US orders first troops to West Asia

Washington: Defense Secretary Chuck Hagel has ordered the first group of about 100 U.S. troops to head to the Middle East in the next few days to establish training sites for Syrian opposition fighters battling Islamic State militants, the Pentagon said. Admiral John Kirby, the Pentagon press secretary, said the troops, mostly special operations forces, were authorised last week and would begin arriving in countries outside Syria in the coming days, with a subsequent wave of hundred military trainers.