Syria conflict: US air drop for anti-IS forces in Hassakeh

The US military has delivered more than 45 tonnes of ammunition to rebels fighting the jihadist group Islamic State (IS) in north-eastern Syria.

C-17 transport aircraft, accompanied by fighter escorts, dropped pallets of supplies overnight in Hassakeh province, a Pentagon spokesman said.

The consignment reportedly comprised small arms, ammunition and grenades.

It comes days after the US abandoned a $500m (£326m) plan to train thousands of "moderate" rebels to fight IS.

The money will instead be used to provide much-needed ammunition and some weapons to commanders of rebel groups already established on the ground.

'Raqqa offensive'

The Pentagon said the more than 100 pallets dropped in Hassakeh were collected safely. They were intended for Syrian Arab groups whose leaders have been vetted and who enjoy the confidence of the US-led coalition battling IS, it added.

This is indicative of the type of activity the US is likely to step up in the wake of the failure of its larger scheme to recruit train and equip a new opposition army.

The stress now is on vetting the leaders of opposition militias rather than each and every member.

Small arms and ammunition may be important in terms of keeping a specific group in the fight, but it is heavier weaponry - like the supply of US-made TOW anti-tank missiles to other groups - that has made the most impact on the battlefield.

A spokesman for one of the groups, the Raqqa Revolutionaries Front, told the Reuters news agency that they had been told that the supplies were to help them launch a joint offensive on the city of Raqqa - an IS stronghold - with the Kurdish Popular Protection Units (YPG) militia.

The Raqqa Revolutionaries Front and the YPG are part of an alliance of Arab and Kurdish groups, called the Democratic Forces of Syria, whose creation was announced on Monday.