U.S. Plans To Capture The Islamic State’s Capital Aready Go Awry

Last edited Thu Oct 22, 2015, 08:42 PM - Edit history (1)

By Liz Sly October 22 at 4:15 PM

AIN ISSA, Syria — In this abandoned desert town on the front line of the war against the Islamic State in Raqqa, local fighters are fired up by announcements in Washington that the militants’ self-proclaimed capital is to be the next focus of the war.

But there is still no sign of the help the United States has delivered ostensibly for the use of the Arab groups fighting the Islamic State, nor is there any indication it will imminently arrive, calling into question whether there can be an offensive to capture Raqqa anytime soon.

Fifty tons of ammunition air-dropped by the U.S. military last week and intended for Arab groups has instead been claimed by the overall command of the Kurdish People's Protection Units, or YPG, which is fighting alongside Arab units but overwhelmingly dominates their uneasy alliance, according to Kurdish and Arab commanders.

The question of whether Arab or Kurdish fighters get the weapons is crucial, in part because of Turkish sensitivities surrounding America’s burgeoning relationship with the Syrian Kurds. Turkey accuses the YPG of affiliation with the Kurdistan Workers Party, or PKK, designated a terrorist organization by both Ankara and Washington, and has already lodged a complaint with the U.S. Embassy in Ankara that the YPG received the weapons intended for Arabs.

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https://www.washingtonpost.com/world/middle_east/us-plans-to-capture-the-islamic-states-capital-already-go-awry/2015/10/22/c07a7349-a53b-4beb-9f80-f0db02c647fd_story.html