Fighters exchange fire with Syrian Army forces, June 3, 2012, in Kafer Zaita. An FSA commander later stated that 13 BDM armored personnel carriers and two tanks were disabled or destroyed during the battle. For four days, Syrian government soldiers and rebels from the Free Syrian Army have battled for control of the town of Kafer Zaita in central Syria in a fight that shows that the rebel fighters, while disorganized, are able to hold their own against the better equipped Syrian military.

Austin Tice/MCT

CIA officers are helping allies decide which Syrian opposition fighters will receive automatic rifles, rocket-propelled grenades, ammunition and antitank weapons being funneled across the Turkish border, according to The New York Times.

The small number of officers has been operating secretly in southern Turkey for several weeks. Intermediaries, including the Syria’s Muslim Brotherhood, are moving the weapons, paid for by Turkey, Saudi Arabia and Qatar, across the Turkish border into Syria, the Times reported.

Part of the CIA officer’s mission is to keep the weapons away from al-Qaida allied and other terrorist groups.

The Obama administration also is considering helping the opposition setup their own intelligence service and providing satellite imagery and other intelligence of Syrian troops locations and movements, the Times reported.

Source: The New York Times

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