Isis video allegedly shows fighters with 'US weapons' air dropped in Kobani
Video appears to show stray bundle intended for Kurdish fighters
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Your support makes all the difference.Isis has released a video appearing to show fighters brandishing boxes of American weapons intended for Kurdish fighters in Kobani.
On Monday, the US said its military carried out air drops of weapons, ammunition and medical supplies to Kurdish fighters near the besieged border town.
Pentagon officials confirmed the military had delivered 28 bundles – one of which had fallen into the hands of Isis militants. The Pentagon later said it had targeted the missing bundle in an air strike and destroyed it.
On Tuesday, Isis (also known as Islamic State) released a video through the a3maq account, which is used to distribute their propaganda, purporting to show fighters rifling through boxes of hand grenades and other supplies
The video, which could not be independently authenticated, is entitled: ‘Weapons and munitions dropped by American planes and landed in the areas controlled by the Isis in Kobani’. In it, a militant can be heard saying the boxes are “booty” which had fallen from the US by accident.
Charlie Winter, Programs Officer at counter-extremism think tank the Quilliam Foundation, said the grenades appear to be German made, Nato standard, judging by white markings on the casing, although this cannot be verified.
The Syrian Observatory for Human Rights, which bases its information on a network of activists on the ground, said two bundles of supplies had fallen in areas controlled by Isis.
On Tuesday evening, a spokesperson for US Central Command told The Independent: “We have successfully delivered 27 bundles and we destroyed a 28th intended for Kobani."
The spokesman said the video had likely been “conveniently edited” by Isis and said he remains “sceptical” of anything Isis would want to promote.
Rear Admiral John Kirby, the Pentagon press secretary, said experts were analysing the video and trying to determine if the bundle was the one the department reported earlier had fallen into the hands of Isis or if it was a second bundle in the group's possession.
"We're taking a look at this," he told Reuters.
He conceded the small arms ammunition and weaponry depicted in the video were the kinds of supplies that were dropped, "so it's not out of the realm of possibility" that it was one of the bundles.
However, Mr Kirby said the Pentagon was only aware of one of the 28 bundles of military supplies falling into the group's hands, and defended the use of airdrops for resupply.
"We are very confident that the vast majority of the bundles did end up in the right hands," Mr Kirby said. "In fact, we're only aware of one bundle that did not."
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