Syria: Washington Starts Delivering Weapons To Kurdish Fighters

The US has begun delivering weapons to Kurdish fighters who are fighting against the Islamic State (EI) organization in northern Syria, the Pentagon announced on Tuesday, fulfilling a promise that angered Turkey.

"We started to deliver small arms and vehicles to the Kurdish elements" of the Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF), an Arab-Kurdish alliance fighting the IJ jihadists, said Pentagon spokesman Adrian Rankine- Galloway.
The delivery of these weapons takes place before an offensive in preparation on the city of Raqa, the de facto capital of the EI in Syria. According to the Pentagon, the FDS are the only ground forces in capacity to take over this city.
These weapons include AK-47s and smaller caliber rifles, Rankine-Galloway said.
President Donald Trump decided in early May to arm the Kurdish militia YPG (Units for the Protection of the Kurdish People).
But Turkey claims that the YPGs are linked to the Kurdistan Workers' Party (PKK), a separatist organization in Turkey that is classified as "terrorist" by Ankara and its Western allies.
The United States has tried to appease Turkey, allied with NATO and home to an American air base, saying that the weapons would be delivered judiciously and controlled so that they do not reach Turkey.
Ankara's concerns about the YPGs are such that Turkey launched its own military operation in Syria in August 2016 to both fights the EI group and prevent the Kurdish militias from controlling a continuous strip of territory along Of the Turkish-Syrian border.
The Kurds have failed to connect two areas they control in the northeast and the Turkish operation has largely trampled.
The FDS tighten their grip around Raqa but are still far from being able to trigger the assault on the city. Their forces are 3 km from the north side, between 7 and 25 km on the west side, while the southeast side remains in the hands of the EI.
A battalion of Arab fighters nevertheless approached Tuesday on the eastern outskirts of Raqa, said an NGO and a spokesman for the force.
(AFP) - The United States and the United States