(VOVworld) - The US military said on Friday it has started training dozens of Syrian opposition fighters to battle the IS as part of a revamped program to avoid mistakes that doomed its first training effort in Turkey last year.

Col. Steve Warren, the new spokesman for the U.S.-led coalition in Iraq, speaks to reporters during a news conference at the U.S. Embassy in the heavily fortified Green Zone in Baghdad, Iraq, October 1, 2015. REUTERS/KHALID MOHAMMED/POOL

Instead of trying to pull entire units from the fight for training, the new program will take small groups of fighters from the front-lines for training. In the first stage, the fighters will be trained on how to identify targets for US-led coalition airstrikes to allow coalition aircraft to better strike IS from the air.

The Pentagon refused to reveal the training venue while US officials said the training will take place in Turkey.