US to arm Syrian Kurds, rebel groups fighting IS
The Pentagon will pause its beleaguered Syria train and equip program to instead provide arms and air support to Syrian Kurdish and Arab rebel groups already fighting the Islamic State.
The United States will supply arms, equipment and air support to Syrian Arab and Kurdish groups already fighting the so-called Islamic State (IS) on the ground in Syria, the White House and Pentagon announced Oct. 9.
The decision to refocus the beleaguered, $500 million Pentagon program from training and equipping a new force to fight IS in Syria to “equip and enable” rebel groups already fighting on the ground came after an interagency review of the train and equip program, US officials said.
“A key part of our strategy is to try to work with capable, indigenous forces on the ground … to provide them with equipment to make them more effective, in combination with our air strikes,” Undersecretary of Defense for Policy Christine Wormuth told journalists on a call on the new strategy Oct. 9.
The redesigned program is modeled in part on the successful experience supporting Syrian Kurdish forces that were able to retake the Syrian Kurdish-Turkish border town of Kobani back from IS last year, US officials said.
