The Syrian rebels who received an ammunition drop from the U.S. last month have made gains against the Islamic State, according to a U.S. military spokesman.
The success of the Syrian Arab Coalition in Al Hawl represents an early win for Obama’s shifted strategy in Syria that has largely been plagued with problems, including a program to train and equip Syrian rebels that produced single digits of fighters in its first class.
The group gained more than 200 kilometers of ground against the Islamic State due to the new U.S. mission to equip Syrian rebels and means the U.S. will conduct more weapons drops, Col. Steve Warren, a spokesman for Operational Inherent Resolve, told reporters on Wednesday.
“I think you will see continued resupply of these forces,” Warren told reporters at the Pentagon via video teleconference from Baghdad. “You will see us continue to reinforce the success we’ve already seen.”
The airdrop of 50 tons of ammunition last month was one of the first steps in the administration’s revised plan to train and equip Syrian rebels. Under the program, the U.S. leaders of Syrian rebel groups already fighting the Islamic State will train them to use basic U.S. weapons and ammunition. The U.S. then sends them ammunition and supplies.
More than 1,000 members of the Syrian Arab Coalition, a collection of the rebel groups fighting the Islamic State, participated in the fight at Al Hawl. They defeated several hundred enemy fighters using a plan they drew up, and gained more than 200 kilometers of territory.
“This week ISIL lost ground. We’re going to continue to operate this way as long as it works well,” he said, using the U.S. government’s preferred term for the Islamic State.
Warren said more than 80 enemy fighters were killed in the operation.
Pushing back against recent media claims that the Syrian Arab Coalition was invented by the U.S., Warren said the weapons drops are going to the right people and that it doesn’t matter where the group came from as long as they are successful.
“I don’t care who invited it,” he said. “It’s a fighting force on the ground in Syria.”
He also said the U.S. was not able to take any prisoners or collect any intelligence from the victory since there are currently no U.S. military personnel on the ground in Syria.
Asked if the 50 U.S. special operators who will deploy there would allow the U.S. to collect more intelligence, he said their primary mission would be advising and assisting Syrian forces but that “everyone in uniform is a collector.”
