American Weapons, provided to Syrian rebels, fall into Hands of al-Qaeda

Nov 4, 2014: 3:56 pm

al-waeda_us_weapons — "We have just been given a preview of something that could happen a lot," says Cole. The "migration of US heavy weaponry and even 'moderate' fighters â€“ to ISIL and al-Qaeda." (Screengrab)

Juan Cole

The al-Qaeda affiliate Jabhat al-Nusra (the Succor Front) not only took the territory of the moderate Muslim Syria Revolutionaries Front this weekend, it also polished off the Movement of the Resolute .

The Movement of the Resolute (Harakat al-Hazm) represented itself as secular, but had its roots in a fundamentalist group backed by the Syrian Muslim Brotherhood, the “Time of Muhammad” Front.

Last spring the Movement of the Resolute revealed that it had American TOW anti-tank batteries and access to other weapons. The TOWs were apparently supplied to them via Qatar or Turkey with American acquiescence.

Syrian al-Qaeda has swept into rural Idlib Province, taking over the checkpoints of the Free Syrian Army miderates.