Syrian Minister Warns Foreign Troops Against Incursions

Saudi Arabia lacks the courage to send troops to Syria despite its stated readiness to take part in a ground operation, should the US-led coalition want to launch one, the chief commander of Iran’s elite Revolutionary Guards said.

However, Al-Moallem made his feelings about any potential ground troops perfectly clear, stating that any attacks carried out without the consent of the Syrian government would be considered an act of aggression.

The Syrian Foreign Minister has warned that any foreign ground troops who enter the warzone without official approval would be sent home to their countries ‘in coffins’.

White House spokesman Josh Earnest said the Saudi announcement on Thursday was a response to U.S. Defense Secretary Ash Carter’s plea for coalition partners to step up contributions to the fight against Islamic State.

There have been growing calls for the anti-IS intervention to expand to a ground force.

The fate of Saudi-backed Syrian armed opposition groups fighting to topple President Bashar al-Assad is also a major concern for the kingdom.

Saudi Arabia and Turkey can not allow Assad’s army to push militants away from the province of Latakia.

Saudi Arabia has offered for the first time to dispatch ground troops to Syria to aid the U.S.-led coalition in the fight against the Islamic State group.

Syria has been gripped by civil war since March 2011 with Takfiri terrorists from various groups, including Daesh (ISIL), now controlling parts of it.

A Yemeni boy checks the damage following a mortar shell attack on the country’s flashpoint southern city of Taez on February 3, 2016, as clashes between fighters from the Popular Resistance Committees, loyal to Yemen’s fugitive President and Shia Houthi rebels continue.

Reports emerged on Thursday that an Iranian brigadier general, Muhsin Qajarian, who was reportedly advising the Syrian government’s military campaign, was killed in fighting in Aleppo, according to the Rudaw news agency.

He alleged the opposition never meant to negotiate seriously.

He added increased Russian air force activity in Syria was also leading to more violations of Turkish airspace.

The Saudi comments come a day after the United Nations suspended a third attempt at Syrian peace talks between the warring sides amid the opposition’s refusal to participate without a pre-talks cease-fire by Syrian and Russian forces.