DefenceTalkSyrian rebels fighting to topple President Bashar al-Assad for the first time received at least 20 US-made TOW anti-tank missiles from a “Western source,” a rebel official told AFP Tuesday. “Moderate, well-organized fighters from the Hazm movement have for the first time received more than 20 TOW anti-tank missiles from a Western source,” the source […]https://www.defencetalk.com/syria-rebels-get-us-made-missiles-source-59329/

DefenceTalkPakistan on Thursday strongly denied it had any plans to send weapons to Syrian rebels, following reports that Saudi Arabia was holding talks with it about arming the opposition. Pakistani foreign ministry spokeswoman Tasneem Aslam said at a regular briefing that Islamabad did not supply arms to “entities”, meaning rebel groups, and respected Syria’s sovereignty. […]https://www.defencetalk.com/pakistan-denies-plans-to-arm-syrian-rebels-58883/

DefenceTalkThe Philippine government and Muslim rebels on Sunday signed a crucial power sharing accord, paving the way for a final peace agreement aimed at ending a decades-long insurgency that has killed tens of thousands. The power sharing annex had been considered highly contentious, with Moro Islamic Liberation Front rebels seeking greater authority over a proposed […]https://www.defencetalk.com/philippines-rebels-sign-power-sharing-accord-49862/

DefenceTalkSyria rebels possess ground-to-ground missiles and sarin, and a UN report on chemical weapons use shows they carried out attacks near Damascus, a high-ranking Syrian security source said Tuesday. “I categorically deny that we have used sarin gas, for the reason that we had no interest in doing so. We were winning in the battlefield,” […]https://www.defencetalk.com/syria-security-official-says-rebels-have-missiles-sarin-gas-49100/

DefenceTalkWashington is weighing expanding support for Syrian rebels by having the Pentagon take charge of arming the opposition instead of a clandestine effort by the CIA, officials said Wednesday. “It’s under consideration,” said a US official, who spoke on condition of anonymity. “If and how (it would be done) are both questions being discussed,” the […]https://www.defencetalk.com/pentagon-may-take-charge-of-arming-syrian-rebels-us-officials-48958/

DefenceTalkMaoist rebels killed four paramilitary troops and injured two others by setting off a landmine on a highway in eastern India on Tuesday, police officials said. The powerful blast sent the soldiers’ vehicle flying through the air, with photographs showing the upturned, mangled van lying in a crater in Orissa state’s Koraput district, located 366 […]https://www.defencetalk.com/maoist-rebels-kill-four-troops-in-india-landmine-blast-48912/

DefenceTalkMilitary action against the Syrian regime would be a “tragic mistake”, Russia said Sunday, warning the West not to preempt the results of a UN probe into alleged deadly chemical attacks. Moscow warned there was a danger of history repeating itself a decade after the US-led invasion of Iraq, which it opposed, and urged the […]https://www.defencetalk.com/russia-warns-us-against-syria-military-action-48875/

DefenceTalkCBS News has learned that the Pentagon is making the initial preparations for a cruise missile attack on Syrian government forces. We say “initial preparations” because such an attack won’t happen until the president gives the green light. And it was clear during an interview on CNN Friday that he is not there yet. “If […]https://www.defencetalk.com/us-preps-for-possible-cruise-missile-attack-on-syria-48849/

DefenceTalkUN Security Council members are seeking “clarity” on opposition claims that Syrian troops used chemical weapons in an attack near Damascus, Argentina’s UN envoy, the council president, said Wednesday. UN Secretary General Ban Ki-moon’s office said earlier he was “shocked” by the reports and that UN weapons experts in Syria to probe previous allegations were […]https://www.defencetalk.com/un-council-seeks-clarity-on-syria-chem-weapons-claim-48846/

DefenceTalkSome 27 months into the conflict raging in Syria and with over 90,000 dead, the United States has vowed for the first time to send military aid to the rebels battling to oust President Bashar al-Assad. But with the White House staying tight-lipped over what kind of weapons it might provide and lacking any public […]https://www.defencetalk.com/us-military-aid-to-rebels-unlikely-to-tip-balance-in-syria-48118/