Despite fierce opposition from NATO ally Turkey, US President Donald Trump has approved supplying arms to Kurdish YPG fighters to support an operation to retake the Syrian city of Raqqa from Islamic State, US officials said on Tuesday. The United States has long directly supplied arms to the Arab components of the so-called Syrian Democratic Forces, which include YPG fighters. One US official, speaking on condition of anonymity, said the equipment for the Kurdish fighters could include small arms, ammunition, machine guns, armored vehicles and engineering equipment. The decision to arm the Syrian Kurds will likely cast a shadow over Erdogan's visit to Washington, policy experts said. Saleh Muslim, co-chair of the Syrian Kurdish PYD party, the YPG's political affiliate, said the US decision was expected.

Source: Egypt Independent May 09, 2017 22:07 UTC