Bill Roggio and Caleb Weiss. Long War Journal: Jihadists in Syria train for urban warfare
The Islamic State and its jihadist rival Al Nusrah Front, al Qaeda’s official branch in Syria, are training forces to conduct urban warfare at camps inside Syria.
Both jihadist groups have released propaganda on social media sites over the past several days that show their personnel drilling in urban warfare tactics. The Islamic State is training its forces inside a city under its control, while Al Nusrah is instructing fighters near the contested city of Aleppo.
The Islamic State showcased jihadists training inside the ancient city of Palmyra (or Tadmur in Arabic) in the Homs desert. The fighters can be seen infiltrating a segment of the city before they practice how to effectively navigate the streets in combat. The trainees use light-machine guns, technicals, and rocket-propelled grenades (RPG’s) as cover fire for during these exercises.
WNU Editor: It is when I read posts like this one that I cannot help but feel that the Syrian war is going to go on for a very long time.