Al-Qaeda Backed Rebels Claim Credit for Massive Syria Suicide Bombing

France: Incident Proves Need to Send More Money to Rebels

by Jason Ditz, January 28, 2013

A bloody suicide car bombing last week in the Syrian town of Salmiyeh has finally been claimed, with the al-Qaeda backed al-Nusra Front confirming they orchestrated the attack, saying it was meant to “give the tyrannical regime a taste of violence.”

It had been speculated at the time that al-Nusra was behind the attack, as suicide car bombings have been one of their tactics of choice for months, but they just finally got around to issuing the statement confirming the attack, claiming the 42 people killed were “mostly pro-Assad.” Civilians were reportedly among the slain.

French Foreign Minister Laurent Fabius, who never saw an incident which couldn’t be spun as vindicating French policy, insisted that this proved the need for countries to follow through on funding for the rebels, warning that the extremist portions of the rebel movement would only get stronger as the war continues.

Al-Nusra has indeed grown in power since the civil war began, but is already among the largest and clearly among the best organized rebel factions, so exactly who France and other Western nations think they are installing with rebel aid is unclear.

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