generalspeaking

Monday night, the Syrian air force bombarded rebel-held border villages to soften them up ahead of the offensive.

The size and movements of the advancing Syrian forces indicate that the regime in Damascus has determined to root out the rebel presence in all parts of Syrian border with Israel - from the Hermon Mts. in the north, down to the Syrian-Israel-Jordanian border junction opposite the southern Israeli Golan.

The main body is presently on the move in the area between the Yarmuk River which marks the Syrian Jordanian border and Quneitra.

The Syrian rebel forces clinging to small locations along the Israeli border are small and not expected to last long under a sizeable Syria military assault, one of whose objectives is undoubtedly to sever the links between rebel positions on the Golan and the IDF.

The only outward sign of those links is the regular transfer of injured rebels to Israeli hospitals for medical treatment - an estimated 200 have so far been treated.

Until now, the Syrian high command held back from a military operation in this region for fear of drawing forth an Israeli or Jordanian counter-attack. However, after consenting to the disabling of its chemical weapons, the Assad regime feels confident that neither Israel nor Jordan will dare fight back.

Syrian leaders gained an even greater sense of immunity from the rare words they heard from US Secretary of State John Kerry Monday, commending them for allowing UN experts to dismantle the chemical production equipment and stocks, even though it suddenly turned out Sunday, Oct. 6 that the international OPCW experts had relegated the work to the Syrian army.

Jordan has responded to the heavy Syrian military movements in close proximity to its territory by putting on a state of preparedness the two army divisions, Nos. 60 and 40, which stand guard on its border with Syria.

Labels: Conflict, Israel, Jordan, Syria

posted by Pieface @ Tuesday, October 08, 2013