Extensive preparations by Syrian army units for launching chemical weapons against rebel forces have been sighted in the northern town of Homs, Western intelligence agencies told debkafile’s military sources Tuesday, March 19.
Damascus paved the way for resorting to unconventional weaponry with an accusation run by the state news agency SANA Tuesday that Syrian rebels had fired a rocket containing chemical substances in the Khan al-Assad area of rural Aleppo, allegedly killing 15 people, mostly civilians.
Rebels quickly denied the report and accused regime forces of “firing a chemical weapon on a long-range SCUD, after which 20 people died of asphyxia and poisoning.”
Neither of the accusations could immediately verified.
But a Reuters photographer said he had seen people come into two Aleppo hospitals with breathing problems after the attack. They claimed people were suffocating on the streets.
Western intelligence sources reckoned that for the Assad regime, Homs, the scene of fierce battles between government and rebel forces in recent days, is likely to be the first place where the Assad government resorts to chemical warfare. A rebel victory there would be a grave setback for the regime because it would sever the main highway linking the Syrian military forces fighting in the towns of Damascus, Latakia, Aleppo and Idlib.
Monday and Tuesday, therefore, heavy government reinforcements from the South and Damascus were piled onto the embattled town, along with large numbers of warplanes and attack helicopters, in an all-out effort to cut short the rebel advance.
debkafile’s military sources report that the importance Assad attaches to carrying the day in Homs is represented by the elite units he has assembled in and around the city: Heavy armored forces of the 4th and 5th Republican Guard Divisions were imported from Damascus and the 18th and 19th Divisions are there too, issued in the last few hours with chemical warfare gear.
Syrian ruler Bashar Assad can on no account afford to be defeated in the key town of Homs just when US President Barack Obama is scheduled to arrive in the Middle East Wednesday. He will therefore use whatever it takes to prevent this happening, even chemical weapons if they are the only answer.
The allegation that the rebels have resorted to chemical warfare strongly points to an Assad ploy to go there himself and maintain it was only after the opposition went first.
The emergence of dread unconventional weapons on the Syrian battlefield during the US president’s stay in the region is bound to dominate his talks with its leaders. It may even have the effect of altering his schedule and affect his itinerary.


UPDATE...OTHER NEWS..CHINA AND RUSSIA ANNOUNCE JOINT MISSILE DEFENSE IN THE ASIA PACIFIC REGION TO DEFEND AGAINST U.S.


China, Russia to Stand Together on Missile Defense in AsPac
China, Russia to Stand Together on Missile Defense in AsPac
18:13 19/03/2013
BEIJING, March 19 (RIA Novosti) – Russia and China will coordinate their reactions to US plans to boost its missile defense in the Asia-Pacific region, a senior Chinese diplomat said on Tuesday.
The remarks follow Washington’s recent announcement this it has shelved plans for a European-based missile shield in favor of boosting its defenses in Alaska, which would give it coverage from a potential North Korean attack.
Beijing and Moscow oppose the deployment of missile shields, arguing that they undermine their own military strategies.
“The matter of missile defense has to do with global strategic balance, and China and Russia have similar views on it,” Vice Minister of Foreign Affairs Cheng Guoping said in Beijing.
“Russia and the People’s Republic of China have been cooperating on the matter for years, and we will only be strengthening collaboration in this direction,” he said.
US efforts to bolster its homeland missile defense follow threats by North Korea last week to attack the United States with its long-range missiles.
The US military intends to deploy 14 additional interceptors in Alaska by 2017 to counter the threat and install a radar station in Japan for early tracking of North Korean missiles.
Russian ambassador to China, Sergei Razov, also urged Moscow’s partners to “adjust their defense efforts to real challenges and threats” and said that no nation’s security effort should pose a threat to others.
Neither Cheng nor Razov elaborated on their countries’ possible reaction to US plans.
Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesman Hong Lei earlier Monday said Washington’s adapted defense blueprint would “only intensify antagonism and not help to solve the problem.”
He also criticized “missile proliferation” in an apparent reference to North Korea’s December launch of a rocket to put a satellite into space that observers believe could serve as a precursor to Pyongyang developing the capability to launch long-range missiles.
Norther Korea carried out a nuclear test in February, prompting a new round of US-led international sanctions, which triggered the threats by North Korea to attack the United States.
Russia has for years vocally resisted US plans to deploy a missile shield in Eastern Europe, arguing that it would threaten the strategic parity between the two former Cold War foes.