US begins training Syrian fighters to battle Islamic State

The United States has begun a long-awaited programme to train Syrian fighters to go into combat against Islamic State, the Pentagon said, deepening America's role in Syria's civil war after eight months of air strikes against the Sunni militants.

Defence Secretary Ashton Carter said on Thursday the military was starting small, training a first group of just 90 Syrians, who would be paid a stipend and could expect some still-undefined support once they return to the battlefield.

A spokesman for the government of Jordan said the training began there several days ago, and US and Middle Eastern sources said the training would soon start at another site in Turkey.

Syrian rebels and members of the US Congress are deeply sceptical, with some lawmakers saying the programme is too small and slow. The Pentagon forecasts it will take three years to train and arm more than 15,000 opposition forces.

Carter acknowledged that it would be a few months before even the first group of 90 fighters would be deployed, and he described the effort as advancing with tremendous caution, in part to limit the risks that US-trained fighters would commit human rights violations.

"We're starting with the people that we have that we've vetted very carefully," Carter told a Pentagon news briefing.