Source:
https://scmp.com/news/world/article/1260574/us-increase-military-support-syria-rebels
World

US to increase military support to Syria rebels

Syrian rebel fighters belonging to the "Martyrs of Maaret al-Numan" . President Barack Obama has authorised sending US weapons to Syrian rebels for the first time. Photo: AFP

President Barack Obama has authorised sending US weapons to Syrian rebels for the first time, a US official said on Thursday after the White House said it has proof that the Syrian government had used chemical weapons against opposition forces fighting to overthrow President Bashar al-Assad.

The US decision came as Assad’s surging forces and their Lebanese Hezbollah allies turned their guns on the north, fighting near the northern city of Aleppo and bombarding the central city of Homs after having seized the initiative by winning the open backing of Hezbollah last month and capturing the strategic town of Qusair last week.