Syria Conflict: New US-backed Rebels Cross From Turkey

A group of 75 US-backed rebels has crossed into northern Syria from Turkey to fight jihadists, the UK-based Syrian Observatory for Human Rights says. The rebels crossed into Syria in 12 vehicles equipped with machine guns over the weekend, it added.

It comes days after a top US general said only a handful of rebels trained by the US were still fighting in Syria. Republican politicians have branded the $500m (£323m) scheme to train and equip around 5,000 rebels a “total failure”. “Seventy-five new fighters trained in a camp near the Turkish capital entered Aleppo province between Friday night and Saturday morning,” said the observatory’s director, Rami Abdel Rahman.

The group entered the country in convoy under air cover from the US-led coalition, which has been targeting Islamic State (IS) militants in their strongholds in Syria and Iraq, he added.

BBC.