MESOP BACKGROUNDER: US BOOSTS SUPPORT FOR SYRIAN COALITION UNDER PYD/PKK UMBRELLA

By Tom Perry | BEIRUT – REUTERS  1 Feb 2017 – The U.S.-led coalition fighting Islamic State has boosted support for its Syrian allies, supplying armoured vehicles for the first time as they prepare for a new phase in their campaign to capture Raqqa, a spokesman for the militia said on Tuesday. The U.S.-backed Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF) alliance, which is dominated by the Kurdish YPG militia, is waging a campaign to capture Islamic State’s base of operations in Raqqa.A Kurdish military source, speaking on condition of anonymity, told Reuters the next phase of the Raqqa campaign would aim to seal off all remaining roads to the city, including the route to Deir al-Zor province, another IS stronghold.

The SDF is likely to figure prominently in U.S. President Donald Trump’s strategy for fighting Islamic State in Syria, where the jihadist group still holds large areas of territory stretching to the Iraqi border. SDF spokesman Talal Silo said the delivery of the armoured vehicles marked a significant improvement in U.S. support and attributed the change to the new administration. Trump says eradicating Islamic State will be one of his biggest priorities. “Previously we didn’t get support in this form, we would get light weapons and ammunition,” Silo told Reuters. “There are signs of full support from the new American leadership — more than before — for our forces.”

A Pentagon spokesman said the vehicles had been supplied to the Syrian Arab Coalition – part of the SDF – and would help it contend with the threat posed by improvised explosive devices used by Islamic State as they advance towards Raqqa. He said there had been no change of policy. “The Department of Defense only provides training and materiel support to the Syrian Arab Coalition,” Major Adrian J.T. Rankine-Galloway said in a statement. www.mesop.de