US sends 120 trucks of weaponry to PKK’s Syrian offshoot PYD in a week


The U.S. is continuing to send arms shipments to the PKK's Syrian offshoot Democratic Union Party (PYD) in northern Syria, with 120 trucks carrying American weapons arriving in the past week alone.

At least 468 trucks of U.S. military supplies have entered the area since May 15, Anadolu Agency reported.

The U.S. justifies the arms going to the PYD, which Turkey considers as the Syrian arm of the PKK terrorist organization, by saying that they are necessary in the fight against Daesh.

The trucks pass through Iraq across the Syrian border and end up in PYD-controlled Hasakah province, carrying military supplies and ammunition.

Analysis of PYD-linked social media accounts has shown them in possession of multiple rocket launcher pads, 80- and 120-millimeter mortars, MK19 grenade launchers, M4 Carbine and M16 infantry rifles, Humvee armored vehicles, Cougar armored personnel carriers and FGM-148 anti-tank missiles, all made in the U.S.

A list of weapons from the Pentagon includes 12,000 Kalashnikov assault rifles, 6,000 machine guns, 3,500 heavy machine guns, 3,000 American-made RPG-7 rocket launchers and 1,000 American-made AT-4 or Russian-made SPG-9 anti-tank missiles. The list also included 235 mortars, 100 sniper rifles, 450 PV-7 night binoculars and 150 infrared goggles.

Turkey has repeatedly objected to U.S. arms going to the PYD, due to its links to the terrorist PKK.

Ankara has also put forward multiple alternatives for a takeover of Daesh's so-called capital Raqqa, envisaging Free Syrian Army (FSA) troops on the ground while excluding the PKK's Syrian wing.

However, U.S. officials have insisted that there is no real alternative, and the U.S. has continued to back the PKK-linked organization with training and air support.