Assad’s army hits border areas to block US-backed rebel advance & safe zone

DEBKAfile Exclusive Report – 28 Feb. The CIA has set up a new rebel command center at Quneitra, near Israeli lines on the Golan. Its officers are indigenous Bedouin Al Nuaim tribesmen, defectors from the Syrian army, and Free Syrian Army survivors.

Last week, Assad’s forces ambushed Syrian rebels trained in Jordan as they crossed into Syria and over this weekend moved in on the environs of Quneitra and captured two villages. DEBKAfile: There is still a long way to go before a force is ready to fight to bring a border strip in southern Syria under US-Israeli-Jordanian control.