The United States believes that at least five Syrian rebels who were trained by the U.S. military have been captured by suspected members of Syria’s al Qaeda affiliate, Nusra Front, a U.S. official said on Tuesday, speaking on condition of anonymity.
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Last month, Turkey agreed to allow the U.S. military to launch airstrikes against Daesh positions from the airbase, which is located close to Turkey’s border with war-torn Syria.
The meagre US foothold in northern Syria shrank further on Tuesday as Division 30 rejected a US promise to defend the brigade against Jabhat al-Nusra with airstrikes.
Within Syria, meanwhile, rebel groups allied with Al-Qaeda fought to advance on a key military headquarters near Assad’s coastal heartland and IS fighters seized control of a strategic town in the centre of the country, a Britain-based monitor said.
But U.S. officials in recent weeks have walked a careful line, arguing that they have an obligation to defend the Syrian rebels that have been trained by the U.S.to help battle the Islamic State. But the U.S.’ plan to back the moderate rebels if they come under fire by regime forces could increase that risk and fuel opposition from other countries.
CBS News’ Martin reports that in the late July attack, one Pentagon-trained fighter was killed and eight Division 30 fighters were wounded.
Yet U.S. military leaders want to avoid a direct clash with Assad if possible in part because Assad’s air force retains a formidable air defense system that could threaten the U.S. aircraft flying daily intelligence and strike sorties over Syria. The Pentagon minimized the possibility of a confrontation with Assad’s forces, though the Syrian air force is active in northern Aleppo province, where the U.S.-backed forces are operating.
Pentagon spokesman Capt. Jeff Davis declined to go into specifics about what platform the strike was launched from or whether it was successful, aside from saying it was a strike against the militant group, commonly known as ISIL or ISIS.
Diplomatic efforts to broaden the fight against Islamic State are being hampered by conflicting strategies toward Syria, where a civil war has raged for more than four years.
Local sources said that the Turkmen-dominated group of “train-and-equip” fighters were held by al-Nusra on Wednesday night.
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One of the most powerful insurgent groups in, Nusra Front has a record of crushing rebel groups that have received support from Western states. It’s not clear how the five were captured except that it was some time after the attack on the compound.
