Report: Hizbullah, Revolutionary Guards Training Syrian Soldiers
Hizbullah fighters and members of Iran's Revolutionary Guards are training Syrian troops to spearhead an offensive against rebel-held areas in Aleppo in Syria's north, UK's Sunday Times reported.
UK's The Independent also said Sunday that Iran has decided to send a first contingent of 4,000 Revolutionary Guards to Syria to support President Bashar Assad’s forces against the rebels.
The reports came only a few days after the U.S. decided to send arms to the Syrian opposition.
The Obama administration announced late on Thursday that it had reviewed intelligence reports and concluded that regime forces had used banned weapons, including sarin, in attacks that killed up to 150 people.
U.S. officials refused to rule out moving towards arming rebels, and said Washington would provide backing to the rebel Syrian Military Council.
The New York Times cited U.S. officials as saying shipments to the rebels would include small arms and ammunition and anti-tank weapons, but not anti-aircraft weapons.
The Wall Street Journal said U.S. military proposals also include a limited no-fly zone over rebel training camps that could stretch up to 40 kilometers (25 miles) into Syria from neighboring Jordan.
But incoming U.S. national security adviser Susan Rice acknowledged there are "downsides and limitations" to imposing a no-fly zone.
U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry warned for the first time Saturday that chances for a political settlement in Syria could be undermined by the Assad regime's use of chemical weapons and the role of Hizbullah in the war.
Kerry stressed that "the use of chemical weapons and increasing involvement of Hizbullah demonstrates the regime's lack of commitment to negotiations and threatens to put a political settlement out of reach," the statement added.
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