WASHINGTON DC—The Pentagon vowed Wednesday to continue working with Syrian opposition groups, including the Kurdish Peoples Protection Units (YPG), despite uncertainties about the Kurds’ participation in the battle for Raaqa.
“We continue to work with all partners who are interested in defeating ISIL,” said Operation Inherent Resolve Spokesman Colonel Steve Warren.
Warren who spoke to reporters in the Pentagon via teleconference from Baghdad said that the US has not supplied the YPG with weapons and ammunitions but that coalition partners have.
“We have not -- we, the United States of America, has not given ammunition to the Kurds. There was an airdrop, but that was donated ammunition from other coalition partners,” he added.
Earlier this month US C-17 transport planes dropped 50 tons of ammunition into Syria’s Hassakeh province with much dispute ever since as to which groups recovered the packages.
The US Defense Department said the airdrops were intended for Arab rebel groups who had been vetted by the US military.
The US military made its made ammunition airdrop to Syrian Kurds last October when the YPG was fighting a fierce battle with Islamic State (ISIS) in Kobani.
The YPG is hailed as the most effective fighting force against ISIS in Syria though the Pentagon remains unsure if the group will join the battle for Raqqa.
“As far as pressure on Raqqa, you know, this -- is why our partnership with the Syrian Arabs is so vital, because the Syrian Arabs really have the ability to pressure Raqqa heavily. Whether or not Kurdish fighters are willing to move that far south, frankly, is an unknown at this point. We have not seen Kurds operate in Arab territory very much,” he explained.
Meanwhile, unconfirmed reports this week suggested that Russia too has promised Syrian Kurds arms supply while Kommersant newspaper wrote Tuesday that the Democratic Union Party (PYD) is in talks with the Russian foreign ministry on opening a diplomatic mission in Moscow.
