A senior leader of the so-called “moderate” rebels in Syria, who was trained by the US military, has criticized the Pentagon for failing to effectively implement a plan to fight the ISIL terrorist group.

The Pentagon, which is currently training rebels to fight the ISIL Takfiri terrorists in Syria, has finished the training of about 60 people and has begun the training of a new group.

Last month, the US military announced it would send its first batch of trained militants into Syria in the next several weeks, with Defense Secretary Ash Carter saying the administration plans to train 3,000 by the end of the year.

The program was approved last September and a received funding of $500 million in December by Congress, that envisioned training 5,000 per year and 15,000 over three years.

However, Ammar al-Wawi, a senior rebel trained in the program, said "the project is very slow."

"They are ready to train and form a national army of 15,000 fighters and we hear they are ready to back it with money, weapons and provide air cover,” Wawi told the BBC's Ian Pannell.

"But in reality, in six months only 60 fighters were trained. If it takes this long to train 60, it will take decades to get everyone ready," he said.

He even said that the US military has failed to protect his fighters, known as Division 30, when they were attacked by the ISIL in Syria last week.

"In reality, we have got no international guarantees to protect our fighters or to protect the 30th Division," he noted.

The ISIL terrorists, who were initially trained by the CIA in Jordan in 2012 to destabilize the Syrian government, now control large parts of Iraq and Syria.

Analysts say many of the US-trained militants could eventually find themselves on the side of the ISIL Takfiris against a common enemy on the ground — the Syrian government forces.