US eyes arms for YPG fighters in Syria even after Raqqa's fall
MUNICH - US Defense Secretary Jim Mattis on Tuesday left open the possibility of longer-term assistance to Kurdish YPG militia in Syria, saying the US may need to supply them weapons and equipment even after the capture of Raqqa from Islamic State.
NATO ally Turkey, which views the YPG as a threat, has said Mattis assured it in a letter that the United States would eventually take back the weapons it was giving them once Islamic State was defeated.
Mattis, in his first public remarks on the issue, did not directly dispute that account.
"We'll do what we can," Mattis told reporters during his flight to Germany, when asked about weapons recovery.
