REYHANLI, TURKEY — In the skies over Syria, U.S. and Arab combat aircraft have bombed Islamic State targets 20 times since Tuesday. But on the ground, commanders for rebel groups that are part of a CIA-run program say they’ve pleaded in vain for arms, ammunition and even field rations so they can fight the same extremists.
Although they are among the few chosen to receive aid under the covert U.S. program, the commanders say the U.S. has done little to help them as they struggle to hold onto their main supply route from Turkey against a determined Islamic State offensive.
The stakes are high in the 6-week-old ground fight with the Islamic State in small towns north of Aleppo. The outcome will determine not only if the rebels can continue to be supplied, but whether they will hold onto portions of Syria’s biggest city.