UNITED NATIONS, October 22. /TASS/. Russia’s UN Ambassador Vitaly Churkin said on Tuesday he was not surprised by reports saying American weapons intended for Syrian Kurdish forces had got into the hands of Islamic State militants.
This mistake shows that coordination of activities with Damascus should be more efficient, he told TASS. “This is not surprising, because it is necessary to coordinate [activities] with the Syrian government more precisely, and in general act on the basis of UN Security Council decisions,” Chrukin said.
On Sunday, U.S. military air-dropped arms for Syrian Kurdish forces defending the embattled Syrian town of Kobani on the Turkish border against Islamic State attackers.
Later, American television channels showed a video in which a man identifying himself as an Islamic State militant was examining boxes with parachutes fixed to them. Boxes were full of different ammo, including grenades and mines.
The Pentagon said it was checking the information. At the same time, a source from President Barack Obama’s administration admitted to CBS television that a small part of the bundles dropped by U.S. forces could have got into the terrorists’ hands, as arms were air-dropped during the night.
Syria’s Ambassador to the United Nations Bashar Jaafari did not confirm to TASS reports about weapons getting into the wrong hands, but noted that such things had repeatedly happened in the past.
Besides, he said the United States had not warned Damascus beforehand about plans to deliver weapons to Kobani.