Pentagon confirms it delivered armored vehicles to YPG
The U.S. Department of Defense confirmed on Tuesday that it has delivered "up-armored vehicles" to the Syrian Arab Coalition, a component of the Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF), a U.S.-backed militia alliance, but noted that the delivery had been planned prior to the election, during the Obama administration.
"Yes, this transfer has been in the works for months- prior to the election. These kinds of transfers sometimes take a while to arrange and complete. I wouldn't try to read too much in to the timing," Pentagon spokesperson Eric Pahon said.
Pentagon spokesman Major Adrian Rankine-Galloway said in an-email that the delivery was provided as part of already existing authorities to enable the coalition. "Specifically, these vehicles will help them contend with ISIL's IED threat as they move toward Raqqa", he said, by using a different acronym for Daesh.
Earlier today a Reuters report quoted a spokesman for the SDF, saying the militias have seen an increase in U.S. support for their campaign against Daesh with U.S. President Donald Trump in office.
SDF Spokesman Talal Silo said the coalition supplied the SDF with armored vehicles for the first time four or five days ago, despite the fact that the number was small.
SDF is led by Syrian Kurdish group YPG, a branch of terrorist group PKK, which has been waging a bitter war against Turkey since the 1980s. The U.S. has previously supplied arms and ammunition to SDF components, and several YPG sources told local media that they were the ones who really received this military aid. Officially U.S. authorities insist that they have never provided this kind of support to YPG, an assertion proved wrong for many times.
Most recently, then-U.S. Defense Secretary Ash Carter told a Senate panel in September that he provided 'Syrian Kurds,' or YPG with some equipment and was also providing arms. "They [Kurds] are part of the Syrian Democratic Forces," he said.
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