DEBKAfile Exclusive Report June 26, 2012, 11:59 AM
British special forces on field mission
Unconfirmed first reports from British, French and Turkish sources say British special operations forces crossed from Turkey into northern Syria Tuesday, May 26, and advanced up to 10 kilometers inside the country. The same sources report heavy fighting around the Presidential Guards compound on the outskirts of Damascus.
DEBKAfile’s military sources note that this compound exists to defend Bashar Assad’s presidential palace on Mount Qaisoun overlooking Damascus.
British and Gulf TV stations are again running interviews with dozens of Syrian soldiers taken prisoner by rebel forces and transferred to Free Syrian Army centers in South Turkey. But this time, they are being aired in conjunction with those two developments, indicating pivotal and coordinated military action inside the embattled country, or even the start of western intervention against the Assad regime.
Later Tuesday, Gulf military sources confirmed the presence of British special forces in Syria.
Our military sources estimate that the British military drive into Syria, if confirmed, is designed to establish the first safe zone along the Syrian-Turkish border, to be followed by more Western military incursions to establish additional zones of safe asylum in other parts of Syria.
This follow-up action would depend substantially on Syrian, Russian and Iranian (+ Hizballah) responses to the initial stage of the operation.
The reported British incursion, if confirmed, occurred at the tail end of Russian President Vladimir Putin’s 24-hour visit to Israel Tuesday morning and would have posed a direct challenge to his repeated warning that Moscow would not tolerate Western military intervention in Syria and actively prevent it. Similar warnings have issued from Tehran.
As for the timing, the double military drive against Assad also occurred hours before a NATO “consultation” in Brussels on the shooting down of a Turkish warplane by Syria last Friday, June 22, which Ankara stated Monday “must not go unpunished.”
The two-pronged operation – the reported British incursion and major clash at the front door of Assad’s presidential palace – would appear to be designed to widen the cracks in his regime and speed its final breakup.
While the West and the Syrian opposition accuse the government of killing the protesters, Damascus blames “outlaws, saboteurs and armed terrorist groups” for the unrest, insisting that it is being orchestrated from abroad.
Who are those outlaws? We know that there are fighters from Libya, from Saudi Arabia, from Chechnya, from all over the Mediterranean, really all over large parts of the world.
The West is basically using the same MO that they used in removing Gaddafi. Besides a limited number of their own troops and agents they are using their surrogates mainly al-Qaeda and the MB.
Is it Assad who perpetrating most of the Syrian atrocities or the death squads brought into Syria from outside under orders, supervision and supplied by western intelligence agencies?
I don’t think either Iran and Russia have yet to give their last word on this situation.
@Laura,
Kudos for your whole remark.
obamination is clearly committed to put mb to power in all middle east countries.
I too favor the breakup of syria into smaller states ….
It is in the very nature of the British to sabotage, conspire, usurp, meddle, interfere, steal from everywhere they can cause upheaval and use that for their benefit and the harm of others they target.
In Argentina those perverted forces tried many times and in cases achieved their goals to militarily take over and rape the resources and establish colonial outposts including in Las Islas Malvinas. In Syria they also stitch their own interests only.
Eventually in SA the Rail System and roads were taken by the British until dislodged by force.
Their plan was developed using HM British “buyers” that roamed the interior assaulting farmers for the crops and cattle.
And of course they have acted as mercenaries many times.
Laura, you are correct. I hope that Israel and the US stay out, but I have my doubts.
I actually agree with this.
@ Laura:
Laura, there really is no such thing as “British forces”. They are American merceneries, as are the armed forces of France, Germany, Japan, Korea, Turkey, Saudi Arabia and (for all practical purposes) Israel. They are bound to the US (except for Israel) by mutual defense treaties, and do not act independently. The only reason Obama is using Brits instead of American GIs, is that this is an election year, and he doesn’t want American “boots on the ground”.
The British have no business being involved in Syria. We should be grateful that muslims are warring against each other and consider it to be our good fortune. The more they are busy fighting at each other, the less threat they are to us. But instead of letting the civil war go on in Syria indefinitely and possibly leading to the breakup of the country, they will be responsible for installing another muslim brotherhood regime which will endanger Israel. Bastards.