AMMAN // Western and Arab military advisers based in Amman have quietly stepped up their role on Syria’s southern front, helping win recent advances for opposition factions.
After weeks of heavy fighting, rebel groups announced the seizure of 80 per cent of Qunietra province on Saturday, including areas along the border with Israel. The territory could prove to be a key link between opposition forces in the south and those fighting in and around the Syrian capital.
Qunietra borders the south-west side of rural Damascus and rebel commanders say they will now be able to work on establishing a reliable supply chain to besieged opposition units in districts on the western and southern sides of the capital, areas that have been largely cut off by regime troops since last summer.
Damascus remains the key prize in a battle for control over Syria that began with isolated, peaceful protests in the southern city of Deraa in March 2011.
The revolt against president Bashar Al Assad subsequently morphed into a civil war that has killed more than 190,000 people, produced the largest refugee crisis in six decades, and threatens the nation states established in the Middle East after the First World War.
Increased international support for opposition forces in southern Syria played a crucial part in the latest advances there, rebel commanders familiar with the operations said.
Rather than a dramatic increase in training or influx of weaponry — rebel fighters still complain they have not received the advanced anti-aircraft missiles and heavy weapons they want — the growing role of a secretive Military Operations Command (MOC) centre in Amman has been subtle but distinct, in the form of increasingly focused, hands-on planning and coordination for rebel operations.
Local command centres, which unite different moderate opposition factions fighting in specific geographical locations throughout southern Syria, have also been set up under the MOC’s auspices, allowing disparate groups under different rebels commanders to work together.
Personnel changes in key liaison posts connecting front line rebel forces to the MOC have also taken place, rebel commanders said.
The organisational changes put in place by the MOC have helped clear jams in the chain of command that rebels complained had hamstrung their attempts to effectively work with international backers, in particular when it came to intelligence-sharing and coordinating units for attacks on regime forces.
Lähi-idän hauskoista kotivideoista pätkää, jossa sammuneelle kaverille tehdään pikku jäynää vai? Ei Sillä enää mitään väliä ole kuka käyttää mitäkin kaasua ja ketä vastaan. Meno on siellä, kun maailmanlopussa. Päitten katkomisia liukuhihnalta yms. muuta kivaa, niin ei kaasu enää paljoo hetkauta.
