US-backed Syrian forces launch new offensive on Raqqa

http://www.aljazeera.com/news/2017/02/syria-offensive-raqqa [login to see] 01116.html
US support for the SDF has been a point of tension with NATO ally Turkey, which views the YPG as an extension of the Kurdistan Workers' Party (PKK), a group that has fought the Turkish state for three decades now.
The US says it is providing training and material support to Arab elements of the SDF only. It supplied them last month with armoured vehicles for the first time to help in the Raqqa campaign.
US President Donald Trump signed an executive order last week requesting the Pentagon, joint chiefs of staff and other agencies to submit a preliminary plan in 30 days for defeating ISIL.
One key decision awaiting the Trump administration is whether to directly provide weapons to the YPG.