US begins sending weapons to Syrian Kurds, YPG responds

QAMISHLO, Syrian Kurdistan (Kurdistan24) – The United States Pentagon on Tuesday said it started sending arms to the Kurdish forces (YPG) fighting the Islamic State (IS) in Syria.

Major Adrian Rankine-Galloway, a Pentagon spokesman, said the Kurdish fighters received small arms and vehicles from the US military earlier on Tuesday.

“We have begun to transfer small arms and vehicles to the Kurdish elements,” Major Galloway said.

Another US official, speaking to Reuters on condition of anonymity, said the distribution of the arms had started in the past 24 hours, based on authority given by President Donald Trump earlier this month.  

On May 8, the Pentagon announced President Trump had authorized the “limited” arming of Syrian Kurds to help in the fight against IS.

This move was widely welcomed by the Democratic Union Party (PYD), the main ruling party of Syria’s northern and northeastern predominantly Kurdish areas known as Rojava.

Speaking separately to Kurdistan24 in an earlier interview, the PYD co-President Saleh Muslim confirmed the US support for the YPG.

“The decision came after about three years of the alliance between Washington and the YPG, and after mutual trust,” Muslim said.

Additionally, Rojava’s female fighters expressed gratitude with the US’ decision to arm their forces.

Speaking to Kurdistan24 last week, Nisreen Abdalla, spokesperson for the Women’s Protection Units (YPJ), said they have contacts with the US administration regarding receiving the arms.

“We consider this decision a historical step, and we highly appreciate it,” she said.

Editing by Karzan Sulaivany

(Additional reporting by Ekrem Saleh, Kurdistan24 correspondent in Qamishlo)