Ankara, Feb 27 (IANS): Turkey and the US will launch a programme for training and equipping Syrian rebels March 1, spokesman for Turkish foreign ministry, Tanju Bilgic said Friday.
On Feb 19, Turkey and the US signed an agreement for providing training and equipment for the Syrian opposition forces, Xinhua news agency reported.
The programme aims to train a total of 15,000 Syrian opposition fighters in a three-year period, and 5,000 of them will be trained at a military base in the central Turkish city of Kirsehir.
The Syrian rebels will be trained and equipped to fight both the Islamic State (IS) militants and Syrian government forces, Turkish Foreign Minister Mevlut Cavusoglu said.