Special to WorldTribune.com ABU DHABI — Saudi Arabia has begun training Sunni rebels in the war against Syrian President Bashar Assad. Diplomatic sources said the Gulf Cooperation Council kingdom has been hosting thousands of Sunni rebels for military training. The sources said some 5,000 recruits have arrived from Syria, Turkey and other countries for a […]
Special to WorldTribune.com NICOSIA — A leading Sunni rebel militia has been decimated. The leadership of Ahrar Al Sham has been eliminated in the northwestern Syrian province of Idlib. Opposition sources said at least 28 of 50 senior members of Ahrar, including its commander Hassan Abboud, were killed in what could have been an operation […]
Special to WorldTribune.com NICOSIA — Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant has approached Syria’s largest city. Opposition sources said ISIL was capturing rebel-held towns in its advance toward Aleppo. They said ISIL, in what appeared to mark cooperation with the Syrian military, was moving within 50 kilometers of Aleppo, the last rebel-held city in […]
Special to WorldTribune.com TEL AVIV — Israel has been ringed by a growing presence of Al Qaida, a report said. The Institute for National Security Studies has asserted that Israel was surrounded by Al Qaida movements on all of its borders. The Tel Aviv-based institute cited Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant as well […]
Special to WorldTribune.com NICOSIA — The Western-backed rebel coalition, accusing him of incompetence, has fired its military commander. The Supreme Military Council (SMC) of the Free Syrian Army has dismissed commander Gen. Salim Idriss. SMC, backed by Arab and NATO states, said Idriss, who defected from the Syrian military, would be replaced by FSA operations […]
Special to WorldTribune.com NICOSIA — The Saudi-sponsored campaign against Al Qaida in Syria faces collapse. The Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant has signed a ceasefire agreement with a major rebel group sponsored by Saudi Arabia. The ceasefire with the Suqr Al Sham could remove a major militia from participating in the Saudi-sponsored war […]
Special to WorldTribune.com WASHINGTON — The administration of President Barack Obama has initiated efforts for a dialogue with Islamist rebels in Syria. Officials said the administration and U.S. military sought to persuade the Saudi-aligned fighters to cooperate in Western efforts to end the nearly three-year-old war in Syria. “I think it’s worth knowing whether these […]
Special to WorldTribune.com NICOSIA — The opposition has acknowledged that the regime of Syrian President Bashar Assad was exploiting the fighting within the rebel movement. The opposition said the Syrian military was advancing toward Aleppo amid the rebel campaign against Al Qaida, which held much of the city. After months of stalemate, the Syrian Army […]
Special to WorldTribune.com NICOSIA — Al Qaida has been on the defensive amid the rebel campaign in northern Syria. Al Qaida’s Islamic State in Iraq and the Levant has been driven out of numerous positions in northern Syria by rebels financed by Saudi Arabia. Opposition sources said the Saudi-sponsored Islamic Front has captured ISIL headquarters […]
Special to WorldTribune.com NICOSIA — The Western-backed Free Syrian Army has been gutted by Islamist splinter militias. Rebel sources said the FSA in northern Syria has been decimated by defections and attacks by Islamist militias. The sources said Supreme Military Council Chief of Staff Maj. Gen. Salim Idris fled from Syria to Turkey amid an […]