US to directly arm YPG, Pentagon confirms

By Michael Hernandez

WASHINGTON (AA) - The U.S. will begin to directly arm the YPG, the Pentagon confirmed on Tuesday.

President Donald Trump authorized the Defense Department to equip "Kurdish elements" of the U.S.-backed Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF) on Monday "to ensure a clear victory over ISIS [Daesh] in Raqqa, Syria," Pentagon spokeswoman Dana White said.

"The SDF, partnered with enabling support from U.S. and coalition forces, are the only force on the ground that can successfully seize Raqqa in the near future," she added.

The announcement comes one week before Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan is scheduled to visit Washington and meet Trump.

The U.S. support for the SDF has been a major strain on relations between Washington and Ankara. The YPG forms the backbone of the SDF's forces.

Turkey considers the PYD and its armed wing YPG to be the Syrian offshoots of the PKK, a group viewed to be a proscribed terrorist organization by the U.S., Turkey and the EU.

But Washington has adamantly resisted similarly designating the YPG, using it as its principal partner in the ground war in the fight against Daesh in northern Syria.