News | 25 05 2020
The fighters of the armed opposition factions of southern Syria refused to conduct joint military operations with the Jordanian Army aiming to protect Jordanian borders against the threat posed by ISIS, which controls al-Qusayr town, adjacent to the Jordanian border.
The military operation was supposed to conclude the 2-month military training held in the Jordanian Kingdom, and to involve 320 fighters of the opposition factions.
During the training held at al-Jafr base in Jordan (King Faisal Air Base), the fighters were trained on the use of US anti-tank and laser-guided weapons.
"Fajr al-Islam, Mu'tazz Army and Shabab Sunnah" participated in the training.
The correspondent of Rozana in Daraa, Hossam al-Barm, declared that the Jordanian "counter-terrorism" officers tried to exert pressure on the fighters of the opposition firing above their heads before they were disarmed and denied access to the advanced training weapons and all the privileges offered during the training courses, including cars, equipment, 500 dollars as monthly salary and relief baskets.
"We do not believe that undertaking a military operation on Jordanian territory will be safe for us. When we take such step in Syria, we are sure we have our brothers and friends holding arms and serving as backup forces, who will never betray us. However, we do not entrust the Jordanian Army with our lives nor make sure they won’t leave us behind without a preliminary artillery. Thus, we will be killed anyways," said one of the trainees during an interview with Rozana.
Al-Barm also said that the trainees returned to Syria in two groups on 1 and 2 November 2016 accompanied by a convoy of the Jordanian Army for fear of rioting.
The Jordanian news agency Petra reported that US military trainers were killed on Friday, 4 November, following an exchange of fire in front of the military base in al-Jafr area, south of Jordan.
A Jordanian government source told Agence France-Presse that "the base is used for various military exercises, not only aviation. It also includes trainees and trainers of different nationalities, including Americans.