US-supplied weapons originally intended for moderate allies in Syria have ended up for sale on jihadist online forums in the country’s northern al Qaeda heartland.
In a remarkable snapshot of the disastrous outcomes and thwarted ambitions of the West’s six-year effort in Syria, an M16 assault rifle — whose serial number suggests it was originally supplied as part of a US-taxpayer-funded effort to defeat extremists in the region — was offered to CNN by a resident of the city of Idlib over the encrypted messaging app Telegram.
The vendor claimed the weapon originally belonged to one of the more prominent and costly failures by the US to help Syrian moderate rebels combat ISIS and other extremists. In a Telegram message exchange with CNN posing as a purchaser, the vendor said the weapon came from “Division 30” — part of an elaborate $41 million dollar effort to train and equip elite rebels to tackle jihadists.
The M16 was produced by a South Carolina company called FN Manufacturing. It carries a serial number that small arms experts say matches a batch originally thought to have been given to Iraqi security forces by a US assistance program, but that was found in possession of ISIS in 2014.
While it remains unclear exactly to whom the rifle was originally delivered, it is currently for sale for $850 on jihadi Telegram channels, where a staggering array of weaponry is flaunted by residents of an area known to be dominated by an al Qaeda affiliate.
Grenade launchers, heavy machine guns, thermal sniper scopes and body armor all appear on the jihadist channels, which also offer tips on encryption and even introduce smugglers to get people in and out of Syria. While CNN cannot verify that all of the items offered for sale exist or match their descriptions, the sheer scale of the marketplace suggests some of it, at least, is authentic. The vendor of the M16 was able to offer multiple photo angles of the item.
Division 30 was part of the New Syrian Army, a project by the US military to create moderate rebels in 2015 who would combat ISIS and other extremists.
The group swiftly came undone, however, when al Qaeda-backed extremists intercepted them and their sophisticated weaponry — paid for by the US taxpayer — hours after they drove their convoys into Syria. The group soon disbanded.
The discovery doesn’t necessarily undermine the vendor’s claim, as it is possible a similar batch of weapons were used to supply the Division 30 project.
US Central Command, initially behind the supply of weapons to Syrian moderates, declined to comment.
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