US airdrops ammunition to anti-IS rebels

US-led coalition forces parachuted in ammunition to rebels in Syria on Monday, stepping up their support for groups battling jihadists as regime troops engaged in their fiercest fights in weeks, aided by Russian airstrikes.

Moscow entered Syria's multifaceted civil war last month when it began airstrikes against Islamic State jihadists and others it called terrorists fighting against the regime of its ally President Bashar al-Assad.

Washington and Europe, however, accuse Moscow of targeting moderate groups that oppose the Syrian leader, rather than IS, and say ousting Assad is key to ending the bloody four-year conflict.