The Sun has obtained the first footage of extremists taking advantage of the civil war to gain a foothold in the war-torn country.It backs up the grim theory that al-Qaeda is looking to expand into Syria, where it could launch attacks on Britain.
The hooded gunman — filmed standing in front of a sinister black flag — is among a growing number of recruits to the latest al-Qaeda-linked terror network.
And the arsenal of weapons he poses with gives a horrifying indication of their firepower.
His machine gun is a Russian-made PKM 7.62, capable of firing 650 rounds a minute with a range of up to 1,500 metres.
The thug has an ammunition belt slung around his neck, carries at least one grenade and is flanked by rocket-propelled grenade launchers.
More footage shows heavily-armed recruits wielding weapons and completing an assault course at a “school for terror”.
The video, released by a group called Al-Nusra, was posted on websites connected to al-Qaeda.
Terror expert Chris Dobson believes al-Qaeda wants to move into Syria after taking a pounding in Afghanistan and Pakistan.
He said: “There is mounting evidence that al-Qaeda militants are fleeing from their vulnerable hide-outs and setting up bases among the rebels in Syria.”
And he warned: “It’s an ideal location from which to launch attacks on Britain and the US.”
In Syria yesterday at least 35 people were killed when President Bashar al-Assad’s forces renewed efforts to impose control in Homs. On Saturday at least 83 civilians died across the country.
The deaths followed a series of co-ordinated attacks on targets in the capital Damascus on Friday by an estimated 600 Syrian Free Army fighters.
Several Russian oil workers were killed in rocket attacks on a building and a bus.
Foreign Secretary William Hague yesterday compared Syria to Bosnia — where thousands of UK troops were sent in the 1990s.
In his strongest hint yet that Britain will order boots on the ground in Syria, he said: “It is not so much like Libya last year.
“It is looking more like Bosnia, on the edge of a sectarian conflict in which neighbouring villages are attacking and killing each other.”
But last night Abdel Basset Sayda, new head of Syria’s main opposition group, said the government regime was “on its last legs”.
More than 14,100 people have died since the uprising began in March 2011.
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