Syrian Defense Minister: Syrian Army Prepared to Confront Israeli Enemy

Thursday 7 February 2013

Syrian Defense Minister: Syrian Army Prepared to Confront Israeli Enemy

Local Editor

Syrian Deputy Commander-in-Chief of the Army and the Armed Forces and Minister of Defense, General Fahd Jassem Al-Freij, stressed on Monday that “the Syrian Army has proven to the whole world that it is a strong and well-trained army, and that Syria will remain united,” SANA reported.

Speaking to the Syrian official Channel, Al-Freij considered that “the Israeli enemy ordered the armed terrorist groups to attack Syria's air defense because it knows that Syria possesses an air defense that covers all the country and could obstruct any violation.”

In this context Al-Freij pointed out that “on daily bases, the armed groups target the air defense systems, in attempt to destroy them… but a decision was made to deploy them in safe places that the armed terrorist groups will not be able to attack even with mortar shells.”

Latest Israeli attack was in coordination with armed groups

On the Israeli attack on the scientific research center in Jamraya in Damascus Countryside, the Syrian general assured that it was “in coordination with the terrorist groups, after the same center was subject to tens of attack by them in attempt to take control over it and destroy it.”

He also indicated that “the terrorist groups’ failure in attacking this center urged Israel to intervene and perform an aerial attack.”

The Syrian defense minister clarified that “the armed forces could clear some points to avoid exposing soldiers’ lives to danger. Hence, the number of guards varies from one point to another based on their importance.

“Taftanaz Airport is located near the Turkish borders, and it is for helicopters only, as it contains a number of broken helicopters. Its staff are technicians who are not prepared to fight under such circumstances. They are not Special Forces, so when the terrorists exerted heavy pressure on the airport for months, the General Command decided that it is not necessary to leave airport staff in it and expose them to danger, so its equipment was transferred while the broken helicopters were kept there,” Al-Friej added.

Armed Forces did not enter Al-Yarmouk Camp, but armed groups tried to

General Al-Freij stated that the “Syrian Arab Army” did not enter Al-Yarmouk Camp, but the armed groups planned to enter, after Israel ordered them, to make it look as if the Syrian army was targeting the Palestinians… However, what we actually did was that we left our Palestinian brothers to deal with the issue in the appropriate way.”

From here, the minister of defense stressed that “Syria leads the axis of resistance in the region, which stands up to the Zionist-American scheme that aims at implementing Israel’s needs. This scheme tried to break Syria’s arm since years whether through the 2006 aggression, the occupation of Iraq, or the US threats against Syria.