Pentagon head: U.S. to change Syrian rebel training program

The Syrian army has launched an offensive against rebels earlier in the week in central and northwestern Syria aided by Russian airstrikes.

U.S. officials have said the new effort would focus more on embedding recruits with established Kurdish and Arab units, rather than sending them directly into frontline combat.

“We have to turn that equation around before the infidels seize the initiative”, al-Muhaysini said in the recording, which was first shared by the Britain-based Syrian Observatory for Human Rights.

President Vladimir Putin said Sunday that Russian Federation would not deploy ground troops to Syria, where it has been conducting air strikes against what it says are Islamic State (ISIS) targets.

In total, 64 sorties targeted 63 Islamic State installations, among them 53 fortified zones, seven arms depots, four training camps and a command post, the Russian Federation Today channel reported. Russian Federation says its aircraft carried out more than 60 missions over Syria in the past 24 hours, and that the Islamic State group was its main target.

Russian Federation said its campaign in the war-torn country was rattling ISIL fighters, claiming that radio intercepts showed “growing panic” among them.

Syria’s Ambassador to Russia, Riyad Haddad, says the Russian air campaign has been effective.

Under the new approach, the USA would provide small arms and ammunition, as well as communications gear and limited training of rebel leaders, to enable established rebel groups to coordinate us airstrikes in support of their ground operation, the officials said. The plain is a natural barrier between areas controlled by Sunni Muslims and the Alawite sect to which Assad and his loyalists belong.

Rep. Adam Schiff, the top Democrat on the committee, says the US should consider establishing a no-fly zone that allows rebels a safe place from which to operate, and shooting down Syrian helicopters that are bombing civilians.

“The goodies falling from the sky get better” if the rebel leaders deliver on their promise to focus their fight on the Islamic State, one official said, speaking on condition of anonymity to discuss details of the program.

The unnamed official said the strikes destroyed two power plants in the Radwaniyah area east of Aleppo city, causing a blackout.

The Russians have complained about the narrow scope of the US talks, and Russian Deputy Defense Minister Anatoly Antonov said Moscow wants broad discussions on global cooperation with the U.S.-led coalition fighting the Islamic State.

“I am not downplaying the difficulties”.

The spokesman also said Russian airstrikes had killed a number of militants, including commanders.

The GCC is comprised of Saudi Arabia, the United Arab Emirates, Kuwait, Qatar, Bahrain and Oman.