America changes tack on IS fight after $500m rebel training programme flops
World
America changes tack on IS fight after $500m rebel training programme flops
America is switching tactics on how it takes on Islamic State fighters in Syria after its policy of training other rebels proved a flop. The U.S., which had earmarked $500 million to arm and train more than 5,000 fighters, said it was not ending the effort but refocusing it. Details were vague as defence secretary Ash Carter said he wanted to take a “more strategic approach”. He added he wanted to replicate the success with Kurds in northern Syria. “That’s exactly the kind of example that we would like to pursue with other groups in other parts of Syria going forward,” he said. So far, the U.S. tactics have produced fewer than 80 soldiers, many of whom had fled, been captured or killed.
The work we’ve done with the Kurds in northern Syria is an example of an effective approach
Ash Carter, US defence secretary
Earlier, France said it had launched a new air strike overnight in Syria against an Islamic State training camp and further strikes will follow. “France hit Daesh in Syria last night in Raqqa… It is not the first time, nor will it be the last time,” defence minister Jean-Yves Le Drian said. “French Rafale jets delivered bombs on this training camp and the targets were met.” Moscow has also denied a claim by a U.S. officials that four Syria-bound Russian cruise missiles fired from the Caspian Sea had crashed in Iran. Both the Russian government and state-run Iranian media accused the U.S. of inaccurate or deliberately deceptive statements.
Any professional knows that during these operations we always fix the target before and after impact. All our cruise missiles hit their target
Gen Igor Konashenkov, Russian ministry spokesman
