Weapons from U.S. airdrop land in ISIS hands in Kobani
BEIRUT • Jihadist fighters from the Islamic State of Iraq and Al-Sham seized at least one cache of weapons airdropped by U.S.-led coalition forces that were meant to supply Kurdish militias battling the extremist group in a border town, activists said Tuesday.
The cache of weapons included hand grenades, ammunition and rocket-propelled grenade launchers, according to a video uploaded by a media group loyal to ISIS.
The video appeared authentic and corresponded to The Associated Press’s reporting of the event. The Britain-based Syrian Observatory for Human Rights, which bases its information on a network of activists on the ground, said the militants had seized at least one cache.
The caches were airdropped early Monday to Kurds in the embattled Syrian town of Kobani that lies near the Turkish border. The jihadist group has been trying to seize the town for over a month now, causing the flight of about 200,000 people from the area into Turkey. While Kurds are battling on the ground, a U.S.-led coalition is also targeting the militants from the air.
They will soon be joined by British armed drones and a spy plane in a significant escalation of the war on ISIS and an apparent reversal of the British government’s refusal to work with the regime of President Bashar Al-Assad.
RAF Reaper remotely piloted aircraft are being moved from Afghanistan to the Middle East to fly the armed reconnaissance missions inside Syria, alongside a Rivet Joint spy plane.
The government said the Reapers would not be authorized to carry out air strikes without parliamentary ap- proval. However, Prime Minister David Cameron has indicated an exception would be made if urgent action was needed to prevent a humanitarian crisis, or to protect a British national interest, such as a hostage.
On Tuesday, ISIS loyalists on social media posted sarcastic thank you notes to the U.S., including one image that said “Team USA.”
But the lost weapons drop was more an embarrassment than a great strategic loss. The jihadists already possess millions of dollars worth of U.S. weaponry they captured from fleeing Iraqi soldiers when the group seized swaths of Iraq in a sudden sweep in June.
On Tuesday, the U.S. Central Command said U.S. military forces conducted four airstrikes near Kobani that destroyed ISIS fighting positions, a building and a large unit.
Also Tuesday, Syrian government airstrikes hit a rebelheld town along the country’s southern border with Jordan, killing at least eight people.