DİHA - Dicle News Agency

NEWS CENTER (DİHA) - Nearly a year into a bombing campaign intended to degrade and destroy the ISIS, the United States finally may have found a reliable partner on the ground in Syria, comments Monday, Defense Secretary Ashton Carter acknowledged that Kurdish fighters from the YPG militia are identifying bombing targets for U.S.-led airstrikes.

The Pentagon has said its air campaign in Syria against ISIS has been bolstered by the success of the People’s Protection Units (YPG) on the ground. The praise for the YPG came during a press conference held by US Secretary of Defense Ashton Carter and his French counterpart Jean-Yves Le Drian on Monday.

“Well, we are doing more in Syria from the air. I think you saw some of that in recent days, and the opportunity to do that effectively is provided in the case of the last few days by the effective action on the ground of Kurdish forces, which gives us the opportunity to support them tactically,” said Carter in response to a question about US strategy in Syria.

Carter called Kurdish forces “capable” and hailed them for not just military gains in Syria, but for also establishing order and governance in areas cleared of ISIS. “And as it's very important, that's the manner in which effective and lasting defeat of ISIS will occur, when there are effective local forces on the ground that we can support and enable so that they can take territory, hold territory and make sure that good governance comes in behind it,” Carter added.

Carter said that the US is currently working with the YPG north of Raqqa to conduct “airstrikes that limit ISIS's freedom of movement and ability to counter those capable Kurdish forces.”

During a briefing after meeting with his national security team on ISIS, President Barack Obama tacitly called the Kurds an “effective partner” in Syria without mentioning them directly. “And over the past year, we’ve seen that when we have an effective partner on the ground, ISIS can be pushed back,” he said.

(nt)