How outside help is aiding Syria's rebels

In Homs, the centre of the revolution, the security forces are now using heavy weapons including artillery, rockets and mortars to bombard residential areas. The result: in less than a fortnight, more than 400 people have been killed, including women and many children, according to opposition activists.

The BBC'S Paul Wood, who witnessed the onslaught at first hand, has returned with stories of extraordinary brutality. He was shown a video taken from the phone of a member of the feared government paramilitary force, the Shabiha. In the video, prisoners are systematically beheaded as they lie on the ground with their hands tied behind their backs.

There is also reluctance among Western countries to start arming and training the Syrian rebels because it might tip Syria into a full-blown civil war. But where Western countries now fear to tread, others seem to be stepping in. The BBC has been told by a well-placed source who did not wish to be named that traditional smuggling routes through Iraq have been used since last autumn to ferry money to rebel fighters inside Syria.

But in reality, the current supply routes through Iraq and Lebanon are extremely unlikely to make much difference on the ground where the rebels face a well-equipped army of more than 200,000 soldiers.

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-middle-east-17009686