CIA has been Training the Syrian Rebels, Report Claims

Los Angeles Times reports that CIA operatives and U.S. special operations troops have been secretly training Syrian rebels with anti-tank and anti-aircraft weapons in Turkey and Jordan since late last year.

White House officials refused to comment on the report, saying only that the U.S. had increased its assistance to the rebellion.

According to the report, the covert U.S. training at bases in Jordan and Turkey began months before President Obama approved plans to begin directly arming the opposition to Syrian President Bashar Assad.

Progressive Press has revealed this information in May, after the local newspapers in Turkey claimed the Syrian refugee camps were being used to train these so called ‘rebels’. Redhack, a Turkish hacker group analogous to U.S. Anonymous, has released a serious of cables revealing the Turkish Government’s prior knowledge of the bombing attack in the border town of Reyhanli which killed over 50 and injured hundreds of people.

Reyhanli is a small town in the Hatay province of the country, residing right on Turkey’s border with Syria. The town hosts many refugee camps filled with people escaped from the bloody Civil War that has been going on in Syria for the last two years. Local population of the town insists that the camps are loaded with spies and covert operators from various countries, including USA, Israel, Russia and Iran. Locals want the refugee camps to be closed, claiming that the camps are being used as training ground for the jihadist groups fighting against the Syrian Government forces.

Los Angeles Times report says, the number of rebels given U.S. instruction since the program began could not be determined, but in Jordan, the training involves 20 to 45 insurgents at a time, a rebel commander said.

U.S. special operations teams selected the trainees over the last year when the U.S. military set up regional supply lines to provide the rebels with nonlethal assistance, including uniforms, radios and medical aid.

The report adds, the two-week courses include training with Russian-designed 14.5-millimeter anti-tank rifles, anti-tank missiles, as well as 23-millimeter anti-aircraft weapons, according to a rebel commander in the Syrian province of Dara who helps oversee weapons acquisitions and who asked his name not be used because the program is secret. “Those from the CIA, we would sit and talk with them during breaks from training and afterward, they would try to get information on the situation inside Syria,” he added.

CIA and White House officials declined to comment on the secret training programs. Other U.S. officials confirmed the training, but disputed some of the specific details provided by rebel commanders.

To know more about who are the Syrian rebels, as Progressive Press and many other media report that they are a combination of jihadists, read the articles titled:

Syria: U.S. Media Drops The Ball As They Did Just Before Iraq War

Al-Nusra Say They are Ready to Fight Hezbullah in Syria

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Emine Dilek (183 Posts)

Publisher/Managing Editor: Progressive Press. Contributing Editor: WVoN-Women's Views on News. Columnist: Palm Beach Woman Magazine. Former executive producer and radio host: WVR -Women's Voice Radio, Human Rights/Peace Activist, Aspiring Author/ Journalist/ Poet/ Blogger. Emine also appears as a revolving guest on PNN radio show -international political analyst-, and had been a guest on Liberal Fix and Brian Hammer Jackson Show. Her articles have been published in various publications such as The Vibe UK, The New Agenda, W.E.A Women @ Work, Amazing Women Rock and ICAHK.