
 The Syrian Air Force is again firing Scud missiles, this time to stem the  general offensive Syrian opposition forces, including jihadis, launched Friday,  Dec. 21, to capture the Syrian army’s military-industrial complex at al Safira  and the big chemical and biological weapons store adjoining the facility. It is  there, that Scud D missiles stand ready for launching, loaded with chemical  weapons. Rebel forces are converging on Al Safira from the east, the west and the  south. Among them are brigades of the Jabhat al-Nusra which the US has  designated part of al Qaeda in Iraq. Success in seizing control of those stores would re-tilt the balance of the  war in their favor and bring President Bashar Assad face to face with a decision  on whether to broach the perilous dimension of chemical warfare on the rebels or  even against NATO or US targets outside Syria. Russian and Iranian intelligence watchers suspect that elements from all  three armies as well as Jordan are present in the rebel assault force, in order  to be on the spot when the weapons of mass destruction are captured and  appropriate them to forces under NATO command.  They must beat Jabhat al-Nusra’s  fighting brigades to this target, although at this moment, the jihadis are ahead  of the race.
debkafile military sources report extremely heavy fighting. The  rebels have reached points 1-2 kilometers from the perimeter walls of the Al  Safira chemical weapons stores and are being pounded by Syrian warplanes and  assault helicopters as well as Scuds, in a desperate effort to halt their  advance.
A prime factor in his decision  would be the information received in Moscow and Tehran – and almost certainly  passed on to the Syrian ruler – that taking part in the offensive are rebels who  underwent training in recent weeks in northern Jordan by US, Czech and Polish  officers in tactics for seizing chemical or biological caches and dismantling  them.
The battle for al Safira has brought US and NATO into direct  intervention in Syrian hostilities. Western intelligence services estimate that  even if Assad removed some of the banned weapons from this complex, large  quantities remain and must be prevented from reaching the wrong  hands.