REPORT: State media: Hundreds of jihadi fighters in Syria

                   
Syrian government daily Al-Thawra said on Sunday that Lebanon and Jordan are playing with fire by allowing jihadists and weapons to pass through their borders into Syria.          

According to the newspaper, "the fire of terrorism will consume not only Syria, but could spread to Lebanon and Jordan, particularly if these two countries interfere in Syrian conflict, by ignoring the flow of armed men and weapons from their territory, or by participating directly in the conspiracy against Syria.”                       

The Syrian state media said on Sunday that hundreds of foreign "jihadist" fighters have infiltrated the country in the past two years to join with rebels trying to topple President Bashar Assad.                           

The pro-government al-Watan newspaper alleged  that the radical foreign fighters were trained in the United States, Britain and France, which are backing the opposition.     

The paper said that the hundreds of jihadist fighters are responsible for the decline of the Syrian economy and the destruction of the nation's cultural heritage.                                       

On the ground, Syrian rebel fighters on Sunday seized a Syrian military intelligence compound near the Israeli-occupied Golan Heights, rebel commanders said.    

The compound in the town of Shagara, 8 kms (5 miles) from a ceasefire line with Israel, fell after a five-day siege, the sources said.           

On another note, Syrian rebels seized several weapons depots in the village of Khan Toman in Aleppo province after days of fierce clashes.                                       

A military source said that the stores contained "a small number of ammunition boxes remaining after the main stock was transferred over a period of more than four months."     

The revolt against Assad's authoritarian rule, which began in March 2011, turned into civil war that has claimed more than 70,000 lives.                                              

Assad's regime portrays the uprising as a foreign-backed conspiracy to destroy Syria and refers to rebels as terrorists.                                                       


REUTERSAP/LBCI


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