Special to WorldTribune.com NICOSIA — Iran was said to have poured thousands of elite troops into Syria. The Syrian opposition said thousands of members of Iran’s Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps have arrived in Syria. Opposition sources said the Iranian troops came from special operations units, with many of them skilled in sniper and explosives. “They […]
Special to WorldTribune.com ANKARA — Turkey has begun supplying surface-to-air missiles to Sunni rebels in Syria. Diplomatic sources said Sunni rebels have received their first Russian-origin SAM systems to stop Syrian Air Force strikes in the north. They identified the systems were man-portable, shoulder-fired SA-7s that stemmed from Libya. “The weapons were financed by Qatar […]
Sol W. Sanders Whatever develops out of the bloody, chaotic mess Syria has become, it is unlikely that the short-term outcome will be good or the long-term prospects much brighter. One has only to recall the dozens of post-World War II coups that preceded the arrival of the Assad/Alawite/Baathist dictatorship in 1970, a dictatorship […]
Special to WorldTribune.com WASHINGTON — The administration of President Barack Obama said Tuesday that Russia was preparing to deliver attack helicopters to the regime of Syrian President Bashar Assad. Officials said the helicopters included Mi-24s, used in operations against Sunni rebels and civilians. “We are concerned about the latest information we have that there are […]
Special to WorldTribune.com ANKARA — President Bashar Assad is said to have ordered the abduction or assassination of the Sunni rebel leadership in Lebanon and Turkey. Opposition sources said the Syrian regime has sent agents to Lebanon and Turkey to assassinate or abduct Sunni rebel leaders. They said several plots were foiled in Turkey while […]
Special to WorldTribune.com NICOSIA — Sunni rebels have expanded operations against the regime of President Bashar Assad after a lull in operations. Opposition and diplomatic sources said Sunni rebels were organizing attacks on Assad’s military and security forces throughout Syria. Opposition sources said Sunni rebels were attacking Assad forces on a nightly basis around Homs […]
Special to WorldTribune.com LONDON — Opposition sources and witnesses have reported the use of Russian combat helicopters for operations by Syrian President Bashar Assad’s military against the rebels and opposition in several parts of Syria. The sources said the Syrian Air Force flew the Mi-24 attack helicopter against suspected rebel strongholds around such cities as […]
Special to WorldTribune.com ANKARA — Sunni rebels claimed a victory over the Syrian Army in fighting near the border with Turkey. The Free Syrian Army said its forces seized an Army outpost in the northern province of Idlib on March 26. FSA said the rebels captured 17 Assad loyalists as well as a large quantity […]
Special to WorldTribune.com ANKARA — The regime of President Bashar Assad, amid its onslaught of Sunni rebels, appears to be losing control over northern Syria. Opposition sources said Assad’s military and security forces were disappearing from most of northern Syria. They said rebel elements, including those linked to the Free Syrian Army, have taken over […]
Special to WorldTribune.com LONDON — The powerful business elite in Syria is said to be steadily withdrawing from the regime of President Bashar Assad. Western diplomats and opposition sources said leading Syrian industrialists and investors were quietly transferring their funds out of the country. They said the most powerful element of the elite, based in […]