According to reports from Ankara, the United States and Turkey have hatched plans to begin arming and training a major Syrian opposition force as of May 9.
This is according to reports in the Turkish press citing the country's foreign minister, Mevlut Cavusoglu.
The plan calls for the training of more that 15,000 troops, that are to counter the extremist Islamic State as well as the regime's forces. Reports from Damascus say that the civil war, now in its fourth year, is beginning to take its toll on the Syrian armed forces.
While President Bashar Assad is holding ion and remains steadfast, the ones who are starting to should the damage is the Syrian army.
The US-Turkish program is being delayed due to operational details: for example, should or would the US military intervene at any time if units of this new force gets in a bind?
The program calls for the rebel group to be trained in battalion sized units of 300 men at a time. And build the force up the size of a division and a half - 15,000 men.
Rebel groups have already been receiving weapons and training from a CIA-led program that Washington has never acknowledged. The new program is under the direction of the Defense Department.