Obama's decision to supply arms to allies in Syria may be related to future al-Raqqah operation or Syrian army's success in Aleppo - Kosachyov
MOSCOW. Dec 9 (Interfax) - It is quite possible that U.S. weapons will end up in the hands of 'non-moderate' fighters in Syria, Federation Council International Affairs Committee Chairman Konstantin Kosachyov said.
"Considering that the Americans have failed to separate their 'moderate' allies from 'non-moderate' fighters in the past few months, this very fact demonstrates it is not just possible but even likely that U.S. weapons may fall into the hands of those fighting against Damascus rather than against terrorists," Kosachyov told Interfax on Friday.
U.S. President Barack Obama's decision to officially suspend the ban on the delivery of armaments and hardware to forces supporting U.S. special anti-terrorism operations in Syria has been formally linked to the forthcoming al-Raqqah campaign, which has been implied by Washington sources, he said. The Pentagon said earlier that the United States had been supplying weapons only to the Syrian opposition groups fighting ISIL (a terrorist organization banned in Russia) and was not delivering weapons to forces fighting Syrian government troops, he said.
"It is clear though that it will be practically impossible to detect where exactly and what types of weapons will be used," Kosachyov said.
The German magazine Focus reported a short time ago, referencing a terrorist commander, that Jabhat al-Nusra (banned in Russia) militants in Syria were being supplied with TOW anti-tank missiles directly from the United States, he said.
"It is not accidental that Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov emphasized in Hamburg yesterday the United States was doing its best to spare Jabhat al-Nusra and had deliberately tried to formulate the agreements in a way which would help it escape retribution and would take the heat off it," he said.
"It's a big question why Obama has decided to urgently supply weapons to the war zone, either because of the ongoing operation of the United States and its allies in Mosul and the upcoming operation in al-Raqqah or because of the success of the Syrian army achieved in Aleppo with Russia's support," Kosachyov said.