'Hundreds of jihadists enter Syria'

Hundreds of well-armed jihadists have entered Syria through the Jordan border, as another 15,000 are poised to head to Syria after finishing special training in Lebanon, Syria's pro-government al-Watan newspaper said on Sunday.

Hundreds of jihadists equipped with light and medium machine guns, anti-tank and anti-aircraft weapons as well as four-wheel drive vehicles have entered Syria from Jordan through the southern province of Daraa, al-Watan said.

"Thus, Jordan has succumbed to the United States and Gulf States' pressure to become, like Lebanon and Turkey, a passage to the jihadists into Syria," the paper said.

Meanwhile, the paper said that about 15,000 jihadists have finished their training in northern Lebanon and are poised to head to Syria.

A day earlier, the Syrian army reinforced its posts on the border with Lebanon, namely all along the downstream of the Nahr Al Kabir area, which separates Lebanon from Syria.

Damascus announced on Thursday that its forces would fire into Lebanon if "terrorist gangs" continued to infiltrate into Syria.

Xinhua

(China Daily 03/18/2013 page12)