Syrian Kurds are now armed with sensitive US weaponry, and the Pentagon denies supplying it
By: Shawn Snow, May 7, 2017
WASHINGTON — Syrian Kurdish fighters are newly armed with sophisticated American combat equipment as they close in on the Islamic State's stronghold in Raqqa, Military Times has learned, weaponry the Pentagon says it is barred from providing to those forces.
The gear includes U.S.-manufactured night-vision goggles, rifles and advanced optics among other items, the same as that used by American special operations forces and the foreign commando units they train. In northern Syria, where about 900 American advisers are supporting separate coalitions comprising thousands of Kurdish and Arab conscripts, it’s been fielded by the People’s Protection Unit. The militia, widely known as the YPG, has emerged as the U.S. military’s most trustworthy and capable proxy on the ground.
http://www.militarytimes.com/articles/syrian-kurds-ypg-us-military-weapons
