Syrian rebel commanders calling it quits over failed promises by West, Gulf states

Special to WorldTribune.com

NICOSIA — Syrian rebel commanders have continued to quit in protest of a shortage of military assistance.

Nine commanders of the Western-backed Free Syrian Army resigned in protest of a shortage of arms and equipment. The officers said NATO and Arab states have dismissed FSA and its Supreme Military Council.

Free Syrian Army fighters take position behind a wall riddled with bullet holes on the frontline of Aleppo's Al-Ezaa neighborhood June 15.  /Reuters/Hosam Katan
Free Syrian Army fighters take position behind a wall riddled with bullet holes at the frontline of Aleppo’s Al-Ezaa neighborhood on June 15. /Reuters/Hosam Katan

“We seek your forgiveness in resigning today, leaving behind our
responsibility as chiefs of battlefronts and military councils,” the
officers said in a statement on June 14.

The resignation was the latest by rebels linked to FSA. Over the last
year, commanders complained of failed promises by Arab and Western states
for military equipment.

“SMC no longer has a role,” Lt. Col. Mohammad Abboud, one of the nine
officers, said. “Donor countries have completely bypassed it.”

In May 2014, the United States began to supply Islamist rebel militias,
including those linked to Saudi Arabia. FSA said it was not included in the
U.S. program.

In late 2013, FSA was driven out of most of its strongholds in northern
Syria by Al Qaida’s Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant. ISIL’s rival, Nusra
Front for the Defense of the Levant, took over FSA warehouses.

“We are fighting both the army and the Islamic State of Iraq and the
Levant,” Abboud said. “Yet we haven’t got the help we need from countries
who say they support our demands for democracy and a civil state.”

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