US begins training Syrian rebels to fight ISIL group
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| US defence secretary says 90 moderate Syrian rebels have begun training in Jordan to fight against armed group. [AP] |
The United States has begun training moderate Syrian rebels as part of an effort to build a force capable of fighting against the Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant (ISIL) group.
Ash Carter, the US defence secretary, said on Thursday that the US military had begun training around 90 Syrian fighters in Jordan.
"Combat training has begun for a company-sized group from the new Syrian forces," Carter told reporters. "This programme is critical and a complex part of our counter-ISIL efforts."
The US plans to train and arm a force that is expected to eventually total more than 15,000 troops. So far, more than 3,750 Syrian fighters have volunteered for the training, and about 400 have completed the pre-screening.
The rebels, who come from several moderate groups in Syria, will get training on basic military equipment and skills, including firearms, communications and command and control abilities.
Part of the strategy, according to documents seen by the Reuters news agency, is to pressure President Bashar al-Assad by steadily increasing the opposition's prowess and territory under its control.
Proponents of the US military programme note Assad is already facing growing pressure after government forces endured a series of setbacks on the battlefield and ISIL fighters edge closer to Assad's stronghold in the coastal areas.
General Martin Dempsey, the top US military officer, said he believed Assad's "momentum has been slowed".
Some rebels sceptical
However, the programme faces deep scepticism, including from rebels fighting inside Syria. Some rebel leaders say the force risks creating divisions and cannot succeed without directly targeting Syrian government forces.
The US Congress has approved $500m to train about 5,000 Syrian fighters in a year's time.
About 1,000 US troops are expected to help with the training and 450 forces from the US-led coalition have already deployed for the effort, officials said.
Turkey has said it will start training rebels on its soil this weekend, with Saudi Arabia, Qatar and Turkey also expected to train the moderate fighters.
The US launched targeted air strikes against ISIL in Iraq last August, and in September expanded the campaign into Syria.
The group has declared a 'Caliphate' in territory across much of Iraq and Syria, and its rule has been marked by a brutal campaign of mass murders, beheadings, torture and slavery.
According to Xinhua, the US will also be supplying those troops with up-to-date equipment.
The US drops gruesome propaganda leaflets on Raqqa
The US military is dropping some gruesome propaganda on Syria. - in an obvious attempt to demonize ISIS. However, ISIS is quite capable of demonizing itself. Will the leaflet deter anyone from joining ISIS? It is doubtful; most men in Raqqa don't have much choice in the matter.
On March 16 an F-15E fighter jet dropped 60,000 copies of the above leaflet on Raqqa, the base of operations for the Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant, or ISIL.
The image shows a "Daesh Employment Office" (Daesh is a pejorative nickname for ISIL in the Arab world).
Two ISIL recruiters, one of whom appears more monster than man, feed young men into a meat grinder with "Daesh" written in blood on its side. A sign in the upper-right corner reads "Now Serving Number 6,001".
When asked about the intended message of the leaflet, Pentagon spokesman Colonel Steve Warren, said "If you allow yourself to be recruited by Daesh, you will find yourself in a meat grinder."
The metaphor is pretty good, actually. ISIS needs a steady stream of recruits to replace the steady stream of fallen fighters. It's very much like "in one end, and out the other".
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