The U.S. Department of Defense confirmed on Tuesday that it has delivered "up-armored vehicles" to the Syrian Arab Coalition, a component of the Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF), a U.S.-backed militia alliance, but noted that the delivery had been planned prior to the election, during the Obama administration.
"Yes, this transfer has been in the works for months- prior to the election. These kinds of transfers sometimes take a while to arrange and complete. I wouldn't try to read too much in to the timing," Pentagon spokesperson Eric Pahon said.
Pentagon spokesman Major Adrian Rankine-Galloway said in an-email that the delivery was provided as part of already existing authorities to enable the coalition. "Specifically, these vehicles will help them contend with ISIL's IED threat as they move toward Raqqa", he said, by using a different acronym for Daesh.
Earlier today a Reuters report quoted a spokesman for the SDF, saying the militias have seen an increase in U.S. support for their campaign against Daesh with U.S. President Donald Trump in office.
SDF Spokesman Talal Silo said the coalition supplied the SDF with armored vehicles for the first time four or five days ago, despite the fact that the number was small.
SDF is led by Syrian Kurdish group YPG, a branch of terrorist group PKK, which has been waging a bitter war against Turkey since the 1980s. The U.S. has previously supplied arms and ammunition to SDF components, and several YPG sources told local media that they were the ones who really received this military aid. Officially U.S. authorities insist that they have never provided this kind of support to YPG, an assertion proved wrong for many times.
Most recently, then-U.S. Defense Secretary Ash Carter told a Senate panel in September that he provided 'Syrian Kurds,' or YPG with some equipment and was also providing arms. "They [Kurds] are part of the Syrian Democratic Forces," he said.
Both Pentagon and the SDF have refused to provide the exact number of armored vehicles that have been delivered. Photos that surfaced on the internet showed that SDF had received IAG Guardian model armored vehicles.
Major Rankine-Galloway also said that there has been no change to current policy and no transfer of weapons had been made to Kurdish elements of the SDF. "The Department of Defense only provides training and material support to the Syrian Arab Coalition," he said.
The manager of the International Armored Group (IAG) Turkey, the producer of the vehicles seen in the photos that circulated online, said that the company is currently inquiring about the accuracy of the photos and news articles based on the photos. Noting that the firm has contracts with Turkish police, NATO and various embassies in Turkey, he said that the firm does not produce military-purpose armored vehicles in Turkey, and does not sell any of its products worldwide without receiving a final user document.
Ankara considers the YPG a terrorist group and the offshoot of the outlawed PKK, which itself is listed as a terror organization by the U.S., Turkey and the EU. Ankara has voiced concerns over U.S. support for the SDF and YPG, under the auspices of YPG's goals to make demographic changes to the regions seized from Daesh. Due to the shared ideology, unified leadership and organic organizational links between the YPG and the PKK, Ankara has adamantly maintained that the two terrorist groups seek to change the demographic structure of regions seized from Daesh. Ankara has repeatedly stated that any military support provided to the PYD-YPG is eventually transferred to the PKK, ultimately posing a threat to Turkey.
In October 2015, the U.S. conducted air drops of nearly 50 tons of ammunition to the province of Hasakah in Syria. While Arab opposition fighters claim they did not receive the supplies, PYD terrorist group leader Salih Muslim thanked the U.S. for providing the support.