LATEST: Reports: Kurdish Militia and Local Police Fight With Regime in Hasakeh

US Defense Department officials announced on Friday that 1,000 soldiers and other personnel will be deployed on a mission to train and equip Syria’s “moderate” insurgents.

The training mission will begin in early spring in Saudi Arabia, Turkey, and Qatar, will begin in the early spring, said the Pentagon Press Secretary, Rear Admiral John Kirby.

About 400 soldiers will be directly involved in training, while the others will provide logistics, communications, and other support. Forces from two other countries — one of them likely to be Jordan, although Kirby did not say — will be involved.

The Obama Administration authorized $500 million last autumn for the training of 5,000 fighters, which it sees as part of the battle against the advance of the Islamic State inside Syria.

Insurgent factions are hoping the program will assist in their effort to remove President Assad from power.

A US-led coalition has been carrying out airstrikes against the Islamic State, and occasionally the Islamist faction Jabhat al-Nusra, since September 23. However, Washington has not informed insurgents, let alone coordinated with them, of the operations.

The train-and-equip program will not have any effect on the ground for months: Kirby said that if the training program goes well, the vetted insurgents might be on the battlefield in Syria by the end of 2015.

Earlier this week US officials, including top military envoy Michael Nagata and diplomatic represenative Daniel Rubinstein, met with Syrian opposition leaders for the first time about the program.


Reports: Kurdish Militia and Local Police Fight With Regime in Hasakeh

The Kurdish militia YPG and local police are fighting the Syrian army and militias in Hasakeh in eastern Syria, according to activists.

The activists say the clashes began after negotiations over arrested Kurdish journalists and municipality workers broke down. The Kurdish side arrested 30 pro-regime militia, prompting attacks by Syrian forces on YPG checkpoints and shelling of Kurdish neighborhoods in Hasakeh. Kurdish outlets say the Syrian Army is also shelling the fire station in Hasakeh and a Kurdish police station in MifĂ® village.

Two Syrian soldiers and a number of Kurdish civilians have reportedly been killed.

Footage of the Kurdish militia:

Civil Authorities Set Out Media Code in Opposition-Held East Ghouta

Civil authorities in opposition-held East Ghouta, near Damascus, have set out a media code.

The code says it respects freedom of opinion and expression, the “moral rights” of publications, the right of media access to information, and a commitment to the duties of journalism. It commands that media shall not falsify documents and that journalists must correct misinformation and respect the teachings of Islamic religion.

A spokesman said 177 journalists had participated in the development of the code.