The U.S. Department of Defense said “absolutely ridiculous” statements made by a Syrian general on Monday, October 9 amounted to a Russian and regime propaganda campaign against the United States.
Syrian Arab Army General Ali al-Ali said on Monday that truckloads of U.S. weapons destined for partner or vetted Syrian opposition forces have ended up with Islamic State and Jabhat Fateh al-Sham, al-Qaeda’s affiliate in Syria.
“We know that the United States delivered 1,421 truckloads of military hardware between June 5 and September 15 this year to terrorists in Syria. The weapons were purportedly intended to be used in the fight against terrorists, but eventually fell into the hands of Daesh and Nusra Front militants,” Al-Ali said.
“These statements are absolutely ridiculous and untrue,” Pentagon Spokesman Eric Pahon told The Defense Post by email on Monday. “They represent a Russian and regime propaganda campaign to discredit the U.S. and our successful coalition fight against ISIS in Syria.”
“U.S. forces in Syrian territory operate under authorities to combat terrorism, and they will continue to advise and assist partner forces as long as ISIS remains either a conventional or insurgent threat,” he added.
The accusations come just days after a Coalition spokesperson described as “false allegations” claims made by a Russian defense ministry spokesperson who said that that ISIS uses the At Tanf deconfliction zone to carry out terrorist attacks and that refugees in the Rukban refugee camp were human shields for the U.S. base.