Syrian security forces have arrested arms traffickers and seized large quantities of weapons in the country’s southern region, the Syrian Arab News Agency reported on June 20.
“After monitoring and a pursuit, we apprehended a group of terrorists linked to foreign entities that was smuggling materials used to make improvised explosive devices … Thousands of fuses and explosive materials, which were being smuggled in shipping trucks, were seized,” a military source told the state-run agency.
The weapons seized by security forces also included dozens of assault rifles, loads of ammunition, an RPG-7 launcher as well as a Yugoslav-made M79 Osa anti-tank weapon along with six rounds.
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Last month, Syrian security forces uncovered loads of weapons in the southern region, including two Soviet-made man-portable air-defense systems.
A large part of the weapons usually seized by Syrian authorities in the southern region was supplied to militants by the U.S. and its regional allies, mainly Qatar and Saudi Arabia.
