The CIA finally has made good on a months-old promise from the Obama administration and started shipping weapons to rebel fighters in Syria.
The weapons — light arms and munitions only — have been slowly making their way into the civil-war-torn nation over the past couple weeks, The Washington Post reported. In addition to the CIA shipments, the State Department has sent extra supplies, predominantly military gear and vehicles.
The United States has been sending nonlethal assistance to Free Syrian Army forces for weeks, from trucks to communications equipment to medical kits.
The shipments of weapons aid has been held up for weeks as intelligence and military officials have tried to work out strategic details to keep the arms out of the hands of jihadists and President Bashar Assad’s regime.
The shipments start at a time when Congress and the White House are trying to reach consensus on how to respond to charges that Mr. Assad unleashed chemical weapons against his own people, killing more than 1,000.
The general of the Free Syrian Army said in a Thursday interview on NPR, however, that his forces have not received any weapons shipments from the United States.
SEE ALSO: U.S. can’t prove Bashar Assad approved chemical attacks in Syria
• Cheryl K. Chumley can be reached at cchumley@washingtontimes.com.
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