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US to arm Syrian Kurds, rebel groups fighting IS

The Pentagon will pause its beleaguered Syria train and equip program to instead provide arms and air support to Syrian Kurdish and Arab rebel groups already fighting the Islamic State.
Fighters of the Kurdish People's Protection Units (YPG) patrol in the streets of the northern Syrian town of Kobani January 28, 2015. Kurdish forces battled Islamic State fighters outside Kobani on Tuesday, a monitoring group said, a day after Kurds said they had taken full control of the northern Syrian town following a four-month battle. Known as Ayn al-Arab in Arabic, the mainly Kurdish town close to the Turkish border has become a focal point in the international fight against Islamic State, an al Qaeda

The United States will supply arms, equipment and air support to Syrian Arab and Kurdish groups already fighting the so-called Islamic State (IS) on the ground in Syria, the White House and Pentagon announced Oct. 9.

The decision to refocus the beleaguered, $500 million Pentagon program from training and equipping a new force to fight IS in Syria to “equip and enable” rebel groups already fighting on the ground came after an interagency review of the train and equip program, US officials said.

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