US denies training ISIL terrorists in Syria

TEHRAN (defapress) – The Pentagon has rejected claims by a Russian military commander that it trained ISIL.

News ID: 67812

Date: 30 December 2017 - 13:32

Russian General Staff Chief Valery Gerasimov said this week US instructors were training ISIL terrorist militants at two military bases, where US special forces operate, to boost rebel ranks.

“There was a threat of seizure of the city Al Quaryatayn in Syria. Their forces were defeated. It is clear that the militants are being trained there," Gerasimov said.

"The allegation that the US supports ISIL is false and absurd. We do not train ISIL. We work with our partners to kill or capture ISIL," the US Department of Defense’s Rebecca Rebarich said.

Gen. Gerasimov said that 350 militants had been blocked by Syrian troops at the At Tanf garrison in the country's southeast, while some 750 more remained at the Shaddadi camp, controlled by US backed Kurdish forces. Gerasimov assumed that after the training former ISIL terrorists would become members of the so-called New Syrian Army, whose task is to destabilize situation in the country, reported Sputnik.

Later, Syria's SANA news agency has reported, citing eyewitnesses, that on Wednesday, US helicopters have evacuated ISIL leaders from several areas across the Syrian province of Deir ez-Zor to to safety in al-Hasakah province, much of which is presently under the control of Kurdish and US forces.