US Accidentally Drops Weapons to Islamic State Fighters

A day after the United States air-dropped arms to help Kurdish resistance against the Islamic State assault on Kobane (Ayn Al-Arab) and other positions, ISIL militants have posted footage of weapons allegedly dropped in their territory.

In video and photographs posted online by the IS-linked Aamaq News agency, ISIL militants can be seen rummaging through the ammunation crates, which include grenades and other unidentified weaponry.

“Praise be to God, booty for the jihadists,” exclaimed one militant as he held a US grenade from one of the crates.

According to a US military source, the package was mistakenly dropped on ISIL held territory, but was immediately targeted by airforces. However, video footage shows that the weapons drop appears to have survived any alleged attempts to destroy it.

On Tuesday, the United States military had said it air-dropped weapons, ammunition and medical supplies to Kurdish forces defending the Syrian city of Kobane. Following the delivery, US officials said that “the vast majority” of supplies had reached the intended resistance fighters, but did not elaborate.

According to the US military, C-130 cargo planed made air-dropped the supplies which were provided for by Kurdish authorities in Iraq.

The air-drop came despite Turkish opposition to any transfer of arms by the US to Kurdish rebels. Turkey believes that the Kurdish resistance group in Syria is part of the PKK, which has waged decades of insurgency in Turkey and has been designated as a terrorist organization by the country, the US and NATO.

Despite airstrikes that have reportedly killed hundreds of ISIL militants, the Islamic State continues to pose a significant threat to the civilian populations of Iraq and Syria, with analysts stating that more needs to be done to battle the extremist group which has recruited thousands of fighters from across the world.