US to make contact with Syrian rebel factions: State Department

Washington will seek to contact Syrian rebel factions, including Hay'at Tahrir al-Sham (HTS), State Department spokesperson Matthew Miller indicated to reporters on Monday.

"We do have the ability to engage with organizations [that] have been designated [as terrorists]," Miller said.

"You might remember that the previous administration engaged with the Taliban while it was a designated terrorist organisation and struck an agreement to withdraw from Afghanistan with the Taliban, while the Taliban was a designated terrorist organisation. So we do have the ability, when it is in our interest legally, to communicate with a designated terrorist organisation. There are things you can't do under the law, but talking with people is not one of them when it comes to engagement with groups on the ground in Syria."