US to escalate offensive against militants in Syria

Washington is set to escalate the US-led coalition offensive in Syria after criticisms over its lackluster approach to fighting Daesh (ISIL) and Russia’s blitz against Takfiri terrorists in the Arab country.

The American-led coalition is reportedly preparing to open a major front in northeastern Syria, to pressurize the militant stronghold, Raqqa.

The New York Times report quotes US military and administration officials as saying that “3,000 to 5,000 Arab fighters would join more than 20,000 Kurdish combatants” in an offensive backed by dozens of coalition warplanes to put pressure on ISIL militants.

It says the measures follow President Barack Obama’s last week approval of two steps for the offensive to unroll over the coming weeks.

Obama reportedly ordered the Pentagon to directly provide ammunition and perhaps some weapons to “opposition forces” and endorsed “the idea” for an increased air campaign from an airbase in Turkey.

Plans also include helping what the US calls “opposition fighters” to seal a 60-mile part of the Syrian border with Turkey to cut off supply lines to ISIL.

“The top-line message that I want everybody to understand is, we are going to continue to go after ISIL,” the report quoted Obama as telling reporters earlier. “We are going to continue to reach out to a moderate opposition.”

The new American-led push would be conducted far from the brunt of the Russian air campaign in western Syria. It is entirely directed at weakening the ISIL by trying to take away the group’s home-court advantage, even as the militants hold on to Mosul and Ramadi in Iraq and Palmyra in Syria, the report added.

Gen. Lloyd J. Austin III, the commander of American forces in the Middle East, hinted at the emerging strategy last month, telling the Senate Armed Services Committee that over the next six months it would put “a lot more pressure on key areas in Syria, like the city of Raqqa.”

“Because of that access,” General Austin continued, referring to the use of the airbase in Turkey, “we’ll have the ability to increase the pace and focus on key places in Syria. So that will certainly shake things in Iraq.”

The US administration’s new plan has not been coordinated with Russia, an official said, and Washington says its campaign would not be thrown off course by Russian airstrikes in Syria.

The report comes in the wake of Russia’s ongoing airstrike against Daesh Takfiris in Syria, where the Russians have been able to inflict losses on the terrorists, after a year of US-led coalition strikes failed to disband the terror group. 

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