US eyes arms for YPG militia in Syria even after Raqqa's fall

U.S. Defense Secretary Jim Mattis on June 27 left open the possibility of longer-term assistance to Syrian Kurdish YPG militia in Syria, saying the U.S. may need to supply them weapons and equipment even after the capture of Raqqa from Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant (ISIL).

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 ISIL 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.

But Mattis also noted that YPG fighters were well-armed even before the U.S. last month decided to offer more specialised equipment for its urban assault on ISIL-held city of Raqqa.

Mattis also said the battle against ISIL would continue even after Raqqa was captured and focused his answers about U.S. weapons' recovery on items he believed the YPG would no longer need in battle.

Asked if Kurdish militia would revert to their pre-Raqqa level of armaments once the fight was over, Mattis responded: "Well, we'll see. It depends what the next mission is. I mean, it's not like the fight's over when Raqqa's over."

Turkey sees the YPG as an extension of the outlawed Kurdistan Workers' Party (PKK). It has said supplies to the YPG have in the past ended up in PKK hands, describing any weapons given to the force as a threat to its security.

The U.S., however, sees the YPG as an essential ally in the campaign to defeat ISIL in Raqqa, the jihadists' main urban base in Syria.

Mattis will meet his Turkish counterpart Fikri Işık on June 29...