Al Qaeda emir Ayman al Zawahiri eulogized Abu Khalid al Suri, his representative to Syria, and warned against jihadist infighting. The US is planning to increase training and shipments of small arms to "moderate" rebels based mainly in Jordan. An opposition source said over 1,000 jihadists, many of them non-Syrian, were recently airlifted from Jordan to Turkey, from which they entered Syria to fight in Latakia. Regime forces continued to battle the Al Nusrah Front, the Islamic Front, the Sham al Islam, and the Junoud al Sham in Latakia; 35 regime soldiers and 64 Islamist fighters were killed there yesterday, including the military commander of Sham al Islam, an Egyptian named Abu Safiya al-Masri. Sham al Islam's leader, ex-Gitmo detainee Ibrahim Bin Shakaran, was also killed in Latakia. The Islamic Front fought against regime forces in Aleppo, Deraa, Hama, Reef Dimashq, and in Deir Izzour. The Islamic State of Iraq and the Sham continued to clash with Kurdish YPG forces in Hasakah. The "Jobar Revo" opposition group claimed that the regime had used poison gas yesterday in an attack in Jobar.
Bill Roggio is a regular guest on the John Batchelor Show from Monday through Friday to discuss the war. Check John's site for the time. Click here to listen live online at WABC.
