Obama To Give Jihadists The Ability To Order US Air Strikes

The US and Turkey have reached a tentative deal to train and equip moderate Syrian rebels, according to officials from both countries, amid reports that commanders will be given authority to call in air strikes.

The Pentagon has previously said it was planning to send more than 400 troops, including special forces, to work with opposition forces at sites outside Syria.

At the same time The Wall Street Journal reported that some rebels will be equipped with pick-up trucks modified with mounted machine guns as well as radios for calling in US airstrikes – an approach modelled on that used to successful effect by Kurdish forces in Kobane last month.

American and Turkish officials said an agreement on training fighters on Turkish soil would be signed within days.

“Negotiations have been concluded and an agreement text will be signed with the US regarding the training of the Free Syrian Army in the coming period,” said Tanju Bilgic, Turkish foreign ministry spokesman, according to Reuters.

The US is planning to train some 5000 Syrian fighters a year under the plan as part of an effort to strengthen the fractured rebel movement against the government of President Bashar al-Assad and extremist groups.

The Wall Street Journal reported that the initial training would focus on helping rebels hold ground and resist fighters allied with the Islamic State in Iraq and the Levant (Isil).

The first training sessions are to last between six and eight weeks. The training will focus on helping the rebel forces hold territory and counter Islamic State fightersﾗnot to take on the Syrian army.

Four to six-man units will be equipped with rugged Toyota Hilux vehicles, GPS and radios so they can identify targets for airstrikes.

“The way we envision it, it would be very similar to Kobane,” a senior military official told the newspaper.

Kurdish forces called in strikes by B-1B bombers during the push for the border town last month.

However, the use of air power also serves as a reminder of Nato’s intervention in Libya, when French, Emirati, British and American planes helped push back Colonel Gadaffi’s forces in 2011. Although rebels swept to power, the absence of foreign boots on the ground has been blamed for contributing to the power vacuum and chaos the followed.

Meanwhile, the United Nations mediator on Syria told the UN Security Council on Tuesday that the government was willing to suspend its aerial bombardment of the northern city of Aleppo to allow for a local ceasefire to be piloted.