Arms Supplies to ISIL Shows US Support for Terrorist Group: Iraqi MP


TEHRAN (Tasnim) – An Iraqi lawmaker described the United States as the number one suspect in supporting the ISIL terrorist group.

In an interview with al-Sumaria TV, Majid al-Qarawi, a member of Iraqi parliament’s security and defense commission, said Washington and some of its allies indirectly back ISIL militarily and financially, adding that reports about US military dropping weapons in areas held by ISIL proves this support.

The move by American aircraft to drop weapons and ammunition in an area between Balad and Yathrib districts (which is controlled by ISIL) is evidence of US support for the group, he was quoted as saying.

On Saturday, volunteer forces fighting against the ISIL said US military aircraft have dropped weapons in areas held by the Takfiri terrorist group in Iraq.

Mufid al-Badlawi, governor of Balad in Iraq’s Salahuddin Province, said the weapons were dropped by parachute on purpose.

The report comes as the Iraqi army and volunteer fighters appear to be gaining the upper hand and making significant gains against ISIL.

In October, a video showed the terrorist group captured a bundle of US weapons airdropped in the Syrian border town of Kobane.

The US military admitted that it had dropped 28 bundles filled with grenades, mortar rounds and other supplies that were intended for Kurdish fighters.

The video showed masked terrorists inspecting the military equipment, which was airdropped in areas controlled by ISIL near Kobane.

The US Central Command claimed that the airdrops, including weapons and ammunition, and medical supplies, were "intended to enable continued resistance against ISIL's attempts to overtake Kobane."

The so-called Islamic State in Iraq and the Levant (ISIL) is a terrorist group believed to be supported by the West and some regional Arab countries.

The extremist group, which controls parts of Syria's northern territory, sent its fighters into neighboring Iraq in June, quickly seizing large swaths of land straddling the border between the two countries.