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US updates plans for military intervention in Syria

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The United States has updated its military options for a direct intervention in Syria to aid the militants fighting against the government of President Bashar al-Assad.

The US Central Command and the Joint Staff of the Pentagon have updated their plans for intervention in Syria under pressure from Democrat and Republican lawmakers, CNN reported on Friday.

US Defense Secretary Chuck Hagel and Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff General Martin Dempsey are also expected to testify the issue of military intervention in Syria before the Congress.

An unnamed Pentagon official said that one option is to use cruise missiles to attack Syria’s air force. Another option is to deploy huge military planes to carry humanitarian aid into the neighboring countries.

A third option is to establish a buffer zone inside Syria, the official added, noting that all these options might face challenges in practice.

On March 21, the Senate Armed Services Committee Chairman Carl Levin and the panel’s top Republican, John McCain, asked US President Barack Obama in a letter to consider military options in Syria and possible ways to degrade the Arab country’s air power.

The senators said American troops should destroy Syria’s SCUD missile batteries by using precision airstrikes.

On Friday, Washington announced plans to send as much as USD 10 million in direct aid to Syria militants. Obama said in a directive to the secretaries of state and defense that Washington would use the inventories of government agencies to give “non-lethal commodities and services,” along with food and medical supplies to the foreign-backed militants in Syria.

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