US Military Starts Training Dozens of "Syrian Fighters"
TEHRAN (Tasnim) – The US military said it started training dozens of Syrian opposition fighters, allegedly to battle Daesh (ISIL) as part of a revamped program that aims to avoid mistakes that doomed its first training effort in Turkey last year.
Training for the first group of recruits includes how to identify targets for US-led coalition airstrikes to allow coalition aircraft to better strike Daesh from the air.
“That allows us to bring significantly more fires into play in any of these skirmishes, battles, and firefights that are taking place throughout Syria,” said US Army Col. Steve Warren, a Baghdad-based spokesman for the US-led coalition.
The Pentagon has declined to say where the training is being conducted, but US officials, speaking on condition of anonymity, have told Reuters it is in Turkey.
The Russian Foreign Ministry said Sergey Lavrov and US Secretary of State John Kerry discussed steps needed to strengthen the truce.
Lavrov Friday dismissed as “dirty leaks” reports on an agreement between the two states on the future of Syrian President Bashar Assad.
The London-based, Saudi-owned, Arabic-language newspaper Al-Hayat reported Thursday that Kerry had told several Arab countries that Russia and the US reached an understanding on the future of Syria’s peace process, including Assad’s departure to another country.
“Our American partners cannot publicly call into question this formula that ... only the people of Syria decide all the questions about the future of Syria,” Lavrov said.
The Kremlin said it hoped the Syrian government delegation would show flexibility at peace talks.
“We hope this participation [of the Damascus delegation] will continue in a constructive way ... and necessary flexibility will be displayed – of course, within possible limits,” Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov told journalists.
“These negotiations should be only inclusive ... including Kurds, to find a really lasting solution ... and to enable Syrians themselves to decide their destiny.”
Russia accused Turkish organizations – the Besar foundation, the Iyilikder foundation and the Foundation for Human Rights and Freedoms – of smuggling military equipment to Daesh and other militant groups in Syria, in a letter to the UN Security Council released Friday.
Russian Ambassador Vitaly Churkin said the organizations were a front for Turkish intelligence.
Russia also named two companies – Tevhid Bilisim Merkezi and Trend Limited Sirketi – that it said provided chemical components to fighters in Syria.
