BEIRUT – Syria’s president accused the West on Wednesday of backing al-Qaida in his country’s civil war, warning it will pay a price “in the heart” of Europe and the United States as the terror network becomes emboldened.

Bashar Assad also lashed out at Jordan for allowing “thousands” of fighters to enter Syria through its borders and warned that the “fire will not stop at Syria’s border.”

The rare TV interview with the government-run Al-Ikhbariya channel marking Syria’s independence day comes as the embattled president’s military is fighting to reverse rebel advances, with a rocket attack killing at least 12 people in a central village on Wednesday.

“Just as the West financed al-Qaida in Afghanistan in its beginnings, and later paid a heavy price, today it is supporting it in Syria, Libya and other places and will pay the price later in the heart of Europe and the United States,” Assad said.

He offered no evidence to back his charge that the U.S. was now backing the international terror group responsible for the Sept. 11, 2001, attacks in the United States.

Extremist groups such as the al-Qaida-affiliated Jabhat al-Nusra are gaining ground in Syria’s two-year civil war. Jabhat al-Nusra, or the Nusra Front, has emerged as the most effective force among the mosaic of rebel units fighting to topple Assad.

Last week, Nusra Front leader Abu Mohammad al-Gonali pledged allegiance to al-Qaida’s leader, Ayman al-Zawahiri.

Washington has designated Jabhat al-Nusra a terrorist organization over its links with al-Qaida. The Obama administration opposes directly arming Syrian opposition fighters, in part out of fear that the weapons could fall into the hands of Islamic extremists such as the Nusra Front.

Earlier this year, the U.S. announced a $60 million nonlethal assistance package for Syria that includes meals and medical supplies for the armed opposition.

On Wednesday, Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov criticized an upcoming meeting of the Friends of Syria group in Istanbul — which brings together Western and Arab supporters of the Syrian opposition — and said efforts to isolate Assad and to arm the opposition were strengthening Islamic militants.