WP:US Weapons Reach Syria Armed Groups

Local Editor

The Washington Post US daily revealed Thursday that the CIA has begun delivering weapons to Syria armed groups.

According to US officials and Syrian figures, "the shipments began streaming into Syria over the past two weeks, along with separate deliveries by the State Department of vehicles and other gear - a flow of material that marks a major escalation of the US role in Syria's civil war."
"The arms are being delivered as the United States is also shipping new types of nonlethal gear to rebels," they said, and pointed out that "that aid includes vehicles, sophisticated communications equipment and advanced combat medical kits."

According to US officials, the US hopes that, "taken together, the weapons and gear will boost the profile and prowess of rebel fighters in a conflict that started about 21 / 2 years ago."
US officials, speaking about the provision of nonlethal aid, said they are determined to increase the cohesion and structure of the armed groups fighting units.
"This doesn't only lead to a more effective force, but it increases its ability to hold coalition groups together," said Mark S. Ward, the State Department's senior adviser on assistance to Syria, who coordinates aid to militants from southern Turkey. "They see their leadership is having some impact."

The CIA shipments are to flow through a network of clandestine bases in Turkey and Jordan that were expanded over the past year as the agency sought to help Middle Eastern allies, including Saudi Arabia and Qatar, direct weapons to the so-called "moderate" Syrian armed group forces.
The CIA declined to comment.

According to the daily, US officials in southern Turkey are using aid to promote emerging leaders in towns and villages in armed groups-held areas.
"We feel we're able to get these local councils off to a good start," said Ward, a veteran US Agency for International Development official who has worked in Libya, Afghanistan and Pakistan.

Ward's team - working primarily out of hotel lobbies - has spent the past few months studying the demographics and dynamics of communities where extremists are making inroads.

The initiatives are part of a $250 million effort to support factions of the Syrian opposition. Of that, the United States has earmarked $26.6 million in aid for the armed groups Supreme Military Council.

Source: Washington Post, Edited by website team