US Sends 400 Troops to Syria to Train Moderate Army

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The United States says it will send 400 troops and hundreds of support personnel to train moderate Syrian rebels fight against the Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant (ISIL).

The Pentagon confirmed the planned deployment early on Friday, after Defense One website earlier reported that Turkey, Qatar and Saudi Arabia offered to host the training.

The US military estimates it can train more than 5,000 recruits in the first year. It says up to 15,000 will be needed to retake areas of eastern Syria controlled by ISIL.

The announcement came just days after senior US officials met Syrian opposition and civil society leaders in Istanbul to discuss the programme.

Syria’s neighbour Jordan, already hosts a small and ostensibly covert, effort by the CIA to equip and train small groups of fighters opposed to the Syrian President Bashar al-Assad.

The latest training programme is a part of President Barack Obama’s multi-year plan to halt ISIL, including air strikes and training Iraqis and moderate Syrian rebels.

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