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The Pentagon is to stop building Syrian rebel units to allegedly fight the Takfiri group, ISIL, and focus instead on training and arming vetted leaders, a US defense official said Friday.
"The model before was we were training infantry-type units. We are now changing to a model that will produce more military combat capability," the official said.
The official declined to say how many leaders would be armed and trained, but noted the new effort would get under way "within days."The switch in tactics will be seen as a tacit admission that the Pentagon's $500 million program to train thousands of the so-called "moderate" Syrian rebels has failed.
Pentagon spokesman Peter Cook said the training program was only part of the US effort, noting that it has also been arming groups already inside Syria, such as the Kurdish forces defending the border town of Kobane.
"I believe the changes we are instituting today will, over time, increase the combat power of counter-ISIL forces in Syria and ultimately help our campaign achieve a lasting defeat of ISIL," Defense Secretary Ashton Carter said.
Cook said Carter has directed the military "to provide equipment packages and weapons to a select group of vetted leaders and their units so that over time they can make a concerted push into territory still controlled by ISIL."
Source: AFP
| 09-10-2015 - 18:32 Last updated 09-10-2015 - 18:42 |
Russian Air Force Hit 60 Terrorist Targets in New Syria Strikes
Russia's air force hit more than 60 terrorist targets in Syria over the past 24 hours, Moscow's military said Friday.
"Sixty-seven sorties have been carried out from the Hmeimim air base" in Syria, the deputy head of the Russian General Staff, Lieutenant General Igor Makushev, told reporters.
"Su-34M and Su-24SM warplanes hit 60 terrorist targets," he added.
According to intercepted radio communications, two high-ranking field commanders in the ranks of the Takfiri group, ISIL, and several hundred militants were killed, the Russian military said.
Makushev said militants "have sustained significant casualties and been forced to change their tactics," seeking refuge in towns and villages, stressing that Moscow would increase the intensity of the strikes.
On Wednesday, Russian warships from the Caspian Sea fleet joined in the strikes with a volley of cruise missiles launched from Caspian Sea.
Makushev said Russia has been bombing command posts and communication centers, ammunition depots as well as training camps in Raqa, Latakia, Hama, Idlib and Aleppo.
Moscow launched its military operation against ISIL(so-called Islamic State in Iraq and Levant) terrorists at the request of the Syrian government on September 30.
Russia said its warplanes also dropped precision guided bombs on a command post in ISIL stronghold Raqa, killing two senior IS field commanders and some 200 militants.
The strikes also destroyed six command posts and communication centers, six ammunition depots, 17 training camps, three underground targets in Latakia, two multiple artillery rocket systems and 17 vehicles and armoured vehicles, among other targets, the military said.
"In the vicinity of Aleppo, a strike hit a militants' base and ammunition depot set up in the building of a former prison," Makushev.
"As a result, some 100 militants and an ammunition depot have been destroyed."
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Uprooted Palestinian 
"Sixty-seven sorties have been carried out from the Hmeimim air base" in Syria, the deputy head of the Russian General Staff, Lieutenant General Igor Makushev, told reporters.
"Su-34M and Su-24SM warplanes hit 60 terrorist targets," he added.According to intercepted radio communications, two high-ranking field commanders in the ranks of the Takfiri group, ISIL, and several hundred militants were killed, the Russian military said.
Makushev said militants "have sustained significant casualties and been forced to change their tactics," seeking refuge in towns and villages, stressing that Moscow would increase the intensity of the strikes.
On Wednesday, Russian warships from the Caspian Sea fleet joined in the strikes with a volley of cruise missiles launched from Caspian Sea.
Makushev said Russia has been bombing command posts and communication centers, ammunition depots as well as training camps in Raqa, Latakia, Hama, Idlib and Aleppo.
Moscow launched its military operation against ISIL(so-called Islamic State in Iraq and Levant) terrorists at the request of the Syrian government on September 30.
Russia said its warplanes also dropped precision guided bombs on a command post in ISIL stronghold Raqa, killing two senior IS field commanders and some 200 militants.
The strikes also destroyed six command posts and communication centers, six ammunition depots, 17 training camps, three underground targets in Latakia, two multiple artillery rocket systems and 17 vehicles and armoured vehicles, among other targets, the military said.
"In the vicinity of Aleppo, a strike hit a militants' base and ammunition depot set up in the building of a former prison," Makushev.
"As a result, some 100 militants and an ammunition depot have been destroyed."
Source: AFP
| 09-10-2015 - 23:18 Last updated 09-10-2015 - 23:18 |
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