Militants detained near Palmyra trained by US instructors

Militants

TADMOR/Syria/, July 14. /TASS/: Three militants of Maghawir al-Thawra group detained by the Syrian military in the outskirts of Tadmor, near Palmyra, had been trained to spy by US instructors, one of neutralized extremists Abdallah al-Mishuat said.

"We were trained how to use all types of weapons by US instructors," the militant said. "All weapons were made in the US. I saw US instructors, they attend trainings, but the exercises are conducted by the Syrians. The Americans watch from a distance, check and assess the training. The exercises were difficult, they took two or three hours, not less."

According to the militant, during the training the radicals used US-made weapons, but they were deployed for a mission with Russian arms, namely Kalashnikov guns.

The militants were part of an armed group, which was heading to Raqqa province from Al-Tanf, where the US military base is located. Their mission was to collect data on Russian, Syrian and Iranian military facilities. The militants found themselves on a mined field, some of them were killed and three others were captured. The Syrian forces seized weapons, ammunition and drugs from them.