Russia has no doubts weapons US supplies to Syria fall into hands of terrorists - Lavrov

MOSCOW, October 13. /TASS/. Russia has next to no doubts weapons and munitions the United States supply to Syria’s ‘moderate opposition’ ultimately reach terrorists, Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov said on Tuesday. "Frankly speaking, we have next to no doubts that at least the bulk of these weapons fall into the hands of terrorists," Lavrov said in an interview with the NTV television channel. "This fact causes concern in the United States as well, where people, the Congress begin to ask questions about previous attempts to support ‘moderate opposition.’" Earlier on Tuesday, Pentagon said U.S. transport planes had dropped in Syria the first batch of munitions for the opposition fighting against the terrorist group Islamic State. The Islamic State is an Islamic terrorist organization banned in Russia. In 2013-2014, it was known under the name the Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant (ISIL) and operated mainly in Iraq and Syria. In June 2014, the Islamic State announced the establishment of an "Islamic caliphate" (a state with a Sharia form of government) on the territories it had seized and reduced its name to the Islamic State. According to the United States’ Central Intelligence Agency, the extremist group numbers around 30,000 people. The Iraqi authorities say however it has up to 200,000 gunmen. Among members of the group are citizens of 80 countries, including France, Great Britain, Germany, Morocco, Saudi Arabia, U.S., Canada, Russia and other countries of the Commonwealth of Independent States (CIS). Islamic State militants reportedly control up to 40 percent of the Iraq’s territory and about 50 percent of the Syrian territory. Read more