Pentagon Not Providing US MANPADS to 'Any Group in Syria' After Obama's Waiver

The Department of Defense (DoD) has not supplied Syrian rebels with US man-portable air-defense systems, or MANPADS, the department’s spokesperson Adrian Rankine-Galloway told Sputnik on Friday.

WASHINGTON (Sputnik) — In December, then-US President Barack Obama waived legal restrictions outlined in the US Arms Export Control Act to allow arms supply for the moderate Syrian opposition.

"DoD only provides weapons to the Syrian Arab Coalition, the Arab element of the Syrian Democratic Forces," Rankine-Galloway said.

"DoD has not provided US MANPADS to any group in Syria."

Rankine-Galloway explained that the waiver was introduced because Syria had been listed by the US as a state sponsor of terrorism since December 1979.

"Syria is a state sponsor of terrorism and thus, from time to time, the President must waive restrictions that would otherwise prohibit the US military from providing lethal assistance to our partners conducting counterterrorism operations in Syria," he claimed.

On December 9, then-Department of State spokesman Mark Toner said that the US does not want to see man-portable air defense systems (MANPADS) getting into Syria after President Barack Obama lifted restrictions on military aid.

A US administration official told Sputnik in December that Obama lifted restrictions on arming partners in Syria to facilitate the offensive to retake the city of Raqqa from Daesh.