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Jihadists Obtain Most Syrian Arms

MISDIRECTED

Intended for secular opposition forces.

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AFP / Getty Images

Weapons sent by Saudi Arabia and Qatar to aid Syrian rebels are ending up in the hands of Islamic jihadists, according to officials in the Middle East and the United States. The U.S. has supported a policy of indirect aid to the forces seeking to overthrow dictator Bashar al-Assad. New information, however, indicates to some officials that American-backed aid may be inadvertently equipping the jihadists and not secular opposition forces. “The opposition groups that are receiving the most of the lethal aid are exactly the ones we don’t want to have it,” one American official said.

Read it at The New York Times