US-Trained Syrian Rebels Refusing to Fight
http://readersupportednews.org/news-section2/318-66/31731-us-trained-syrian-rebels-refusing-to-fight
U.S.-trained Syrian rebels are refusing to fight, accusing Washington of misrepresenting the mission of their unit, according to sources from within the group.
The Division 30 rebel group, made up of only of 60 Syrian fighters, say that they signed on to fight against the Islamic State group and not against Nusra rebel group, which allegedly has ties to al-Qaida.
The statement was made by an unnamed source who spoke to the British newspaper The Guardian. The source from Division 30 also said that his group opposed the U.S.-led airstrikes against the Nusra Front.
The recent opposition from the group further complicates the U.S. plan to counter the Islamic State group rapid expansion in Syria and Iraq.
Washington announced earlier this year that it had a program in Turkey and Jordan set up for training 5,400 Syrian fighter. However, so far the training program has only produced the 60 fighters.
Meanwhile, the training program and its first graduated group appear to face more challenges. Last week, the first batch of the trained rebels was attacked by the Nusra front. The attack resulted in the kidnapping of five the U.S. trained rebels and the death of one. Also, many of the other 54 left are not accounted for according to report by the Wall Street Journal.
Defense officials at the Pentagon attributed the slow progress in the training program and the early failures to the strict vetting process that ensures that the chosen fighters would not join extremist groups once in Syria.