Lord Marlesford – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Ministry of Defence

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Lord Marlesford on 2015-10-29.

To ask Her Majesty’s Government what is their estimate of the numerical strength of the moderate forces fighting against President Assad in Syria.

Earl Howe

Estimating the numerical strength of armed groups in Syria is challenging given the lack of data, the fluidity of the situation on the ground, and the multiplicity of groups. Nevertheless, we estimate that fighters loyal to the Free Syrian Army, which has close links to the Syrian National Coalition, which is the heart of the political opposition, run into tens of thousands.