Syria's leading Kurdish militia and several Arab rebel groups that have fought alongside it have formalized their alliance in a new group called the Syrian Democratic Forces, AFP reports.
The formation of the alliance comes after Washington said it was abandoning a plan to train and equip rebels to fight the Islamic State group and could provide the US with a new partner in the battle against the jihadist group.
The alliance was announced in a statement published online by a spokesman for the Kurdish People's Protection Units (YPG).