John J. Metzler UNITED NATIONS — The powerful polar vortex causing the “big freeze” in parts of the USA has confronted tens of millions of Americans with record cold winter temperatures. While waiting for the bus in the icy New York winds we were all complaining; then I reflected on a report I picked up […]
Special to WorldTribune.com Originally published Sept. 4, 2013 Yossef Bodansky, Senior Editor, GIS/Defense & Foreign Affairs There is a growing volume of new evidence from numerous sources in the Middle East — mostly affiliated with the Syrian opposition and its sponsors and supporters — which makes a very strong case, based on solid circumstantial evidence, […]
Special to WorldTribune.com NICOSIA — Sunni rebels have sustained heavy losses in a failed counter-offensive in central Syria. The opposition said Islamist rebel militias failed in an operation to end a siege by the Syrian Army around Damascus. Scores of rebels, including commanders, were said to have been killed in two days of intense battles […]
Special to WorldTribune.com NICOSIA — Al Qaida has resumed its offensive against Western-backed rebels in Syria. An Al Qaida militia, deploying surface-to-air missiles, has launched an offensive along the Syrian border with Turkey. The Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant was reported to have captured the Syrian town of Atma after expelling a unit […]
Special to WorldTribune.com LONDON — The Western-supported opposition has established a network to acquire and distribute arms to Sunni rebels in Syria. The Free Syrian Army has reported the establishment of a command designed to receive and distribute weapons and munitions to scores of rebel units in Syria. FSA chief of staff Gen. Salim Idris […]
Special to WorldTribune.com NICOSIA — After a lull of four months, President Bashar Assad has resumed efforts to capture Syria’s largest city. Opposition sources said the Syrian Army has been attacking the northern city of Aleppo in November 2013. The sources said the Army, together with the Iranian proxy Hizbullah, has been progressing along two […]
Special to WorldTribune.com NICOSIA — A leading Syrian rebel commander has quit. Col. Abdul Jabaer Al Okaidi announced his resignation from the rebel command in northern Syria. Al Okaidi, who deserted the Syrian Army in May 2012, said he could no longer work for a divided revolt against President Bashar Assad. “Because of some people’s […]
Special to WorldTribune.com NICOSIA — The Free Syrian Army has claimed production of heavy weapons, including artillery platforms. FSA production was reported amid concerns that the Western-backed movement would be dominated by Al Qaida-aligned militias. In August 2013, a senior FSA commander provided details of rebel arms production. Gen. Ziad Fahd, supreme military commander for […]
Special to WorldTribune.com WASHINGTON — The U.S. intelligence community, while still assuring allies of his regime’s imminent collapse, determined as early as April 2013 that President Bashar Assad was reversing Sunni rebel gains in Syria. The State Department issued a classified briefing on June 10 that warned of a rebel defeat, particularly that of the […]
Special to WorldTribune.com NICOSIA — Sunni rebels, denied sufficient supplies by the West, have been producing weapons in Syria. Arab diplomatic sources said rebel militias have been manufacturing light weapons and munitions throughout Syria. The sources said the production included that by the Western-backed Free Syrian Army. “It is a very primitive industry, but it […]