WASHINGTON – The US military is currently working with “dozens” of Syrian rebels under a revamped train-and-equip program implemented after a much-criticized initiative collapsed last year, an official said Friday.
The Pentagon created a new program to replace the failed effort.
Instead of trying to pull entire rebel units from the front lines, train them and send them back again, the US military is now working with just a handful of members from each group.
“If you have a highly trained individual here, well, the man on his left and right are going to benefit from his great training,” Baghdad-based US military spokesman Colonel Steve Warren told Pentagon reporters.
“For the price of training one, you’ve got three who are better, and maybe even more than that. So, that’s kind of what we’re looking at doing here.”
Warren declined to say how many Syrians had been trained, saying only that it was “dozens.”
Since October, the US military has also sent about 50 special operations forces into Syria to work with local militias fighting the IS group.
More than 270,000 people have been killed since Syria’s conflict erupted in March 2011 and millions more have fled their homes.
The United States has since August 2014 been leading a coalition attacking IS jihadists — primarily through air strikes — in Iraq and Syria.

Source: AFP, April 2