U.S. airdrops munitions to Arab groups in Syria
WASHINGTON - U.S. cargo planes have dropped small arms ammunition to Arab groups in northern Syria. That's according to a spokesman for the U.S. military command spearheading the war against the Islamic State of Iraq and Syria (ISIS.)
Col. Steve Warren, spokesman for the U.S. military in Kuwait, said Monday the airdrop was conducted Sunday by Air Force C-17 cargo planes. A senior U.S. Defense official tells CBS News a total of 50 tons of supplies were dropped.
The Pentagon is refusing to identify publicly the groups that received the supplies but said their leaders had been vetted and have been fighting to remove ISIS from northern Syria.
In a statement, the Pentagon said: "Over the past several months, enabled by Coalition airstrikes, ammunition and materiel, tens of thousands of counter-(ISIS) forces have driven (ISIS) from their strongholds along the northern border with Turkey. This airdrop seeks to build on the success those forces have had clearing ISIL from Syrian territory."
The most prominent example of success against ISIS in Syria from rebel groups was when Kurdish fighters succeeded in driving the extremists from the border town of Kobani.
The airdrop is in line with a revamped U.S. approach in Syria. The Obama administration announced last week that instead of trying to build a new Syrian rebel force, it will provide equipment, including ammunition, to existing Syria rebel groups who share the U.S. goal of defeating ISIS.
The rebels in Syria have come under intense pressure from the recently launched Russian airstrikes, which many in the West say are aimed more at those opposing Assad than ISIS.