Washington Halts Financial Assistance in Northwest Syria – Reports

MOSCOW (Sputnik) - The US administration has decided to cut financial aid for northwestern Syria and redirect it to areas where it has greater impact, officials told local media on Friday.

Projects on the chopping block include those to counter violent extremism and support independent media, and community policing, administration sources told CBS. Humanitarian aid will not be affected.

President Donald Trump in March suspended over $200 million in funds for recovery efforts in Syria after suggesting that US exit was a matter of time.

Earlier this month, the leader of the White Helmets, a self-described aid group, told the channel Washington stopped funding his organization’s operations in Syria. The State Department said that the White Helmets financing was "under active review," CBS reported back then.

The group's funding halt came couple of weeks after it released a video showing people in Douma hospital that allegedly suffered from a chemical attack. Later, several participants of the notorious video revealed how the footage was made and that there was actually no chemical attack.

A State Department official told Sputnik the US government expected the White Helmets to continue activities in Syria through multilateral contributions.