MESOP SPOT :QUITE NEW ! – CIA Have Frozen Military Aid

22 Febr 2017 – Rebels in northwest Syria say CIA-coordinated military aid has been frozen since last month.  Rebel officials said the cut-off came amid clashes with the jihadists of Jabhat Fatah al-Sham. They said that no official explanation was given, although they believed the main objective was to prevent arms and cash being taken by JFS, known as Jabhat al-Nusra until it ended formal allegiance to Al Qa’eda in July 2016.Two US officials said the suspension was because of the JFS attacks. It includes salaries, training, ammunition, and guided anti-tank missiles, some of which was provided by Turkey, Qatar, and Saudi Arabia.

“The reality is that you have changes in the area, and these changes inevitably have repercussions,” said an official with a Free Syria Army faction. He said no military assistance could “enter at present until matters are organised. There is a new arrangement but nothing has crystallised yet.”

The clashes eased after JFS became part of the bloc Hay’at Tahrir al-Sham, which was joined by some rebel factions. Ahrar al-Sham, the leading faction, took in other groups and provided them protection from any attacks. The US reduced assistance to rebels in northern Syria from late 2015, switching most of its backing to the Kurdish-led Syrian Democratic Forces, which have pushed back the Islamic State in northeastern Syria and moved into former opposition-held areas.Washington has also sharply limited aid to rebels in southern Syria since summer 2015. Last week rebels defied the US-led Military Operations Command, based in Jordan’s capital Amman, by launching attacks against the Assad regime in Daraa city, on the Jordanian border. The rebels said they had to act because of an imminent pro-Assad offensive to seize more territory along the border. www.mesop.de