On Monday, April 7th, Israel’s Debkafile website reported that two moderate Syrian terrorist groups (both of them linked to al-Qaeda) — the Free Syrian Army and the Syrian Revolutionary Front — had been supplied with advanced US-made weapons, including armor-piercing, optically guided BGM-71 TOW missiles. The story was originally reported by the Israeli website DEBKAfile, an independent Internet resource that provides intelligence and security news services.
According to Debkafile, the report marks “the first advanced US weapon to be deployed in more than three years of civil war.”
Supplying Syrian opposition forces with the anti-tank weapons (TOW), is another sign of US foreign policy in the Middle East and could be used as a tool to achieve more pressure on the Syrian government, as a senior Middle East analyst told RIA Novosti.
“If the US is supplying TOWs, this is quite an important shift. But it may be a way for the US to put pressure on the regime without getting too involved or going too far”, said Yezid Sayigh.
“If it’s true that several groups that work with the Supreme Military Council have been given them, then it’s likely that the US is either supplying the TOW missile or allowing Saudi Arabia (and/or Turkey and Qatar) to supply their own TOWs”, suggested Yezid.
According to Debkafile’s report, US Gen. Martin Dempsey — the chairman of the Joint Chiefs — asked officials in Israel last week to help get Saudi Arabian fighter jets, centered at the kingdom’s Faisal Air Base at Tabuk near Jordan, positioned in a manner that would provide air cover as American forces moved the weapons into southern Syria. Debkafile attributed the claims to unnamed military sources.
“Our military sources report that Syrian tank armor is not thick enough to withstand the BGM-71 TOW rockets. To save his tanks, Assad has shifted the brunt of his anti-rebel operation to heavy air force bombardments, which claim a heavy toll among civilians,” Debkafile continued. “Washington is therefore confronted with its next decision about whether to give the rebels sophisticated anti-aircraft weapons as well.”
Sources determined that the anti-tank weapons were shipped through Turkey and Saudi Arabia, and then delivered through two routes: the town of Diyarbakir and Saudi King Faisal Air Base at Tabuk.
As different Internet websites exposed, photos and videos of the US supplied BGM-71 TOW (Tube-launched, Optically tracked, Wire-guided) anti-tank missiles showed that the missiles now being are being used by the forces of al-Qaeda in Syria.
The following video shows the so-called “Hazem” militants, who are loyal to former head of the military council of the Free Syrian Army (FSA) Salim Idris, in Idlib countryside in Northwestern Syria.
The Wall Street Journal reported last March that US President Barack Obama and Saudi Arabia’s King Abdullah “appeared to narrow their disagreement on assisting Syrian rebels” amidst a meeting between the two. According to the Journal’s report, Obama administration officials said the meeting ended with the White House agreeing to increase its level of assistance to the Syrian “rebels”.
According to Wall Street Journal, Obama was considering sending man-portable air defence systems, known as manpads, along with other supplies to help opposition groups fighting what he calls “regime of Syrian President Bashar al-Assad”.
At first, deputy national security adviser Ben Rhodes said the risk of sophisticated weapons falling into the wrong hands in Syria is still a major concern. “We have made clear that there are certain types of weapons, including manpads, that could pose a proliferation risk if introduced into Syria,” Rhodes said.
But later, a second US official, who also asked not to be identified, suggested there may be room for flexibility. “It is the case that, over time, we have been able to develop deeper relations with the opposition,” the official said.
Other reports claimed U.S. officials have been secretly training so-called “Syrian rebels” since 2012 in the use of anti-tank and antiaircraft weapons.
The South China Morning Post cited US officials as saying the Obama administration was considering supplying weapons and has recently “been able to develop deeper relations with the opposition.”
Iran’s Fars News agency also reported that their sources said the US has supplied the anti-tank missiles to the ‘militants fighting against Syrian government and President Assad’.
Another blog interested in covering the Syrian events, published screenshots YouTube videos alleged to show rebels using the US-made tube-launched, optically tracked, wire-guided anti-tank missiles.
Not only American weapons, the Syrian army had on several occasions seized foreign-made, including Israeli-made weapons in the hands of terrorists in Syria and in its latest operations against in Homs province in December 2013, the Syrian army seized Israeli-made weapons.
The United States denies supplying the rebels with heavy weaponry in the conflict-torn Syria. However, several videos with BGM-71 TOW missiles, allegedly in the hands of al-Qaeda terrorists, have been uploaded to YouTube.
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