WASHINGTON (Sputnik) — The forces of the US-led coalition against ISIL remain active every day in Syria, Cook noted.
"We’ve made it clear from the start that the Syrian government should not be interfering with our operations," Cook told the Defense Department daily press briefing on Thursday.
However, "We’re not notifying, not coordinating with the Syrians on anything," he explained.
Cook insisted that the US government wanted to avoid clashes or any kind of misunderstanding with Russia, which is working with the Syrian government to support its armed forces battling ISIL.
However, he added that the Obama administration remained determined to maintain its current level of military involvement in authorizing air strikes against Islamic State forces without getting them approved or coordinated in any way with the Syrian government of President Bashir Assad.
"We want to keep as much as possible coalition aircraft operating in this space," he said.
On Wednesday, CENTCOM Commander, General Lloyd Austin, admitted to the US Senate Armed Services Committee that currently only "four or five" individual trained opposition troops were active against ISIL when the US goal had been to train and deploy 5,400 by the end of 2015.
