Iran Deploys 50,000 In Syria

 menewsline.com

Israel's intelligence community has determined that Iran deployed 50,000 troops in Syria. 

Israeli military intelligence commander Maj. Gen. Aviv Kochavi said Iran has taken over much of the Syrian campaign against Sunni rebels. Kochavi said Iran deployed Hizbullah and Shi'ite fighters in Iraq to protect the regime of President Bashar Assad, whose military dropped from 220,000 to 50,000. 

"The damages of the imminent fall of Syria are very high for both Iran and Hizbullah," Kochavi said. "Iran is losing a sole ally in the region surrounding Israel. It will lose the ability to transfer weaponry through Syria to Hizbullah. Iran and Hizbullah are both doing all in their power to assist Assad's regime." 

In an address to the Herzliya Conference on March 14, Kochavi cited a much greater level of Iranian military involvement than acknowledged by NATO. The military intelligence chief said Iran's Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps and Hizbullah formed a special force assigned to protect the regime in Damascus.

"They support Assad operationally on the ground, with strategic consultation, intelligence, weapons," Kochavi said. 

Kochavi said the 50,000-man force built by Hizbullah and Iran was separate from that of Assad's military. He said the Iranian-sponsored force, called the "People's Army" would soon reach 100,000 fighters amid repeated failures by Assad to mobilize Syrians. So far, only 20 percent of required recruits have reported for Syrian military duty. 

The People's Army was said to have been launched in late 2012 and overseen by IRGC Quds Force commander Maj. Gen. Qassem Suleimani. Officials said Suleimani has been in Damascus for the last few months to direct counter-rebel operations.

Kochavi said the People's Army represented Iran's determination to remain in Syria even with the fall of the Assad regime. He said neither Iran nor Hizbullah could lose Syria as a strategic hub.

"Most recently, they are establishing a 'People's Army' trained by Hizbullah and financed by Iran, currently consisting of 50,000 men, with plans to increase to 100,000," Kochavi said. "Iran and Hizbullah are also preparing for the day after Assad's fall, when they will use this army to protect their assets and interests in Syria."

At the same time, the Syrian Air Force has also expanded operations. Kochavi said the air force was conducting between 40 and 50 sorties a week and other units were firing the Scud-B and M-600 missiles.

The Assad regime has also fired at least 600 rockets with a conventional payload of 250 kilograms. Kochavi said Assad fired 70 Scuds and M-600s during the two-year revolt.

The intelligence assessment also detected threats by Al Qaida-aligned Syrian rebel militias. Kochavi such militias, which he termed "global jihad terrorists" were spreading throughout Syria as well as Egypt's Sinai Peninsula.

"The threat of a security deterioration, caused either by us attacking, or a terrorist attack on us is growing," Kochavi said.

UN Admits To Reduced Ops In Golan

The United Nations has acknowledged a reduction in operations on the Golan Heights, now a war-torn region between Israel and Syria.

Officials said the UN Disengagement Observer Force has been forced to suspend operations in the Golan Heights in March 2013. They cited attacks by Sunni rebels, including the abduction of 21 members of the contingent from the Philippines earlier this month.

"We have had to reduce somewhat the footprint of UNDOF in the Golan Heights in the area of operation," UN undersecretary-general Herve Ladsous said.

In a briefing on March 26, Ladsous said officers have left UNDOF, which monitors the 1974 ceasefire agreement between Israel and Syria. He said the

UN has vacated two positions that came under fire.

"We had to adopt a posture which is somewhat more static," Ladsous said.

The undersecretary said UNDOF has also taken security measures to avoid the abduction or bombing of its personnel. He cited the deployment of armored vehicles for patrols in the buffer zone on the Golan Heights.

Over the last four months, several contingents have either left or severely reduced their presence in the Golan. Diplomatic sources cited the departure of Canada, Croatia and Japan and the reduction in personnel by Austria.

Ladsous, who earlier briefed the Security Council in a closed door session, did not disclose those remaining from what had been a 1,000-member monitoring force. He urged Sunni rebels and the regime of Syrian President Bashar Assad to respect the neutrality of UNDOF.

"This call applies to all concerned," Ladsous said.

The UN has been withdrawing other staff from Syria amid the intensification of the Sunni revolt. On March 25, the UN reported the pullout of half of its 100 foreign staffers in wake of heavy shelling near their residence in Damascus.

"The United Nations Security Management Team has assessed the situation and decided to temporarily reduce the presence of international staff in Damascus due to security conditions," UN spokesman Martin Nesirky said.

Nesirky said 800 Syrian staffers have been asked to remain home amid the fighting around Damascus. He said mortar shells, apparentlyfired by the rebels, landed on the grounds of a hotel that housed UN staffers on March 24-25.

"There will still be in country enough people to be able to continue and indeed to increase the range of work, particularly to reach people with food aid," Nesirky said.

U.S. Trains Jordan To Stop Syrian War

The United States has been working with Jordan to stop the spread of the civil war in neighboring Syria.

The administration of President Barack Obama asserted that the U.S. military was training its counterpart in the Hashemite kingdom to monitor the Sunni revolt in Syria and prevent its expansion. Officials said U.S. Central Command has sent scores of military trainers for instruction on intelligence gathering, counter-insurgency and refugee relief.

"Our focus is training our Jordanian allies," Pentagon spokesman George Little said.

In a briefing on March 26, Little said Centcom was helping draft and implement emergency measures to block the spread of the Syrian revolt into Jordan. He said the U.S. military training was not authorized to work with Syrian rebel elements believed already operating in Jordan.

"The [White House] policy remains very clear," Little said.

The Pentagon has denied a spate of reports attributed to U.S. officials that Washington was training Syrian rebels in Jordan. The reports told of U.S. special forces in Jordan, aided by weapons from Jordan and Qatar, preparing rebels for anti-tank and anti-aircraft operations against the regime of Syrian President Bashar Assad.

Congress has been urging Obama to establish a no-fly zone in northern Syria. For the first time since the revolt began in March 2011, Senate Democrats have joined the call. "It means small groups with special capabilities reengaging the opposition so we can vet them, train them, equip them so they can be an effective fighting force," House Intelligence Committee chairman Rep. Mike Rogers, a Michigan Republican, said.