Reports that members of the US-trained rebel group, “Division 30,” defected and turned their weapons over to the al Nusra front are false, Pentagon spokesman Capt. Jeff Davis told reporters on Wednesday. Davis said all evidence shows the fighters and their weapons are accounted for and are under control of the US-trained group, with whom the Defense Department remains in contact. “There is no reason to suggest” the reports are true. On Tuesday, the British newspaper The Telegraph cited multiple sources claiming rebels had betrayed the US and joined the al-Qaida-backed Nusra group. US Central Command said of the first group of 54 fighters that returned to Syria in July, one was killed, one is being held captive, nine have returned to the fight, 11 are available but not in Syria, 14 returned to Syria but quit, and 18 are not accounted for, reported ABC News via the Associated Press.
Amid NATO’s continued push to ramp up air defenses in Eastern Europe, Secretary of the Air Force Frank Kendall swung by seven allied countries to boost relations last week, including those on Russia’s and Ukraine’s doorstep.