US begins training Syrian rebels to fight ISIL group

US defence secretary says 90 moderate Syrian rebels have begun training in Jordan to fight against armed group.

The United States has begun training moderate Syrian rebels as part of an effort to build a force capable of fighting against the Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant (ISIL) group.

Ash Carter, the US defence secretary, said on Thursday that the US military had begun training around 90 Syrian fighters in Jordan.

“Combat training has begun for a company-sized group from the new Syrian forces,” Carter told reporters. “This programme is critical and a complex part of our counter-ISIL efforts.”

The US plans to train and arm a force that is expected to eventually total more than 15,000 troops. So far, more than 3,750 Syrian fighters have volunteered for the training, and about 400 have completed the pre-screening.

The rebels, who come from several moderate groups in Syria, will get training on basic military equipment and skills, including firearms, communications and command and control abilities.

Part of the strategy, according to documents seen by the Reuters news agency, is to pressure President Bashar al-Assad by steadily increasing the opposition’s prowess and territory under its control.

Proponents of the US military programme note Assad is already facing growing pressure after government forces endured a series of setbacks on the battlefield and ISIL fighters edge closer to Assad’s stronghold in the coastal areas.

General Martin Dempsey, the top US military officer, said he believed Assad’s “momentum has been slowed”