US may train Syrian rebels to guide air raids: Pentagon

The United States will provide basic military training and equipment to Syrian rebels and may eventually instruct them on how to call in air strikes against Islamic State jihadists, the Pentagon said Wednesday.
But for the moment, the training will focus on fundamentals and not the more complicated task of directing US-led warplanes to a particular target, the skilled job of a forward air controller, Pentagon spokesman Rear Admiral John Kirby told reporters.
"The main purpose of the training is basic military structure and skills," Kirby said.
"I can't rule out that at some point, that we might find it useful for them to have the ability to help assist with targeting on the ground," he said.
About 1,000 US troops are due to deploy to Turkey, Saudi Arabia and Qatar to start training "moderate" Syrian opposition forces to take on the ISIS group in Syria. The instruction is due to start in mid-March and about 100 American trainers have already arrived in the region, according to Kirby.
The Pentagon plans to deliver pick-up trucks, light machine guns, ammunition and radios to the moderate rebels, officials told AFP.
In the recent battle for the northern Syrian town of Kobane, US aircraft were helped by Kurdish forces on the ground who relayed information about their own location and the position of IS fighters, Kirby said.

But he refuted some reports that suggested the Kurdish militia were acting as forward air controllers with the training and laser equipment to pinpoint the precise location of a target to a jet overhead.