USA TODAY: The number of improvised explosives used by rebels in Syria has increased sharply this year, suggesting to some military experts that more outside help is reaching regime opponents and the conflict may widen.
“If they can sustain this trend, that indicates some external support,” Army Lt. Gen. Michael Barbero, commander of the Pentagon’s lead organization to combat improvised explosives, told USA TODAY…
The Free Syrian Army, a grouping of Syrian army defectors and anti-Assad fighters, has said al-Qaeda is not operating in Syria but that the potential exists for it to move in amid the chaos. Aref Hamoud, a colonel in the Free Syrian Army, has told USA TODAY that it is the regime that is coupling with terrorists, not the rebels… (more)
