US Supplies Rebels In Syria With Weapons

US Supplies Rebels In Syria With Weapons

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An American military cargo plane dropped light weapons Thursday to rebels besieged by the Islamic State (IS) terror group in the northern Syrian town of Marea. Local activists claim that this supply was given by the US after weeks of appeals for help.

U.S. warplanes have also launched several airstrikes on IS positions in the countryside north of the city of Aleppo in a bid to help Marea’s defenders repel a concerted, weekslong effort by the jihadists to seize the town.

The US sees the Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF) – which was founded in Syria’s mainly Kurdish northeastern region in October 2015, and is made up of at least 15 armed factions, mostly fighters from the YPG and the Free Syrian Army – as the most effective group challenging ISIL in Syria.

Rebels with the Free Syrian Army (FSA) have been appealing for weeks for U.S. assistance — complaining that the Kurdish-led Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF) benefit from close air support and arms supplies while they have been ignored and left on their own.

ISIL jihadists, thought to be on the defensive and in retreat in many areas, swept through rebel-held territory in a surprise offensive in Aleppo province late last month, cutting off the main road between Marea and Azaz – two main strongholds for anti-Assad rebels in the province.

Rami Abdel Rahman, head of the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights (SOHR), said: “Coalition airplanes dropped … ammunitions, light weapons and anti-tank weapons to rebels in Marea.” He said it was the first time the coalition had made such a drop to rebel fighters other than the Kurds.

Colonel Pat Ryder, spokesman for U.S. Central Command, declined to provide details about the U.S. resupply missions, saying only that the U.S. provides weapons and ammunition to Syrian Arab counter-IS forces as they make progress. However, Ryder denied reports from local activists that the U.S. airdrops included anti-tank weapons.