Subscribe free to our newsletters via your
. Military Space News .




WAR REPORT
Syria lurches toward 'war of the rebels'
by Staff Writers
Beirut, Lebanon (UPI) Apr 4, 2013


disclaimer: image is for illustration purposes only

As Syria's civil war grinds on, major differences are emerging between Islamist and secular rebel forces, raising fears that the defining conflict will be a showdown between these forces rather than battling the Damascus regime.

There are growing fears that the country will be divided in a war between north and south, a split that almost led to a civil war between the two regions in 1954 centered on Syria's two great trading cities -- Aleppo in the north and the capital Damascus in the south.

Analysts and other observers liken this to the intense rivalry in Libya between the Islamist east centered on Benghazi and the west dominated by Tripoli.

The friction between the rebels has deepened in recent weeks, with Islamist forces led by the increasingly powerful jihadist Jabhat al-Nusra and the Farouq Brigades of the Free Syrian Army at each other's throats.

In January, Thaer al-Waqqas, leader of the FSA's al-Farouq Brigade was killed in northern Syria amid suspicions he was involved in the death of Firas al-Absi, head of a group linked to the al-Nusra Front.

On March 24, Mohammed al-Daher, a popular al-Farouq commander in eastern Syria, was badly wounded in an apparent attempt to assassinate him by the al-Nusra Front.

The next day, Col. Riad al-Asaad, who established and initially commanded the FSA, was badly wounded in a car bombing. It was initially attributed to the regime but Syrian sources said it bore remarkable similarities to the attack on Daher.

"A full-blown civil war among the rebels is not out of the question," said analyst Victor Kotsev.

U.S. history Professor Joshua Landis, who lived in Syria for several years and now teaches at the University of Oklahoma, says the real war in the country "is being fought on the ground by militia leaders who are becoming the real leaders of Syria."

The Islamists, who fought mainly in the north and northwest around Aleppo where they were supplied from neighboring Turkey, are increasingly pushing south after taking the strategic Deir al-zur region and its oil fields.

In recent days they have taken regime bases near the Golan Heights, the strategic plateau in the south that has been largely occupied by Israel since 1967.

The Islamists' presence has alarmed the Israelis, who fear they could come under attack on what for 40 years has been their quietest border.

Landis noted that the Islamists are heading south "down the Eastern highway toward Damascus ...

"Already al-Nusra has a strong foothold in the Damascus region in the Palestinian neighborhood of Yarmouk, around the Jebel Druze and the Daraya-Adhamiya district of Damascus.

"Many Damascenes are fearful of being overrun by the North," Landis observed. "The time-honored divide between North and South is again gaining relevance."

He was referring to 1954, when the country split in half under the dictator Gen. Adib ash-Shishakli who had seized power in December 1949.

The north, led by mutinous Druze troops and Aleppo notables, rose against him and military forces began moving south on Damascus, where Shishakli ruled. Civil war was avoided at the last minute when the United States and Saudi Arabia convinced Shishakli to go into exile in the kingdom.

"Today," Landis wrote in his blog, "Syria is not so lucky. North and South could be in for a real fight, dividing the country not only along geographic lines but also along ideological lines."

Meantime, there's strong speculation that the United States and Britain are seeking to build up the FSA and its allies around Damascus so they take the capital rather than have it fall into Islamist hands.

That would fit in with recent disclosures the Americans and British are working with the Jordanians, and to a lesser degree the Saudis, on training secular forces in the Hashemite kingdom on Syria's southern border.

But, Landis observed, "it is not clear how committed the U.S. and the West are to manning up the opposition in the South of Syria to get the jump on the growing Islamic tide washing down from the North."

Kotsev said, "The noose around Damascus is slowly tightening and many observers believe the fall of the capital is a matter of time."

Meantime, he added, "it remains to be seen who disintegrates first: the regime or the main rebel groups opposing it."

.


Related Links






Comment on this article via your Facebook, Yahoo, AOL, Hotmail login.

Share this article via these popular social media networks
del.icio.usdel.icio.us DiggDigg RedditReddit GoogleGoogle








WAR REPORT
Protest against Iraq PM blocks highway to Syria, Jorda
Ramadi, Iraq (AFP) Dec 23, 2012
About 2,000 Iraqi protesters, demanding the ouster of premier Nuri al-Maliki, blocked on Sunday a highway in western Iraq leading to Syria and Jordan, an AFP correspondent reported. The protesters, including local officials, religious and tribal leaders, turned out in Ramadi, the capital of Sunni province of Anbar, to demonstrate against the arrest of nine guards of Finance Minister Rafa al- ... read more


WAR REPORT
US boosts missile defence, N. Korea warns of nuclear strike

US missile shield sent to Guam after N. Korea threat

Raytheon's Patriot missiles receive US Army service life extension

SBIRS GEO-2 launches, improves space-based capabilities

WAR REPORT
Raytheon receives Rolling Airframe Missile contract

Taiwan to aim 50 medium-range missiles at China: report

India's Nirbhay missile aborted in flight

Taiwan develops medium-range missile: report

WAR REPORT
US Congress hears calls for drone safeguards

'Journalism drones' on the horizon

N. Korean leader watches 'drone' attack drill: KCNA

Friend or foe? Civilian drones stir debate

WAR REPORT
Soldiers and Families Can Suffer Negative Effects from Modern Communication Technologies

DARPA Seeks More Robust Military Wireless Networks

DoD Selects Northrop Grumman for Joint Command and Control System

Northrop Grumman Highlights Affordable Milspace Communications

WAR REPORT
Lockheed Martin to Provide US Army with Simulation-Based Command and Battle Staff Training System

Cobra Judy Replacement radars perform exceptionally during first live-launch test

Lockheed Martin Demonstrates Gyrocam Sensor Maritime Capability with US Navy

Nanofoams could create better body armor

WAR REPORT
Arms dealer Bout's associate agrees to US extradition

Russian arms exports set to widen

UN adopts global treaty on weapons trade

'Everything on table' as US cuts defense: Hagel

WAR REPORT
US military chief to pay rare China visit

Norway sees rise in Russian military jet activity

Obama thanks Singapore for military help

Three Chinese ships enter disputed waters: Japan

WAR REPORT
Imaging methodology reveals nano details not seen before

Glass-blowers at a nano scale

Nanoparticles show promise as inexpensive, durable and effective scintillators

Scientists develop innovative twists to DNA nanotechnology




The content herein, unless otherwise known to be public domain, are Copyright 1995-2014 - Space Media Network. AFP, UPI and IANS news wire stories are copyright Agence France-Presse, United Press International and Indo-Asia News Service. ESA Portal Reports are copyright European Space Agency. All NASA sourced material is public domain. Additional copyrights may apply in whole or part to other bona fide parties. Advertising does not imply endorsement,agreement or approval of any opinions, statements or information provided by Space Media Network on any Web page published or hosted by Space Media Network. Privacy Statement