US Patriot missile battery. Photograph courtesy of the US Army
NATO troops from the US arrived in Turkey on Friday to implement Patriot missile defence batteries on the border with Syria to protect Turkish towns after the Syrian army launched a series of Scud missiles against rebel held towns near the Turkish border.
In total, six Patriot batteries are scheduled to be operational by the end of January with Germany and the Netherlands due to send their troops and batteries to the area next week, where all the forces will be under a US-led NATO command.
NATO approved the deployment of troops and surface-to-air missiles to the Turkish border in December after an appeal from Turkey about the danger to its citizens and the threat of Assad’s forces using chemical weapons. Assad has said he would not use these chemical weapons against the Syrian people, but Syria does have massive stockpiles of the chemical agents mixed and ready for use, which has caused much consternation amongst the international community which has so far stayed out of the conflict.
NATO has said that the troops and missiles are for defence use only, and will not be used to create a “no-fly zone” similar to that imposed over Libya during the fighting there which helped the rebels overthrow Gaddafi.
