Opposition militant groups in southern Syria have fired newly acquired anti-tank guided missiles supplied by Saudi Arabia in a significant boost to their battle against the Syrian national army.
Opposition militant groups in southern Syria have fired newly acquired anti-tank guided missiles supplied by Saudi Arabia in a significant boost to their battle against the Syrian national army, The Daily Star newspaper reported Thursday citing mercenaries, intelligence and diplomatic sources.
In a report posted Thursday, the daily revealed that several Russian-designed Konkurs anti-tank weapons were used in an opposition attack this week on an army position in Deraa city near the Jordanian border.
"Missiles were also fired around Laja, an opposition stronghold in the rugged region stretching north to the outskirts of Damascus," it added.
The recent flow of Saudi-backed arms reflects concerns in Riyadh at the slow pace of progress by militant terrorists active in the south, said a Western diplomatic source.
Opposition groups have faced a series of setbacks in central Syria as the national military retook main towns and city districts.
Opposition and military experts told the daily that the Konkurs, with a range of four km (2.5 miles), offers a strategic edge over the Syrian army. Other experts said militants fortunes could be tied to how many more portable missile systems the rebels can get in the coming months, such as the Konkurs, Kornet anti-tank guided missiles (ATGM) and Red Arrow 8 missiles.
"If the weapons arrive in the right quantities they will affect the situation on the ground," it quoted the retired Jordanian general Fayez al Dwiri as saying.
"The Saudi-financed missile shipments arrived in the last few weeks through Jordan after months of quiet Saudi pressure to prod Amman to open a supply route," the newspaper indicated.
The recently arrived Saudi financed anti-tank missiles, while limited in number, have already given a psychological boost to the militant groups operating in the south, according to several opposition and security sources familiar with the shipments.
Experts also noted there are signs that recent deliveries may be the start of a major supply line to southern Syria led by Saudi Arabia, a key U.S. ally and foremost of several regional countries supporting the militants in Syria.
The report posted on The Daily Star stated also that "Middle Eastern security, rebel and diplomatic sources cite the hands-on role of Prince Salman bin Sultan, a nephew of Saudi King Abdullah and senior security official. Salman heads an operations room in Amman with allies, regularly meeting and instructing top Syrian operatives."
"Even before the first shipment of Konkurs, Salman's pressure on Amman secured the supply of rocket launchers and other lethal equipment, they said, a step up from previous supplies from Jordan which rebels complained consisted mainly of surplus ammunition and rudimentary AK-47 rifles," it added.
It follows close Saudi-American-Jordanian intelligence coordination to vet and track weapons to keep them out of "the wrong hands" of "Islamist fighters," a regional diplomatic source and an Arab security source told Reuters.
Syria was hit by a violent unrest since mid-March 2011, where the Syrian government accuses foreign actors of orchestrating the conflict by supporting the militant opposition groups with arms and money.
