Iran and Hezbollah controlling Assad's army, say Syrian army defectors #SyriaWar
Last edited Sat Nov 21, 2015, 01:54 PM - Edit history (1)
(Can't imagine who would sort out all the differing Shia Militias that are involved in Syria to even try to begin to pull together a Cease Fire Resolution--let alone how the different malitias even figure out who they are fighting with or against.)
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Iran and Hezbollah controlling Assad's army, say Syrian army defectors
#SyriaWar
Former Syrian soldiers say Iran and Hezbollah, backed by Shia militias, make up vast majority of fighting troops
Iranian and Lebanese forces are in de facto control of Syrian President Bashar al-Assad’s army, according to former Syrian soldiers.
Khaled al-Shami told Middle East Eye columnist Lara Nelson that foreign militias have overrun the Syrian army.
“One important thing to realise is that there is no Syrian army anymore, it is just militias, mostly Iranians and Lebanese,” he told Nelson, in a column published on Wednesday.
Shami defected from Assad’s troops to join the Syrian opposition in July. He was a soldier in the ninth armoured division and served in southern Syria, where President Assad’s forces are battling a coalition of rebel groups.
Now living in Jordan, Shami said that 70 percent of troops in the ninth armoured division are either Lebanese or Iranian.
Iran and Lebanese militia Hezbollah – along with Russia – have been key backers of President Assad in his war against rebel groups seeking his overthrow.
Iranian officials have repeatedly claimed that they have only provided military advisers to President Assad, not troops on the ground.
Iranian Foreign Minister Mohammad Javad Zarif has defended his country’s role in Syria, saying that Iran is attempting to facilitate a process to allow Syrians self-determination without outside interference.
However, recent reports suggest that thousands of Iranians have joined a major offensive in northern Syria to reclaim territory from rebel groups.
Hezbollah is open about its military support for President Assad, and have said it is pre-emptively striking groups including the Islamic State to stop them gaining a foothold in Lebanon.
Hezbollah is listed as a terrorist group by the United States and European Union but Russia said on Sunday that they consider the group, which has elected parliamentarians in Lebanon, a “legitimate socio-political force”.
Former Syrian soldier Shami said his experience in the army suggested Iran and Hezbollah are not playing a supporting role, and instead are controlling President Assad’s forces.
http://www.middleeasteye.net/news/iran-and-hezbollah-controlling-president-assads-army-says-defected-syria-soldier-384437201
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