Online videos showcase Syrian rebels' foreign weaponry

The rebels appear to be getting much more sophisticated Chinese, Croatian and other foreign equipment, notably the anti-tank and anti-aircraft weaponry they had long sought.

A Free Syrian Army fighter uses a shotgun to fire a homemade grenade at Syrian Army soldiers during a fight in the Arabeen neighbourhood of Damascus.

WASHINGTON // At his home in the English town of Leicester, former business administrator Elliot Higgins has trawled through hundreds of online videos from Syria's civil war.

His research, which he started after he took redundancy late last year, has made him a self-taught expert on the weaponry of a conflict that has been largely inaccessible to outsiders and in which disparate rebel groups, some linked to Al Qaeda, form their own supply lines.

"I was just interested and no one else seemed to be doing it," the 34-year-old said.

In recent months, he had noticed that the rebels had been getting much more sophisticated Chinese, Croatian and other foreign equipment, notably the anti-tank and anti-aircraft weaponry they had long sought.

Other experts, many of whom read Mr Higgins' blog, have agreed, although they have said that the supplies are not significant enough to change the dynamic of the rebel fight against the heavily armed forces of the Syrian president, Bashar Al Assad.

"What we are seeing now are weapons that could not have been taken from government stockpiles or bought within the region," said Mr Higgins, who blogs under the pseudonym "Brown Moses".

"They must be being flown in and shipped across the border from Jordan and Turkey."

Saudi Arabia and Qatar, it is believed, were the major buyers.

The shakily filmed rebel videos posted on YouTube and elsewhere are almost invariably impossible to verify and contain few signs of hits on genuine targets, although fighting has devastated towns and cities, killed more than 100,000 and forced millions to flee.

Some videos appear deliberately intended to showcase new weaponry, particularly the latest types to arrive, such as the shoulder-mounted HJ-8 Chinese-made wire guided missile. In the videos rebels crouch behind rubble, trees or buildings, quietly chanting religious slogans before firing.

The most sophisticated anti-tank weapon obtained by the rebels so far, the HJ-8 is capable of punching through even modern "reactive armour" and has the ability to repel older and smaller missiles, although some rebels have complained that the weapon was not up to expectations.

The Chinese-made FN-6 MANPAD also appears to have helped the rebels raise their game, with one video apparently showing one bringing down a Russian-built helicopter gunship.

In the two weeks since the White House announced Mr Al Assad's use of chemical weapons had prompted increased but ill-defined "military support" to the rebels, US officials would not say if Washington had provided arms.

That it is looking to be more closely involved in the supply of weaponry from other states is not disputed.

One US national security source did not question that Qatar was providing MANPADs, but said it was a matter that concerned Washington.

Such weapons can also be used against civilian airliners, helicopters or military jets.

Where exactly the weapons are coming from is unclear. With Beijing still broadly opposed to foreign-backed regime change, few believe Qatar could have bought directly from China.

"They must be being bought from a third party - perhaps one that has not always kept the weapons in good condition," said Mr Higgins as he pointed to one video where the missile appeared to drop to the ground almost immediately after firing.

Judging by the videos, he said much of the Chinese-made weaponry appeared to be going direct to Islamist groups.

The Croatian-manufactured Soviet-style weaponry thought to be supplied by Saudi Arabia, in contrast, appeared to be going almost exclusively to the western-backed Free Syrian Army.

They included RAK 12 multiple rocket launchers, RBG-6, M79 and M60 anti-tank weapons and the RPG-22, capable of going through more than a metre of reinforced concrete.

That matched the views of other analysts, although Qatari officials have said controls over arms shipments have been tightened.

"After all the criticism they have had, the Saudis are being very careful where they send weapons," said Bilal Saab, the director and head of research at the Institute for near East and Gulf Military Analysis in Washington. He said US pressure was a factor.

"The Qataris care much less. They are arming whoever they want," said Mr Saab.