US weighs expanded CIA training for Syrian terrorists: Report

The United States is preparing plans to escalate the CIA’s role in arming and training anti-government militants in Syria, as they are suffering from low morale, a new report says.

Officials say the move is aimed at accelerating covert US support to “moderate” militant groups, while the Pentagon is preparing to establish its own training bases, The Washington Post reported on Saturday.

“We need a little more urgency in helping the moderates, and the agency was viewed as the best way to get that going fast,” said a senior US official, who spoke on the condition of anonymity.

The prospect of expanding the program of the Central Intelligence Agency (CIA) was discussed at a meeting of senior national security officials at the White House last week.

The proposed buildup would expand the CIA’s clandestine activities that have grown significantly over the past year.

The CIA has declined to comment on any aspect of its role in Syria. The spy agency now vets and trains about 400 insurgents fighting against the government of President Bashar al-Assad each month.

Syria has been gripped by deadly violence since March 2011. Nearly 200,000 people have reportedly been killed and millions displaced due to the violence fueled by the militants.

The United States and its regional allies — especially Qatar, Saudi Arabia and Turkey — have been supporting the militants operating inside Syria since the beginning of the crisis.

The Obama administration has already outlined a $500 million program to train and arm 5,000 “moderate” militants in Syria to fight against ISIL and the Assad government, but according to the Pentagon, the number would be something between 12,000 and 15,000.