The camp, South of the capital between Saudi Arabia’s border and Al Udeid, the largest US air base in the Middle East, is being used to train the so-called Free Syrian Army (FSA) and other rebels, the sources said, Reuters reported.
Reuters could not independently identify the participants in the program or witness activity inside the base, which lies in a military zone guarded by Qatari special forces and marked on signposts as a restricted area.
But Syrian rebel sources said training in Qatar has included rebels affiliated to the so-called “Free Syrian Army” from Northern Syria.
The sources said the effort had been running for nearly a year, although it was too small to have a significant impact on the battlefield.
"The US wanted to help the rebels oust Assad but didn’t want to be open about their support, so to have rebels trained in Qatar is a good idea, the problem is the scale is too small," said a western source in Doha.
The CIA declined to comment, as did Qatar’s foreign ministry and an FSA spokesman in Turkey.
