Second group of U.S-trained Syrian rebels could be deployed 'within weeks'

[News Manager]

By Humeyra Pamuk ISTANBUL (Reuters) - A second group of rebel fighters trained in Turkey by the U.S.-led coalition could be deployed to Syria within weeks as part of a campaign to push Islamic State insurgents away from the border, diplomatic sources told Reuters on Friday. The United States and Turkey plan to provide air cover for what Washington judges to be moderate Syrian rebels, in a joint operation to flush Islamic State from a rectangle of border territory roughly 80 km (50 miles) long. Diplomats familiar with the plans say cutting Islamic State's access to the Turkish border, across which the radical insurgent group has been able to bring foreign fighters and supplies, could be a game-changer.

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