Not only were the US-backed 'moderate' militants in southern Syria never meant to fight ISIS, but their commanders actually traded US-made weapons and ammunition to terrorists, a rebel defector claimed in an interview with Rossiya-24.

Asaad As-Salem says he defected from the US-backed Maghawir al-Thawra group stationed at the At-Tanf base in southern Syria, and surrendered to Syrian government forces. Along with a number of other militants and their families, they escaped At-Tanf and currently reside in a refugee camp near Damascus.

The former militant told Rossiya-24 correspondent Eugeniy Poddubny that he served as a chief security officer at the base, and that he and his men joined the US-backed rebel group to fight Islamic State (IS, formerly ISIS/ISIL) terrorists.