Analysis of information sources in references of the Wikipedia article "List of armed factions in the Syrian Civil War" in English language version.
Along with their American counterparts, Emirati special forces are said to be training elements of the opposition. They constitute a kind of Arab guarantee among the Syrian Democratic Forces – an umbrella group dominated by the Kurds of the PYD, on whom the US are relying to fight IS on the ground.
Assad was still in charge but he was utterly dependent on a diverse and toxic mix of volunteer warriors and `popular` militias, some of them manned by criminals. Not all of them were Syrian. A whole Shiite counter-jihad had formed – with fighters coming from Lebanon, Bahrain, even Afghanistan – under the supervision of Iran, Assad's patron.
'Who we are fighting for – This was never understood. "When they spoke to us in Russia, they explained that we were going on a contract with the Syrian Ba'athist government, they convinced us that everything was legal and in order. Like, our government and the FSB were on board and involved in the project. When we arrived there, it turned out that we were sent as gladiators, under a contract with some Syrian or other, who may or may not have a relationship with the government… That meant that we were the private army of a local kingpin".'
"A highly classified annex to the report, not made public [as described by one source, said that] the CIA, with the support of MI6, was responsible for getting arms from Gaddafi's arsenals into Syria...A spokesperson for Petraeus denied the operation ever took place.
the forces will be stationed with US-led coalition troops and will support its tasks with ... heavy and light weapons.
The weapons, including automatic rifles, rocket-propelled grenades, ammunition and some antitank weapons, are being funneled mostly across the Turkish border by way of a shadowy network of intermediaries including Syria's Muslim Brotherhood and paid for by Turkey
Returning from a summit in the Saudi capital last week, opposition leaders say they were told directly by the foreign minister, Adel al-Jubeir, that Riyadh was disengaging.
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: CS1 maint: unfit URL (link)Saudi Arabia and the U.A.E. helped pay the stipends for the Syrian fighters the U.S. is supporting