US troops training Syria militants in Jordan: Report
Iran Press TV
Mon Mar 11, 2013 3:33PM GMT
US troops deployed to the Jordanian border are training the Free Syrian Army (FSA) militants, who are fighting against the President Bashar al-Assad government in Syria, a new report says.
The Sunday report by the German weekly, Der Spiegel quoted participants and organizers saying that the trainings focused on use of anti-tank weaponry.
The report added that some 200 men have already been trained over the past three months and there are plans in the future to provide training for a total 1,200 FSA militants in two camps in the south and the east of the country.
Jordanian intelligence services are also involved in the training, which aims to build around a dozen units, it added.
On Friday, British newspaper The Guardian quoted Jordanian security sources as saying that British and French instructors are training militants in Jordan to fight against Assad.
He noted that the trainees are still waiting for a “green light” to be dispatched to the northern Syrian city of Daraa.
On Thursday, Croatian newspaper Jutarnji List said the US and its European allies have sent 3,000 tons of weapons in 75 planeloads from Zagreb to Syria militants via Jordan and Turkey since last November.
The report said weapons, which date back to the the time of former Yugoslavia, have been paid for by Saudi Arabia at the request of the US.
The Syria crisis began in March 2011, and many people, including large numbers of army and security personnel, have been killed.
The Syrian government says that the chaos is being orchestrated from outside the country, and there are reports that a very large number of the militants are foreign nationals.
PG/JR
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