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U.S. armed Syrian rebels give American weapons to Al Qaeda

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New Syrian Forces Group surrendered U.S. provided equipment to Al Qaeda affiliate

Questions have been raised on how the Obama administration is safeguarding the U.S. arms in a war-torn country of Middle East, when the Syrian rebel fighters have surrendered military equipment that had been issued by the United States, to an Al Qaeda offshoot.

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By Nikky Andres (NEWS CONSORTIUM)
Catholic Online (https://www.catholic.org)
9/30/2015 (8 years ago)

Published in U.S.

Keywords: Syria, Nusra Front, rebel fighters

span style="line-height: 1.22;">MUNTINLUPA CITY, PHILIPPINES (Catholic Online) A commander of a New Syrian Forces group that has been trained and equipped by the United States, has been found to have distributed around 25 percent of the military force's American arms to the Nusra Front. Nusra Front is a terrorist organist that has affiliation with Al Qaeda.

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According to Col. Patrick Ryder, a spokesman for U.S. Central Command, the equipment, which consists of pick-up trucks and U.S issued ammunition, was apparently surrendered to a Nusra Front intermediary. This was done to ensure that the rebel fighters could pass freely through the territories controlled by the terrorist group.

Ryder stated, "We will look at what we can do to prevent such a situation in the future, but given the complexity of the battlefield, it is not possible to eliminate all risks." He also added that they are exerting all their efforts in using all means at their disposal to look into what exactly happened so they can figure out the appropriate answer.

Ryder has confirmed that the arms exchange incident happened on the morning of September 20, after a group of around 70 NSF graduates crossed into Syria. The Syrian commander transferred the NSF fighters to a new location inside Syria, the next day.

According to Ryder, while other collation forces and the U.S. do everything they can to avoid this kind of incident, they just cannot control each situation. However, he said that the United States remain committed in growing and strengthening opposition forces that can fight the Islamic State and other extremist groups.

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