UK Not to Arm Syria Opposition as Part of US Train, Equip Program

London will not arm Syrian opposition fighters whom it will train, a source in the Defence Ministry told Sputnik.

MOSCOW (Sputnik) — The United Kingdom has no plans to provide ammunition and arms to the Syrian opposition fighters who will be trained by UK military specialists as part of the US-championed Train and Equip Program, a source in the UK Ministry of Defence told Sputnik on Tuesday.

"So for the UK side, we are not equipping them with anything, it’s just training. We haven’t been asked to equip them with anything," the source said.

Earlier in the day, Defense Secretary Michael Fallon announced the United Kingdom will resume training of moderate Syrian opposition groups in various combat skills following a request from the United States to provide support to the restarted US Train and Equip Program.

In July 2016, the United States relaunched its $500 million-a-year program meant to train moderate Syrian opposition fighters to defeat Daesh terrorists in Syria and Iraq, but was initially canceled in October 2015 after a number of US-trained forces was quickly overrun by extremists while the US-provided weapons were reportedly handed over to the terrorist groups. A part of the US-trained forces defected and fought on the side of terrorists.

The Syrian civil war between government troops and a number of opposition factions and terrorist groups has been ongoing for five years. The United Kingdom is a part of the US-led coalition that is carrying out airstrikes against the Daesh terrorist group, outlawed in Russia, the United States and other countries.