Turkey Arms Terrorists Ahead of Syrian Offensive
AMMAN (Dispatches) -- Turkey has equipped an array of terrorists it backs with fresh supplies of weaponry to help them try to repel a major Syrian assault, senior militant sources said on Saturday.
Russia is backing the Syrian army’s large aerial and ground assault as it seeks to gain control of the last big stretch of terrorist-held territory in the northwest of the country.
Syrian President Bashar al-Assad launched the assault last month, saying terrorists had breached an existing ceasefire. It has been the biggest escalation since last summer between Assad and his enemies in Idlib province and a belt of territory around it.
Ankara stepped up supplies in recent days after failing to persuade Russia in recent meetings of a joint working group that it should stop the impending offensive, two senior terrorist figures said.
In doing so Turkey signaled its readiness to preserve its influence in northwestern Syria, where it has beefed up its troop presence in a dozen military bases that were set up under a de-escalation deal with Russia, a senior militant commander said.
Overnight, a Turkish military convoy arrived in a base in northern Hama near terrorist-held Jabal al Zawiya, where Russian and Syrian jets have been pounding for weeks, a militant and a witness said.
The delivery of dozens of armored vehicles, Grad rocket launchers, anti-tank guided missiles and so-called TOW missiles, helped roll back some army gains and retake the strategically located town of Kfar Nabouda, one senior militant figure said.
A spokesman for the Turkey-backed National Liberation Front (NLF), Captain Naji Mustafa, did not confirm or deny any new supplies by Turkey, saying militants had long had a big arsenal of weapons from anti-tank to armored vehicles "alongside material and logistical support by our Turkish brothers”.
In the last 24 hours, the Syrian army has been sending large troop reinforcements ahead of opening a new front, a source in touch with Syrian army commanders told Reuters.
The Syrian army said on Saturday it continued to intensify its attacks on what it called terrorist hideouts in the northwest.
A Turkey-backed terrorist grouping called the National Army which operates in northwestern border areas near Turkey has been allowed to join mainstream terrorist factions along the frontlines.
"Large numbers of our fighters have joined with all their weapons to repel the assault,” Major Youssef Hamoud, their spokesman, said.
Russia is backing the Syrian army’s large aerial and ground assault as it seeks to gain control of the last big stretch of terrorist-held territory in the northwest of the country.
Syrian President Bashar al-Assad launched the assault last month, saying terrorists had breached an existing ceasefire. It has been the biggest escalation since last summer between Assad and his enemies in Idlib province and a belt of territory around it.
Ankara stepped up supplies in recent days after failing to persuade Russia in recent meetings of a joint working group that it should stop the impending offensive, two senior terrorist figures said.
In doing so Turkey signaled its readiness to preserve its influence in northwestern Syria, where it has beefed up its troop presence in a dozen military bases that were set up under a de-escalation deal with Russia, a senior militant commander said.
Overnight, a Turkish military convoy arrived in a base in northern Hama near terrorist-held Jabal al Zawiya, where Russian and Syrian jets have been pounding for weeks, a militant and a witness said.
The delivery of dozens of armored vehicles, Grad rocket launchers, anti-tank guided missiles and so-called TOW missiles, helped roll back some army gains and retake the strategically located town of Kfar Nabouda, one senior militant figure said.
A spokesman for the Turkey-backed National Liberation Front (NLF), Captain Naji Mustafa, did not confirm or deny any new supplies by Turkey, saying militants had long had a big arsenal of weapons from anti-tank to armored vehicles "alongside material and logistical support by our Turkish brothers”.
In the last 24 hours, the Syrian army has been sending large troop reinforcements ahead of opening a new front, a source in touch with Syrian army commanders told Reuters.
The Syrian army said on Saturday it continued to intensify its attacks on what it called terrorist hideouts in the northwest.
A Turkey-backed terrorist grouping called the National Army which operates in northwestern border areas near Turkey has been allowed to join mainstream terrorist factions along the frontlines.
"Large numbers of our fighters have joined with all their weapons to repel the assault,” Major Youssef Hamoud, their spokesman, said.