U.S. Suspends Some Aid to Syrian Rebels After Islamists Gain Ground
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Free Syrian Army Rebels Cede Warehouses to New Islamic Front Coalition.
The U.S. and Britain suspended nonlethal aid to moderate rebels in northern Syria after Islamist fighters took over their warehouses, the latest sign that the Western-backed opposition is weakening while religious opponents of the regime gain strength.
The new Islamic Front alliance took over the aid warehouses in the town of Atmeh near the Bab al-Hawa border crossing with Turkey on Saturday, U.S. officials, Syrians who coordinate aid deliveries and activists in the area said. The warehouses and offices belonged to the Supreme Military Council, or SMC, the Western-backed rebel umbrella group that coordinates U.S. aid distribution.
“We have seen reports that Islamic Front forces have seized the Atmeh headquarters and warehouses belonging to the Supreme Military Council and we are obviously concerned,” a senior U.S. official said Wednesday.
American humanitarian assistance for Syrians will continue, the official said.
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