Cameron: I can't tell you names of 70,000 ground troops in Syria

Cameron says there are some ground forces to work with in Syria.

Last week he said there are around 70,000 fighters on the ground who do not “belong to extremist groups.”

He declined to disclose the names of the groups he was referencing, saying: “I can’t risk the safety of these courageous people by naming them.”

Cameron said the 70,000 fighters’ estimate came from “detailed analysis of open source [data] and specific intelligence” given by the Joint Intelligence Committee.

“The majority are from the Free Syrian Army. Some 20,000 are Kurdish fighters.

“I’m not arguing all these 70,000 [fighters] are ideal partners. Some of them left Syrian army because of Assad’s brutality – and they can play a role in Syria’s future.”

He said the 70,000 fighters does not include a further 25,000 “extremist fighters who reject democracy and political participation with non-Muslims.”

 “They cannot and will not be our partners,” he said, specifically naming Al Qaeda affiliate the Nusra Front as a group not to be worked with.