent people. Just what the west ordered.

      1. wargame1 Avatar

        It is Assad iran and Hezbushaitan killing innocent people with Russian arms. You dont like to see the opponent with some weapon . Killing unarmed people is lots of fun right? How about 500 stinger missile which can ground all the killing birds within weeks? Then the rebel can march forward to the nest of Shabiha.

  6. Patience2 Avatar
    Patience2

    Boy, will it be interesting to see WHAT they do with this!

    1. Peaceforleb Avatar
      Peaceforleb

      Interesting indeed. As for what they will do with it, well simple, they will continue to cause havoc and kill innocent people. Just what the west ordered.

      1. wargame1 Avatar

        It is Assad iran and Hezbushaitan killing innocent people with Russian arms. You dont like to see the opponent armed. Killing unarmed people is lots of fun right? How about 500 stinger missile which can ground all the killing birds within weeks? Then the rebel can march forward to the nest of Shabiha.

  7. Assheads time was near. He resorted to chemicals weapons as a desperate measure to maintain power.
    These are his last throws of the dice.

  8. Assheads time was near. He resorted to chemicals weapons as a desperate measure to maintain power.
    These are his last throws of the dice.

  9. wargame1 Avatar

    This is a good step and now these people can at least get a chance of a fair fight although the Assad regime has much high tech weapon. The chicken supporter of Bashar Iran etc are very worried about this development. I hope the next shipment will be 500 stinger missile,Russian Cobra is not bad either. If the rebel can shot down atleast 10 aircraft Within a week Assad air force will be force to ground the remaining aircraft and the rebel then can move forward at ease.

  10. wargame1 Avatar

    This is a good step and now these people can at least get a chance of a fair fight although the Assad regime has much high tech weapon. The chicken supporter of Bashar Iran etc are very worried about this development. I hope the next shipment will be 500 stinger missile,Russian Cobra is not bad either. If the rebel can shot down atleast 10 aircraft Within a week Assad air force will be force to ground the remaining aircraft and the rebel then can move forward at ease.

Leave a Reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *