WASHINGTON DC—The Department of Defense denied on Wednesday reports that US-trained Syrian rebels had defected to the radical al-Nusra Front after crossing the Turkish border into Syria.
“I just wanted to tell you that we believe those reports to be false,” Pentagon spokesman Navy Capt. Jeff Davis told reporters. “We have no information at all to suggest that's true,”
“All coalition-issued weapons and equipment are under the positive control of New Syrian Force fighters,” he said.
Pictures on social media networks and news reports on Tuesday said that some members of the New Syrian Army (NSA) who had been trained and equipped by US forces in Turkey had defected to the Nusra Front shortly after returning home.
In a separate statement US Central command (CENTCOM) also denied the reports, saying that it will continue training Syrian rebels to battle the Islamic State (ISIS).
CENTCOM said that it “has no indication that any New Syrian Forces fighters have defected to Al Nusra Front, contrary to several press and social media reports,” vowing to continue supporting the new 70 graduates “as part of the campaign to degrade and ultimately defeat ISIL.”
The statement added that the newly trained Syrian rebels were successfully deployed inside Syria, but that they were not under the command of the coalition forces.
For its part, the Pentagon dismissed the defection reports as false and al-Nusra propaganda to discredit the Syrian rebels.
The US program of training and equipping Syrian rebels has come under heavy criticism by both Democrats and Republicans for its ineffectiveness on the ground.
Gen. Lloyd Austin told the Senate Armed Services Committee last week that only four or five US-trained Syrian fighters are on the ground fighting ISIS.
Gen. Austin’s admission took the lawmakers by surprise as they approved $500 million last December to strengthen moderate Syrian forces.
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