US general says ‘four or five’ US-trained rebels fighting in Syria

General Lloyd Austin, the senior US officer in the Middle East, has testified to the Senate that there are currently only "four or five" US-trained rebel fighters in Syria.

About 60 total fighters were trained, but most were either killed or stopped fighting.

General Austin acknowledged that the United States will likely not reach its goal of training 5,000 rebels in the near future. Congress has provided $500 million for the program.

Senate Armed Services Committee Chairman John McCain (R-AZ) responded to Austin's testimony by calling the US strategy in both Syria and Iraq a failure.