The Syrian Kurds are to be armed by the United States, the Washington Post reports.
President Obama has approved proposals by his new Joint Chiefs of Staff chairman, Gen. Joseph F. Dunford Jr to strengthen the fight against Islamic State (IS).
They include direct US weapons shipments, overland from Iraq, to Syrian Kurdish and Arab fighters who in recent months have pushed IS from a major portion of northern Syria along the Turkish border.
Most likely this will happen from the Iraqi Kurdistan Region.
The Kurds are now expected to begin moving south toward Raqqa, the de facto militant capital, in north-central Syria.
In September, Syrian Kurdish leader Salih Muslim of the Democratic Union Party (PYD) met with Iraqi Kurdish president Masoud Barzani in the presence of US officials.
It is thought the two discussed improved coordination between the Peshmerga forces and the People’s Protection Units (YPG) to support operations against IS in Raqqa.
Salih Muslim, in a recent press conference in Kobani, said he hopes the YPG and Peshmerga forces will reach a new agreement to coordinate against IS.
