“The Pentagon has plans to provide military equipment to Sunni tribal fighters,” writes The Hill , “a shift from its current policy to provide the equipment only through the central government in Baghdad.”  

“The new plans come after Sunni tribal fighters faced an embarrassing defeat by the Islamic State in Iraq and Syria (ISIS) last week in Ramadi… Pentagon officials also confirmed the Sunni tribal fighters in Ramadi had not received any training from the U.S.-led train and equip program.”  

“The U.S. has already distributed $400 million of the $1.6 billion fund, and another $566 million is scheduled to be released soon. A total of $1.24 billion is slated to go to Iraqi security forces, $354 million is slated to go to Kurdish peshmerga forces, and $24 million is slated to go to Sunni tribal fighters. The fund pays for weapons, vehicles, medical equipment, body armor and other military equipment for the Iraqi forces.”