US AND FRANCE PLAN ATTACKS ON SYRIAN AIRPORTS

        Damascus, 02 Rabi’ul Awwal 1434/ 13 January 2013 (MINA) – Citing a fugitive Syrian army officer, Palestinian Arabic website al-Manar said that attacks on airports had been planned by France and that the raids on airbases and air defense command posts are being carried out by militants under direct supervision of American military officers. 

       The officer went on to say on condition of anonymity that the American officers are training the militants in Turkey and Jordan to carry out such attacks, according to PressTV reports monitored by Mi’raj News Agency (MINA),Sunday.

       Syria government sources, however, say the militants entered the base after government troops left it according to an army evacuation order a few days ago and that all important military equipment deployed there as well as officers, pilots and soldiers were evacuated before the arrival of militants. 

       It is believed that the Syrian army has left behind only useless military equipment and weapons. 

      An opposition watchdog also said that the Syrian military had removed all its helicopters from the base, except for 20 which were no longer in working condition. 

       Syria has been experiencing unrest since mid-March 2011. Many people, including large numbers of security personnel, have been killed in the violence. 

      The Syrian government says that the chaos is being orchestrated from outside the country, and there are reports that a very large number of the militants fighting the Syrian government are foreign nationals. 

      Several international human rights organizations have accused foreign-sponsored militants of committing war crimes. (T/R-007/R-006).

 Mi’raj News Agency (MINA)