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CENTCOM admits US-trained Syrian rebels surrendered ammunition to al-Nusra
[Hurriyet Daily News] United States military officials admitted late on Sept. 25 that a unit of Syrian rebels trained and equipped by the U.S.-led coalition likely surrendered their supplies to al-Nusra...formally Jabhat an-Nusrah li-Ahli sh-Sham (Support Front for the People of the Levant), also known as al-Qaeda in the Levant. They aim to establish a pan-Arab caliphate. Not the same one as the Islamic State, though .. ... Front, al-Qaeda's affiliate in the country. Ohfergawdsake. The announcement came after U.S. Central Command (CENTCOM) on Sept. 23 assured journalists that "all Coalition-issued weapons and equipment are under the positive control of NSF," or the New Syrian Force, a paramilitary group sanctioned by the U.S.-led coalition. That statement was issued in an effort to counter reports that NSF had handed over all their supplies to the al-Qaeda affiliate upon entering Syria, and in response to a post on a Nusra Front-linked Twitter account that purported to show the group in possession of coalition equipment. CENTCOM said it had earlier concluded that no supplies had been lost after conducting "an analysis of the image depicted in the Tweet and determined the claim to be false." But whether the images posted on Twitter are real or not, officials on Sept. 25 appeared to walk back their initial assessment, and reported that Nusra Front had in fact seized a sizable portion of its equipment, Vice News reported. "Today, the NSF unit contacted Coalition representatives and informed us that on Sept. 21-22 they gave six pick-up trucks and a portion of their ammunition to a suspected al-Nusra Front intermediary, which equates to roughly 25 percent of their issued equipment," Col. Patrick Ryder, a front man for CENTCOM, said in a statement. Posted by: Fred 2015-09-27 |
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