Syrian “rebel” group Nour al-Din al-Zanki, which was widely condemned this past July after beheading a child soldier and posting the video — raising questions about their CIA-“vetted” status — continues to use U.S.-provided TOW missiles according to a video published on its Twitter feed yesterday.

#حركة_نور_الدين_الزنكي#جيش_الفتح استهداف سيارة محملة بالذخيرة على جبهة منيان بصاروخ تاو ومقتل أكثر من ٧ عناصر pic.twitter.com/5DAZRK8jT1 — حركةنور الدين الزنكي (@NDZankiMotion) November 21, 2016

The ongoing use of TOW missiles by the group was first noticed by Thomas Joscelyn at the Foundation for Defense of Democracies.

Nur al-Din al-Zanki – part of Jaysh al Fath alliance (led by rebranded Al Qaeda & allied jihadis) in Aleppo – fires US-made TOW: pic.twitter.com/MRcojYVJDf — Thomas Joscelyn (@thomasjoscelyn) November 22, 2016

Later, the terror group published a video to its YouTube account showing members using the TOW missile:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=X1y2OZYADjQ

As Joscelyn noted, the group is openly allied with the rebranded Al-Qaeda affiliate operating in Syria.

The Daily Beast reported at the time of the child beheading:

Members of an American-backed rebel group in Syria beheaded a young child in a grisly execution video. The footage surfaced early Tuesday of members of Harakat Nour al-Din al-Zenki and a captured child in Handarat, near Aleppo. The young boy, who appears to be prepubescent, is then executed on the back of a pickup truck. The gruesome videotaped murder of a child drew outrage on social media and the promise of an inquiry from the group’s leadership, which has previously received U.S.-made weapons and American funding. The group no longer gets such backing. But it’s also renewed questions about which rebels the American government has supported in Syria’s ongoing civil war […] There are two clips from the unsavory events. One shows five militants surrounding the boy. In the second, one of them stands over him on the truck and cuts the boy’s head off with a dull knife, raising it over his head.

The victim in the video was later identified as 14-year old Abdullah Tayseer.

The video, shown here with the beheading blurred out, is disturbing. [WARNING: GRAPHIC VIDEO]

US-backed “Syrian Rebels” Nour Al Din Zinki capture Palestinian child, accuse him of working with Assad & behead him pic.twitter.com/eAurv6rmFR — The ‘Nimr’ Tiger (@Souria4Syrians) July 19, 2016

Nour al-Din al-Zanki had previously been designated a “CIA-vetted” “rebel” group and thus was eligible to receive TOW missiles through the CIA program, but the group reportedly lost its “vetted” status earlier this year. That “vetted status” became an issue after the beheading video emerged back in July.

As news of the beheading video began to spread yesterday, the “experts” who had openly supported Zinki as moderates, like Charles Lister of the Middle East Institute, were quick to backtrack, saying the CIA had stopped supporting the group:

Point of clarification: Zinki lost its “vetted” status some months ago – it’s got no hope of re-acquiring it now. https://t.co/MCjugug6R0 — Charles Lister (@Charles_Lister) July 19, 2016

But in fact, Lister had been representing Zinki as “U.S.-vetted” just a month before the beheading:

Reports of armed clashes & “arrests” last night, between US-vetted Harakat Nour al-Din al-Zinki & Jabhat al-Nusra in #Idlib. — Charles Lister (@Charles_Lister) June 2, 2016

When someone noted that CIA support for Zinki had been withdrawn, Lister reported the situation was “blurry” and that U.S. support, namely TOW missiles, had resumed:

@AbuJamajem It’s a blurry situation – but they are receiving TOWs again, likely as a test for getting fully back onto the “vetted” program. — Charles Lister (@Charles_Lister) June 2, 2016

After the child beheading, State Department spokesman Mark Toner wasn’t committed to permanently banning support to the group:

Toner: proof that Zinki committed beheading would give US “pause about any further assistance to them” #Syriahttps://t.co/icfHaxaGxQ — Walid (@walid970721) July 19, 2016

So has Nour al-Din al-Zanki reacquired its CIA-“vetted” status and has the Obama administration resumed delivering TOW missiles to the group? Or are they leftovers from previously provided shipments? Or were they acquired from other CIA-“vetted” groups?

For two and a half years I’ve been reporting here at PJ Media on the dangerously bizarre Obama administration support for the Syrian “rebels”: