Three NATO troops killed in Afghanistan’s Helmand province

The three soldiers from the Royal Highland Fusiliers died on Tuesday when their vehicle was hit on a routine patrol. (Reuters)

Three NATO troops killed by a roadside bomb in Afghanistan's Helmand province were British, officials said Wednesday, as questions over security in the province continue to be raised.

The three soldiers from the Royal Highland Fusiliers died on Tuesday when their vehicle was hit on a routine patrol in the district of Nahr-e Saraj, part of the southern province Helmand.

"Their deaths come as a great loss to all those serving in Task Force Helmand," army spokesman Major Richard Morgan said in a statement from London, reported AFP news agency.

The British defense ministry said that security in Helmand, a hotbed of the Taliban insurgency, was improving but that it remained a risky and dangerous environment for British troops.

Taliban insurgents marked the start of their spring offensive on Sunday by claiming responsibility for a remote-controlled roadside bomb blast that killed three police officers.

In past years, spring has marked a significant upsurge in fighting between the Taliban and NATO forces along with their local allies. This fighting season is a key test, as the international coalition is scheduled to hand over security responsibilities to Afghan forces next year.

The death of the three Britons was announced by NATO's U.S.-led International Security Assistance Force in Kabul on Tuesday without stating the nationalities of the victims, in line with coalition policy.

There was no immediate claim of responsibility but Taliban militants frequently use roadside bombs against foreign troops and their Afghan allies.

Afghan police and soldiers are taking over responsibility for security, but there is growing concern over the war-torn country's prospects after 2014 when all foreign combat deployments will end.

01 May, 2013

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Source: http://english.alarabiya.net/en/News/asia/2013/05/01/Three-NATO-troops-killed-in-Afghanistan-s-Helmand-province.html
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Report: Obama preparing to send lethal weapons to Syria fighters

Obama is likely to make a final decision on the supply of arms to the opposition "within weeks." (AFP)

U.S. President Barack Obama is gearing up to send lethal weapons to the Syrian opposition, according to senior administration officials speaking to The Washington Post on Wednesday.

The officials said Obama was also tightening ties with allies seeking the ouster of Syrian President Bashar al-Assad, and the U.S. would be taking a "more aggressive" leadership role among the allies.

Obama is likely to make a final decision on the supply of arms to the opposition "within weeks," The Post reported, citing the unnamed officials.

On Monday, Obama spoke with Russian President Vladimir Putin, discussing chemical weapons use.

The report on Wednesday stated the U.S. administration "has launched an effort to convince Putin that the probable use of chemical weapons by the Syrian government … should lead him to reconsider his support of Assad."

In a conference on Tuesday, Obama warned against a rush to judgment on Syria's use of chemical arms, but said proof of their use would trigger a "rethink" of his reluctance to use military force.

As critics complain that he let Syria cross a U.S. "red line," Obama said Washington believed chemical weapons had been used in the country's vicious civil war but did not know exactly who had fired them.

"I've got to make sure I've got the facts. That's what the American people would expect."

"If I can establish in a way that not only the United States but also the international community feel confident in the use of chemical weapons by the Assad regime, then that is a game changer," he warned.

"By game changer, I mean we would have to rethink the range of options that are available to us."

"There are options that are available to me that are on the shelf right now that we have not deployed, and that's a spectrum of options," Obama said, saying he had asked the Pentagon for plans, but did not divulge them.

"We're clearly on an upward trajectory," an unnamed U.S. senior official told the Washington Post. "We've moved over to assistance that has a direct military purpose."

The officials did not specify what U.S. equipment is under consideration, although the opposition fighters have specifically requested ¬antitank weapons and surface-to-air missiles, the Post reported.
 

01 May, 2013

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Source: http://english.alarabiya.net/en/views/news/middle-east/2013/05/01/Report-Obama-preparing-to-send-lethal-weapons-to-Syria-fighters.html
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Hezbollah escalates rhetoric, hints at possible Syria intervention

In his speech, Nasrallah said the Syrian opposition fighting pro-Assad forces will not be able to topple the Syrian president militarily. (Al Arabiya)

The chief of Lebanese Shiite Muslim party Hezbollah, a close Damascus ally, said on Tuesday that Syria's friends would not let the embattled regime of President Bashar al-Assad fall.

"Syria has true friends in the region who will not allow Syria to fall into the hands of the United States, Israel and 'takfiri' groups," Hassan Nasrallah said, referring to Sunni Muslims fighting to overthrow Assad.

Reports have emerged that Hezbollah fighters were fighting with Assad forces against rebels in Shiite villages near the Lebanon border. However, Nasrallah's Tuesday comments were the strongest indication yet that his group was ready to get more substantially involved to rescue Assad's government.

In his speech, Nasrallah said the Syrian opposition fighting pro-Assad forces will not be able to topple the Syrian president militarily, adding that dialogue was their only way out.

"The Syrian opposition is the one refusing dialogue. Whoever wants to resolve the Syrian crisis, a political solution is the only way," he said.

Meanwhile, Nasrallah also said that armed rebel groups battling Assad impose a "threat" to Lebanese residents living near border towns.

"A large number of [rebels] were preparing to capture villages inhabited by Lebanese," so it was "normal to offer every possible and necessary aid to help the Syrian army, popular committees (pro-government militia) and the Lebanese," Nasrallah said.

"The Lebanese state is incapable of protecting Lebanese towns near the Syrian border."

"Defending them doesn't need a decision from anyone. We won't leave town residents without any help."

Accusations against Hezbollah

Hezbollah denies it has sent guerrillas to fight alongside Assad's forces inside Syria, but has held regular funerals for fighters it said were carrying out "jihadi duties." It says any Hezbollah fighters involved are local Shiite residents of Lebanese villages inside Syria, defending their territory.

Nasrallah said that his fighters had a duty to protect the holy Shiite shrine of Sayida Zeinab in southern Damascus.

"If the shrine is destroyed, things will get out of control," Nasrallah said, citing the 2006 bombing of the Shiite al-Askari shrine in the Iraqi city of Samarra.

Nasrallah also addressed during his Tuesday speech accusations that Iranian forces were taking part in the Syrian clashes, which have killed at least 70,000 people, according to the United Nations.

"Everyone knows there are no Iranian forces in Syria but only experts," the Hezbollah chief said.

"What do you imagine would happen in the future if things deteriorate in a way that requires the intervention of the forces of resistance in this battle?"

Hezbollah has an arsenal that is the most powerful military force in Lebanon, stronger than the national army. Its growing involvement in the Syrian civil war is already raising tensions inside the divided country and has drawn threats from enraged Syrian rebels and militants.

A parliamentarian from Lebanon's Future bloc criticized Nasrallah's statements and interference in the Syrian conflict.

"Nasrallah is talking as if he was Bashar al-Assad's chief-of-staff," Mouin al-Merhebi told Al Arabiya news channel. "No one tasked Nasrallah with defending the towns near the border."

"If [Nasrallah] is talking about being humanitarian, then he should fight against Assad who kills hundreds [of civilians] every day."

"Bashar al-Assad is a criminal and a killer."

01 May, 2013

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Source: http://english.alarabiya.net/en/News/middle-east/2013/05/01/Hezbollah-escalates-rhetoric-hints-at-possible-Syria-intervention.html
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