UK suspends Syria aid programme amid questions over funds ‘paid to jihadis’

BBC claims cash earmarked for civilian police force was handed to extremists

Free Syria army
Fighters from the Free Syrian Army, which works in alliance with the Free Syrian Police
(Image credit: Getty Images)

The UK has suspended a foreign aid project to support community policing in Syria amid claims that money paid to a Syrian contractor was then handed to jihadist extremists.

A BBC Panorama investigation claims that British taxpayers’ cash was diverted to Islamic militants and that officers from a UK-backed police force in Syria worked with courts carrying out brutal sentences.

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